Jo at the Timeline of Queens (© Barnsley Council) With spring having finally arrived and new life emerging all over, it seems timely to return to the beginning of creation ancient Egyptian-style, when the primeval waters gave way to reveal Neith the great creator who gave birth to the very sun itself. As one of the key figures in our new exhibition ‘Cleopatra and the Queens of Egypt’, Neith is the first of five female deities presiding over our unfolding story of Egypt’s fema

Cleopatra And The Queens Of Egypt exhibition is now open at Experience Barnsley until Saturday, February 20, 2027 Wow, what an amazing month, during which the Queens of Egypt finally arrived in Barnsley! Meeting their public for the first time on 7 th March, International Women’s Day, Cleopatra herself now takes centre-stage via her marble bust, the original housed in Berlin’s Staatliche Museen replicated for us by the museum’s renowned Gipsformerei Workshop (below). The o

The group with Mahmoud, Ian & Jo at Luxor Temple (© Photo Luxor) Happy February, and what a great first half of the month touring the Nile valley with The Cultural Experience on our ‘Immortal Egypt’ tour. As the second time we’ve done this (see https://www.immortalegypt.co.uk/post/immortal-egypt-on-tour ), we were able to change parts of the itinerary to factor in visits to some recently opened places, this year accompanied by the brilliant duo of expert guide Mahmoud Rehim a

Elizabeth Taylor’s 1963 ‘Cleopatra’ featured in the new exhibition (© 20 th Century-Fox) Our first blog of 2026 might be brief, but it’s big news, announcing our ‘Cleopatra and the Queens of Egypt’ exhibition bringing together our last 40 years’ research into some of ancient Egypt’s greatest female figures. Jo with 3 more queens in the new exhibition: Hatshepsut, Nefertiti & Nefertari (L-R © R.Haxby, Yorkshire Post & Lion TV) From the first named woman in history to arguabl

(Not) the goddess of the Christmas Tree As we finally reach the Festive Season, the traditional sights, sounds, smells and tastes which immediately conjure up this special time of year can often, if quite surprisingly, also take us right back into ancient Egypt (as long as we swap the snow for sand and appreciate a little festive levity)… For as we deck the halls with boughs of holly to mark what is ultimately an ancient festival celebrating birth, so too the ancient Egyptian

With this November marking a huge landmark in Egypt’s long history, the 4 th November was the day on which the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered back in 1922, only 3 days after the start of the excavation season on 1 st November. Yet this day has now acquired even greater significance as the official opening date of the GEM, the spectacular Grand Egyptian Museum. The GEM sparkling in the Giza dusk (© GEM) Rightly described as "one of the most ambitious cultural projects i

Hathor-head amulet of gold & rock crystal c.720 BC © Boston MFA This month’s rather succinct blog reflects the fact we’ve hardly been at home as current projects have taken us to some special places over the Pennines and back. Wigan Museum designed by Alfred Waterhouse (© Wigan Council) with its library and lecture space (© Wigan Museum) First of all we had our annual pilgrimage to Wigan Museum, whose superb building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1877 complete with a l

Jo beneath the red sun discs in Sennedjem’s Deir el-Medina tomb c.1250 BC (© R.Haxby) With the theme of our recent study days at Bolton...

Bringing Merit back to life with Egyptian actress Angham Mohamed (© J.Fletcher/ImmortalEgypt) With this month’s reshowing of our BBC...