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April 16, 2009
Egypt's search for Cleopatra
April 16, 2009
Egypt's search for Cleopatra
AP
Zahi Hawass (above), Egypt's top archaeologist, said the Cleopatra statue and coins - which show an attractive face - debunk a recent theory that the queen was 'quite ugly.' -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
CAIRO - ARCHAEOLOGISTS will begin excavating sites in Egypt next week in an attempt to solve a mystery that has stymied historians for hundreds of years: Where is the final resting place of doomed lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony?
Archaeologists looking for the tombs of the celebrated queen of Egypt and the Roman general, who committed suicide in 31 BC, will begin excavating three sites at a temple where tombs may be located, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement Wednesday.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony, whose relationship was later immortalised by William Shakespeare and then in a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, could have been buried in a deep shaft in a temple near the Mediterranean Sea, the council said.
Archaeologists last year unearthed the alabaster head of a Cleopatra statue, 22 coins bearing Cleopatra's image and a mask believed to belong to Mark Antony at the temple.
The three sites were identified last month during a radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna, the council's statement said.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top archaeologist, said the Cleopatra statue and coins - which show an attractive face - debunk a recent theory that the queen was 'quite ugly.'
'The finds from Taposiris reflect a charm ... and indicate that Cleopatra was in no way unattractive,' said Mr Hawass, according to the statement.
Excavators at the site near Alexandria have already discovered a large previously unknown cemetery outside the temple enclosure.
They have also discovered 27 tombs - including a total of 10 mummies. -- AP
CAIRO - ARCHAEOLOGISTS will begin excavating sites in Egypt next week in an attempt to solve a mystery that has stymied historians for hundreds of years: Where is the final resting place of doomed lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony?
Archaeologists looking for the tombs of the celebrated queen of Egypt and the Roman general, who committed suicide in 31 BC, will begin excavating three sites at a temple where tombs may be located, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement Wednesday.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony, whose relationship was later immortalised by William Shakespeare and then in a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, could have been buried in a deep shaft in a temple near the Mediterranean Sea, the council said.
Archaeologists last year unearthed the alabaster head of a Cleopatra statue, 22 coins bearing Cleopatra's image and a mask believed to belong to Mark Antony at the temple.
The three sites were identified last month during a radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna, the council's statement said.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top archaeologist, said the Cleopatra statue and coins - which show an attractive face - debunk a recent theory that the queen was 'quite ugly.'
'The finds from Taposiris reflect a charm ... and indicate that Cleopatra was in no way unattractive,' said Mr Hawass, according to the statement.
Excavators at the site near Alexandria have already discovered a large previously unknown cemetery outside the temple enclosure.
They have also discovered 27 tombs - including a total of 10 mummies. -- AP
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