Cleopatra: The Most Interesting Woman In The World

About Dr. Colleen Darnell

A Yale-trained Egyptologist, Dr. Colleen Darnell has traveled the world researching hieroglyphic inscriptions. She led an archaeological expedition in Egypt that discovered a fifteen-hundred year old Roman settlement in the Eastern Desert, and with her husband, Professor John Darnell, published the first complete English translation of the texts in the Valley of the Kings. Dr. Darnell was the first to identify works of historical fiction written by the ancient Egyptians themselves. Colleen and her husband Professor John Darnell have been hard at work on an exciting new biography of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the parents of King Tut, entitled Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth, published November 1, 2022 by St Martin's Press. She shares her passion for Egyptology with “kids” of all ages.

About the class

The Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians built the world’s most legendary empires…and one woman connected them all. Meet Cleopatra, the queen who united East and West and the last queen of Ancient Egypt. In this interactive lesson led by Egyptologist Dr. Colleen Darnell, students will follow Cleopatra from her Greek ancestors through her rule of Egypt to her relationships with Julius Caesar and other important Romans. They’ll learn how Cleopatra used her education to unite the Egyptian people and competed in politics with the most powerful men in the world. Plus, learn how to read Cleopatra's name in hieroglyphs!