HISTORIC never-before-seen artefacts painstakingly curated by a Barnsley-born Egyptologist are being shown off to the public from today when a year-long exhibition opens its doors after months in the making.

Cleopatra and the Queens of Egypt includes loans from the Egypt Exploration Society, the British Museum, the Egyptomania Museum and the museums of Bolton, Wigan, Scarborough, St Helen’s World of Glass and from Barnsley’s own collections.

The exhibition - which includes hundreds of objects and opens at Experience Barnsley today (Saturday) - first looks at the queens, female pharaohs and goddesses who were role models for each other, and for Cleopatra.

It then explores Cleopatra’s life, her royal ancestry, her lifestyle, relationships and public image, and the many ways this image has been reinterpreted down the centuries via Shakespearian drama to Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic 1963 film portrayal.

Highlights include spectacular ancient jewellery from the British Museum, objects from some of Egypt’s royal tombs, plus original memorabilia from the film Cleopatra including Elizabeth’s signed photograph.

It has been brought together by the internationally-renowned Barnsley-born Professor Joann Fletcher, who has been recognised across the world for her work in archaeology, for her many books and for her popular BBC television documentaries about Egypt and the ancient world.

A council spokesperson said: “There are also artefacts and stories which highlight the many links between Barnsley and ancient Egypt.

“These include coins minted by Cleopatra and Mark Antony found in Darfield, Barnsley after being buried for safety almost 1,700 years ago, and artwork by Barnsley-born Egyptologist Harold Jones, a colleague of Howard Carter who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

“Like Jones, Carter also began his career as an artist, and his largest watercolour, portraying an Egyptian queen, is another exhibition highlight, on loan from the UK’s leading Egyptological institution the Egypt Exploration Society.”

Some of the Darfield-found coins formed part of the ‘God’s Land in God’s County: Ancient Egypt in Yorkshire’ exhibition back in 2017 at Experience Barnsley.

Joann admits a real love for the coins and when she was asked to select an ancient artefact to discuss with John Lloyd on his Radio 4 show ‘Museum of Curiosity’, she selected one of the Darfield hoard.

“The reverse of each coin depicts Antony’s legionary standards, while the coins’ front carries the image of one of Cleopatra’s 500 Egyptian warships which were moored in Actium Bay prior to the battle,” she added.

“Cleopatra was funding the campaign, with the coins made of silver from her royal treasury - which travelled with her - and most likely minted at Patras in Greece.

“Patras was the couple’s military headquarters during the winter of 32-31 BC before they then moved north to Actium itself, a site located some 80 miles south of Corfu.

“To put it into context, Cleopatra and Antony died in 30 BC then 73 years later in AD 43 the Romans began the conquest of Britain under the emperor Claudius, who coincidentally was his grandson.

“It’s also the case that Roman coins tended to stay in circulation for a very long time and the Darfield hoards reflect this.

“The two hoards found in 1947 and 1948 each contained around 500 coins minted by a long succession of Roman leaders.

“We also know that like many other Roman coin hoards, the Darfield coins were all buried together in the mid-third century, a time of great unrest across the Roman empire following the assassination of the emperor Severus Alexander, but made even worse in our region by repeated raids down the east coast by the Saxons and Picts.

“People wanting to keep their wealth safe therefore buried it in the ground, intending to retrieve it in safer times - which in the case of the Darfield hoards, never happened.

“This exhibition is a real passion project, focusing on the famous-if-little-understood female pharaoh Cleopatra and putting her back into history, both at an international and local level.

“By looking at Egypt’s earlier queens, female pharaohs and goddesses who were very much Cleopatra’s role models, the exhibition will highlight key parts of her life, ending with her legacy and the way she’s been viewed down the centuries since her death - basically how Cleopatra looked back at her predecessors and in turn, how we now look back at her.

“It’s been such a privilege working with our colleagues in Barnsley, around the UK and abroad to bring all this together here in my hometown, whose own links to ancient Egypt and Cleopatra herself add that extra special element to this unique exhibition.”