British interest in Ancient Egypt and its antiquities has never been greater. Television programmes about the country’s historical treasures abound. Egyptology courses in our universities are booming, there has been a surge in the number of people taking adult evening classes in themes Egyptian and there are more amateur Egyptological societies in the UK than anywhere in the world.

Why is this so? Why should Westerners in general and Britons in particular be so fascinated with Egypt’s past? To understand the beginnings of Egyptology one must go back to Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798. One of his soldiers found the Rosetta stone, which provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphic writing.

From that moment in 1799, this ancient civilisation caught the European imagination. Britain had a particular interest because it had a long history of being involved in Egypt. In 1801 it defeated the French in battle there and took the Rosetta stone as one of its spoils of war (it is exhibited in the British Museum to this day). For many years Egypt was also de facto a British colony.

During the Regency period, Britain developed a taste for all things oriental and an obsession with Egyptian artefacts. Later in the 19th century numerous articles about Egypt appeared in the gentlemen’s quarterlies. At the start of the 20th century Thomas Cook, the London-based travel company, started Nile cruises.

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 then led to a veritable explosion of worldwide curiosity.

Over this period French and British diplomats raced each other to collect historic artefacts for collections that were later to form the basis of those held in the British Museum and the Louvre. Many of the leading 19th-century archaeologists were British and many of them wrote books that stimulated popular interest in Egypt.

Many of our ancestors – soldiers, diplomats, agents – brought antiquities back to Britain for museums and private family collections. Dr John Taylor, a curator at the British Museum who is acting as a consultant to the Tutankhamun exhibition, says that scarcely a week goes by without a member of the public bringing an object to the museum and saying: “My grandfather brought this back from Egypt. What is it?”

Apart from the important collections in the major cities, he says that museums in most small towns have Egyptian antiquities.

Dr Aidan Dodson, a research fellow in Bristol University’s department of archaeology and anthropology, and chairman of the Egypt Society of Bristol – one of more than 30 such societies in the UK – says that our modern culture owes much to the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. He cites mathematics, to some extent the concept of writing itself, and the fact that much Christian imagery is based on Egyptian paganism.

Professor Alan Lloyd, research professor in the department of classics, ancient history and Egyptology at Swansea University, says that interest in Egyptology has been stimulated partly by television programmes on the History and Discovery channels, popular books, discussion groups, internet sites and the possibility of cheap travel to see the great sites.

The spectacular nature of Egyptian sites, such as the massive temple complex of Karnak, seize the public imagination, he adds. Westerners also have a slightly morbid fascination with the Ancient Egyptian concern with death and resurrection, as exemplified by mummies, tombs and pyramids.

Dr Toby Wilkinson, a Cambridge University Egyptologist, believes that the reason the British are particularly interested in Ancient Egypt is because its remains are exotic but relatively accessible to the UK, compared with the ancient civilisations of central America or East Asia.

Dodson points out that only about 10 per cent of Egyptian antiquities have been unearthed. There are more excavations going on there than before – about six major investigations and many minor projects. As big excavations now take between 20 and 30 years to complete, expect to see a steady stream of discoveries to continue stirring the public’s fascination.

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