Much in history is associated with her name, it was after her death that Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, she ruled a great power for a long time and died, taking all the secrets with her. Today her name is a symbol of beauty and femininity, intelligence and strong character.
Cleopatra. The story of her life has always, to a greater extent, been shrouded in fiction and legends, rather than truth. And its existence aroused the genuine interest of contemporaries.
She was always talked about as a woman of a sharp mind, she, despite the fact that at that time women were usually not given any education, was a very educated person, her sharp mind allowed her to learn many languages (as many as 8).
However, the question remained about her death and where she could be buried.
There is a version that Cleopatra died on the same day with her lover, the Roman commander Mark Antony, committing suicide. She put herself under the bite of a poisonous snake.
Oddly enough, but one of the first who gave a hint to the researchers to the burial place was William Shakespeare, in his work "Anthony and Cleopatra" he indicated that before her death the queen gave a covenant to bury her together with her beloved Mark Anthony. As it later turned out during the study of ancient documents, there is a scroll in which Cleopatra's funeral was described, and that it is kept in the Library of Alexandria, but after the sack of the city by the Arabs in 642, all documentation was lost, so our contemporaries do not know where to look for the grave of this couple.
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However, scientists do not give up, again and again they collect expeditions, so in 2009 Dr. Hawas assembled a group, it consisted of 70 workers and 12 archaeologists. Their goal was to discover the tomb, and about 45 kilometers from Alexandria, under the remains of the Temple of Osiris, they found a 120-meter tunnel that was filled with sand.
tomb of cleopatra
And so, during the excavations, the first find was discovered - the death mask of Anthony, a plaster bust of Cleopatra and 20 coins with her profile.
Antony's mask was identified based on the description of Antony's appearance, he was quite handsome and had a dimple on his chin, which is repeated by his death mask. According to the description, the bust also belongs to Cleopatra, this is confirmed by the image on the coins found here during the excavations (by the way, according to the images, Cleopatra was not at all such an attractive appearance as described in ancient documents, and, according to scientists, most likely, she had a sharp intelligence and inner charm, which made her consider her one of the most beautiful women in the world). Thus, the scientists concluded that the tomb is very close.
However, there were also contradictions. Firstly, in the days of Ancient Egypt it was not customary to keep death masks or busts of the dead in the walls of the temple, and secondly, if Cleopatra was considered a queen and had the right to be revered in temples, then the Roman Anthony did not have this right.
There can be only one explanation of the location of the mask of Anthony and the Bust of Cleopatra - the covenant of Cleopatra herself was fulfilled, and all these items were brought to the temple during the funeral ceremony.
The grave itself has not yet been found, but the head of the expedition Havas suggests that a secret crypt with the bodies of Anthony and Cleopatra should have been within the walls of the discovered tunnel, he says that such secret crypts were widely used in ancient Egypt. The researchers want to use a special radar that is designed to search for cavities in the ground. Therefore, the excavations continue, and perhaps, soon, the secret of Cleopatra's tomb will be revealed.
Yulia Struzhko