At the temple, Taposiris Magna on the Nile delta, two mummies of high-status people from
Cleopatra's time has been found.
Because it appears that no one is aware of the location of Egyptian
queen Cleopatra's tomb, it is incredibly mysterious.
So we welcome you back to our channel again and in this video, we are going to cover what
scientists have found about Cleopatra’s tomb.
But before we get deep into the research you guys need to know who she was and why she
was so important that scientists so desperately want
to find her tomb.
The conflict between Cleopatra VII and her teenage brother for the throne of Egypt was
not going as well as she had hoped.
After Cleopatra attempted to establish herself as the sole ruler in 49 B.C.,
Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, who was also her husband and, by the terms of their father's will,
her co- ruler, drove his sister from the palace in
Alexandria.
The queen, who was then in her early twenties, fled to Syria before coming back and assembling
a mercenary army outside the capital.
The Roman general Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria in
the summer of 48 B.C. while pursuing a military rival who had fled to Egypt.
There, he became embroiled in the Egyptian family feud.
The Nile Valley's stability, with its enormous agricultural wealth, was in Rome's economic
interest because Egypt had long been a servile ally.
Caesar moved into the royal palace in Alexandria and called the rival siblings to a peace meeting
that he would preside over.
However, Ptolemy XIII's army prevented the king's sister from
returning to Alexandria.
Cleopatra devised a plan to infiltrate the palace so she could meet with Caesar, knowing
that his diplomatic intervention might enable her to
reclaim the throne.
She got her butler Apollodoros to wrap her up in a carpet or, according to some sources,
a bedclothes sack, which he then gave to the
52-year-old Roman.
A pivotal scene in the real Cleopatra's staging of her own life was the young Cleopatra falling
out of an unfolded carpet, which has been dramatized
in nearly every film about her, from the silent era to a 1999 TV miniseries.
She was making the most of all of her abilities from the moment Cleopatra the Great introduced
her to the world stage before Caesar.
Like most rulers of her era, Cleopatra believed she was divine, and she and other members
of her family were hailed as gods and goddesses from
the moment they were born.
Being extremely self-conscious, Cleopatra kept her allure through displays of splendor,
associating with the god's Isis and Aphrodite.
As a result, she contributed significantly to the mythology that
still surrounds her today.
The Cleopatras played by Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, and Claudette Colbert do share
the real queen's love of pageantry, even though Hollywood
versions of her story are rife with anachronisms, embellishments, exaggerations,
and inaccuracies.
According to Fletcher, Cleopatra was a master of disguise and costume.
She could reinvent herself to fit the situation, and Fletcher believes
that makes her a consummate politician.
The gesture won over Rome's future dictator-for-life when Cleopatra emerged from the carpet,
probably a little messy but wearing her finest attire and pleading for help.
He assisted Cleopatra in reclaiming the throne of Egypt.
Ptolemy XIII resisted the armistice that Caesar had imposed, but in the subsequent
civil war, he drowned in the Nile, leaving Cleopatra in
a secure position of power.
Even though Cleopatra gave birth to a son, Caesar was already married, and Egyptian tradition
required Cleopatra to wed Ptolemy XIV, the last of her brothers.
To prevent any challenges to the succession of her son, Cleopatra had Ptolemy XIV killed
after Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.
She also eliminated her disobedient sister Arsinoe to firmly establish her hold on the
throne.
In addition to being a typical aspect of Egyptian
dynastic politics in Cleopatra's time, such ruthlessness was also required to ensure her
own survival and that of her son.
Cleopatra began the task of ruling Egypt, the richest country in the Mediterranean region
and the last to maintain its independence from Rome
after all domestic threats had been eliminated.
And now that you have a clear understanding of who was Cleopatra and what she did in her
time and this is what makes her so an important
part of the history and this is why not only her tomb
but her whereabouts are also important.
Now let’s get back to the issue of Cleopatra’s tomb, what scientists have found and what
this means.
The tomb of Cleopatra, the final Egyptian queen, has long been a mystery to archaeologists
and the general public due to her disappearance more than 2,000 years ago.
The likelihood of discovering Cleopatra's tomb is extremely slim, despite media reports
suggesting the discovery of a lifetime is imminent.
Cleopatra committed suicide in 30 B.C. after being captured by the Roman emperor Octavian.
She was the lover of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony
and found herself on the losing side of a war.
According to ancient writers, she accomplished this by receiving a bite from a poisonous
snake known as an asp.
According to ancient writers, she was interred alongside Antony in a mausoleum
within a sizable tomb.
According to recent media reports, this tomb is about to be found at a location called
"Taposiris Magna," which is about 31 miles (50 kilometers)
west of Alexandria.
As An excavation team led by Kathleen Martinez has been working at the site for the past
15 years, uncovering artifacts from Cleopatra's reign,
including a cache of coins.
Similar news reports of an upcoming tomb discovery also circulated in
2019.
It's doubtful that Cleopatra was interred at Taposiris Magna, according to nearly a
dozen experts on the historical figure who spoke to Live
Science.
Additionally, they all concurred that the chances of discovering her tomb are slim.
Many academics think that Cleopatra would have been interred in Alexandria, perhaps
in a location that is now submerged.
There is absolutely no proof that Cleopatra's tomb could be in Taposiris Magna, according
to former Egyptian minister of state for antiquities
Zahi Hawass.
Hawass added that he spent more than ten years working at the site with Martinez and discovered
no proof that Cleopatra and Antony were interred there.
Hawwas added that he now thinks that Cleopatra was buried in the tomb she constructed next
to her palace, which is under the water, and
that her grave will never be discovered.
Due to coastal erosion over the past two thousand years, a portion of Alexandria, which houses
Cleopatra's palace, is now underwater.
There is a good chance that the tomb was destroyed in antiquity or that it is buried beneath
current construction, even if it is not submerged.
Several experts also noted that there is a good chance it was stolen in the past.
Although previous projects looked at Cleopatra's palace, there
are currently no projects looking for Cleopatra's underwater tomb.
Although Cleopatra was the last of the "Ptolemies," a line of kings descended from Ptolemy Soter,
one of Alexander the Great's generals, scientists are still interested in finding her tomb.
Despite passing away in Babylon, Alexander was ultimately reinterred in Alexandria.
Alexander's tomb and the tombs of all the Ptolemaic kings
have never been discovered, even though ancient writers frequently mention it.
We don't know where Alexander or any of the 15 Ptolemaic kings of Egypt were buried, according
to Susan Walker, an honorary curator and former Sackler Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean
Museum at the University of Oxford.
Walker also believes Cleopatra's tomb would have been near the tombs of other Ptolemaic
kings.
Walker thinks that if Cleopatra's tomb and the tombs of the other Ptolemaic kings were
built in Alexandria, they would probably be submerged
under present-day construction or buried beneath it.
In conclusion, we can state that even though there is little proof that Cleopatra was interred
at Taposiris Magna, the significance of the location
is unaffected.
And that’s the end of the video with what scientists have found.
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