London exhibition brings Gobeklitepe and ancient civilizations to life through immersive technology

A new immersive exhibition in London is taking visitors on a journey through some of the world’s oldest civilizations, beginning at Türkiye’s Gobeklitepe before moving to Babylon, Ancient Egypt, the Maya civilization and Rapa Nui.

Timewalk Exhibition, developed by DEM Museums, opened this month at ExCeL London and uses large-scale visuals, spatial audio and interactive storytelling to recreate key moments from ancient history.

The experience opens at Gobeklitepe, the prehistoric archaeological site in southeastern Türkiye widely regarded as home to the world’s oldest known monumental temple complex. It explores the emergence of ritual, shared beliefs and organized communities beyond basic survival.

Visitors then travel through Babylon, where early urban life and systems of knowledge took shape; Ancient Egypt, with its emphasis on immortality and cosmic order; the Maya civilization, renowned for advances in mathematics, astronomy and concepts of cyclical time; and Rapa Nui, home to the iconic Moai statues.

Rather than presenting ancient civilizations as relics of the past, the exhibition portrays them as living societies shaped by human stories, beliefs and collective memory.

Through immersive visual effects and sound design, visitors experience reconstructed scenes including cities at dawn, illuminated temples, monumental architecture and everyday life.

The exhibition draws on archaeological research and was developed by a team of historians, creative directors, writers, artists, architects and technology specialists. More than 250 people worked on the project for over two years with input from experts across multiple disciplines.

Audio guides are available in 25 languages, and a dedicated storytelling option has been created for children.

Mehmet Ugur Esin, chairman of DEM Museums, said the exhibition is the organization’s first international project and aims to connect cultural heritage with modern technology.

“With Timewalk Exhibition, the first step of the cultural bridge we are extending from Türkiye to the world, we are reinterpreting humanity’s shared heritage through contemporary technologies and building a lasting connection between the past and the future,” he said.

Gobeklitepe has attracted more than 4.4 million visitors since it was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2018.

Located near the village of Orencik, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from Sanliurfa in southeastern Türkiye, the site dates back about 12,000 years.

It first drew attention during archaeological surveys in the 1960s and gained renewed interest in 1986 when a farmer uncovered a carved statue while plowing his field. Systematic excavations began in 1995, revealing massive T-shaped stone pillars, some as tall as 6 meters (20 feet) and weighing up to 60 tons (54 metric tons), decorated with Neolithic animal reliefs.

The site was added to UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage list in 2011 before receiving full World Heritage status in July 2018. Türkiye designated 2019 the “Year of Gobeklitepe” to promote the site internationally.