Egyptian tomb raiders excavated a rich source of inspiration

Since the exhibition was first confirmed, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs has been one of London's hottest tickets – with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall being drafted in to give the opening a proper sense of occasion. But is our apparent fascination more than just down to the much talked about curse?

Apparently so.

"If you look down through the history of human civilisation everyone has always gone to Egypt for inspiration," says historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes. "The Greeks and the Romans almost used 'Made in Egypt' as a rubber stamp of excellence."

There have been many surges of interest in Egyptian culture over the centuries, from the 15th century when Egyptian styles of architecture began to appear in Europe, to the early 20th, when art and fashion, design and cinema plundered the land of the Pharaohs for inspiration.

But Bettany believes some of the very bedrocks of modern culture began in the deserts of Egypt.

"There are many subtle things in our culture that we don't realise come directly from Egypt," she says. "One of the most interesting things I have discovered during my work is that the very stability of our society is something we learned from them. In the United Nations building in New York is a copy of the Treaty of Kadesh, a peace treaty signed 3,265 years ago by the Egyptians with their warring neighbours.