Tunnel found: Does it really lead to Cleopatra’s tomb?

Dream woman of antiquity, enigmatic “femme fatale”, cunning politician: numerous myths and legends surround Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt. / Tunnel found: Does it really lead to Cleopatra’s tomb?

Almost everyone knows the famous ruler of antiquity and yet most know little that is true about her. Because the erotic, intriguing and mysterious fantasy figure has pushed the real figure more and more into the background. Now one has probably come a big step closer to solving the riddle of where Cleopatra was buried.

Archaeologists have been searching for the final resting place of Cleopatra and her husband Mark Antony in the vicinity of the Temple of Tapusiris Magna, also known as the “Great Tomb of Osiris”, for almost 20 years. Now the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced an incredible discovery. Researchers from the University of San Domingo’s Dominican-Egyptian Archaeological Mission have discovered a massive tunnel beneath the temple, about 50 kilometers from Alexandria. dr Kathleen Martínez, head of the excavations, suspects that the underground passage leads to the long-lost tomb of the famous pharaoh.

A technical masterpiece

More than 1.3 kilometers long, around 2 meters high and around 13 meters below the surface: Martínez describes the tunnel under the ancient temple as a “technical masterpiece”. The architecture is similar to that of the tunnel of Eupalinos on the Greek island of Samos – one of the most important scientific and technical achievements of antiquity.

More finds

The research team made other discoveries as part of the tunnel discovery, according to the ministry’s statement. This includes two heads made of alabaster. One of them probably dates from the Ptolemaic period, the other is said to represent the statue of the Sphinx. Part of the massive tunnel lies under the water of the Mediterranean Sea: the archaeologists also found a number of clay and ceramic vessels and a rectangular block of limestone in the muddy sediments.

Cleopatra’s final resting place?

Since 2005, Dr. Kathleen Martínez the excavations at Taposiris Magna. Her declared goal is to find the tomb of Cleopatra and her husband, the Roman general Marcus Antonius. According to National Geographic, the gifted Dominican received her law degree when she was just 19. But her enthusiasm is for archeology and the mysterious fate of Cleopatra can no longer let her go after a quarrel with her father. In fact, in a discussion with his daughter in 1990, Professor Fausto Martínez did not take kindly to the last queen of Egypt. His daughter Kathleen opposed this and finally persuaded the legal scholar to give in: propaganda and eternal prejudice against women had distorted the image of Cleopatra.

Excavations at Taposiris Magna in recent years have repeatedly confirmed to Martínez that it is near the lost tomb of Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony. But whether Martínez is right remains to be seen. Perhaps the legendary resting place really is at the end of the newly discovered tunnel.

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