Date/Time
Date(s) - 25th March, 2026 - 1st April, 2026
All Day
Location
New Hermopolis
Categories
Join us for the Idler Egyptian Retreat as we discover the philosophy, art and culture of the ancient Egyptians, and their influence on later thinkers from the ancient Greeks to the present day.
We’ll visit the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and the newly opened Grand Egypt Museum before driving to little travelled Middle Egypt where we’ll see the ruins of the city of the first ever monotheistic religion.
Our Egyptian Retreat home will be the oasis of New Hermopolis next to the site of ancient Hermopolis, city of Hermes, god of writing. Here Egyptian, Greek and Persian cultures co-existed harmoniously. We’ll walk into tombs with miraculously preserved artworks and wall paintings of life in the desert beside the Nile.
New Hermopolis was founded by Dr Mervat Nasser. Mervat is dedicated to providing an intellectual retreat in sustainable collaboration with the local community. She is especially interested in the hermetic philosophy of the ancient people of Hermopolis, with their belief in harmonious living and the regenerative power of human creativity.
In the company of Idler editor Tom Hodgkinson, philosopher Mark Vernon, and Idler Academy director Victoria Hull, we’ll be talking about the Egyptian philosophies that can still help us make sense of the world.
You’ll go home inspired by the ideas and philosophy of the ancient Egyptians and with an understanding of their influence on the whole of Western philosophy. You’ll have tasted traditional Egyptian food and culture, and you’ll have had a lot of fun to boot.
