Yorkshire schoolchildren uncover their Ancient Egyptian heritage

We are delighted to be supporting school workshops to help Yorkshire schoolchildren learn about Ancient Egypt.

Our patron and Egyptologist Joann Fletcher will be hosting a series of school workshops for primary school children to enhance their learning of ancient Egyptian civilisation.

The workshops, supported by Barnsley Museums & Heritage Trust, are part of Barnsley Museums’ celebration of the history of ancient Egypt across three exhibitions at Experience Barnsley, The Cooper Gallery and Cannon Hall Museum.

During the school sessions, Joann will take the children on a tour of the museums and galleries. The children will also learn about ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs with a focus on the sacred scarab beetle and will make their own scarab amulet out of clay with the Museums’ learning team.

The workshops support the national curriculum, which includes a requirement for children to study an ancient civilisation. Funding from Barnsley Museums & Heritage Trust has been used to buy resources for the workshops, including clay and clay tools.

Professor Joann Fletcher, said: “It’s really important that schools have the ability to come and engage with exhibitions such as Ancient Egypt in Barnsley so that local schoolchildren can understand their heritage.

“There are magnificent treasures to be found in the town and right across Yorkshire and it’s fantastic to have such brilliant resources on our doorstep.

“The exhibition and workshops allow children to think that one day they could study this subject and become an Egyptologist, an archaeologist or anything else that is their particular passion. This belief is made possible thanks to the wonderful support of the Barnsley Museums & Heritage Trust.”

Joann, who was born in Barnsley and is a professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, has spent the last thirty years studying Yorkshire’s Egyptian past. She has now brought together the objects included in the exhibition for the very first time, telling stories that will bring ancient Egypt to life.

‘Gods’ Land in God’s County: Ancient Egypt in Yorkshire’ can be seen at Experience Barnsley until January 2018, along with a stunning collection of watercolours and drawings at The Cooper Gallery by Barnsley-born artist and archaeologist Harold Jones.

The Egyptian theme continues at Cannon Hall in October with the arrival of ‘Resurrecting Ancient Egypt’, featuring images by Jennifer Robertson and Lynne Fletcher of Kyte Photography.

To book a school workshop contact Barnsley Museums Learning Team: learning@barnsley.gov.uk or call 01226 774872.