Revenge of Cleopatra Queen

DR: Zahi Hawass

No queen throughout all eras had ever enjoyed love and admiration as famous Cleopatra VII did. The Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt was almost not on the scene until Cleopatra’s took over Egypt’s rule.

The queen was setting a plan to take over Egypt’s rule. Simultaneously in Rome, the conflict between Pompeii and Julius Caesar, his friend, was so tough.

Pompeii was defeated and he escaped to Egypt with the hope that Ptolemy XII’s sons would return his favor, as he was the one who brought their father back to Egypt.

Pompeii arrived Egypt, but he was killed. Julius Caesar arrived to Egypt. When he knew about Pompeii’s death, he felt so sad and he honored his friend’s death. After he accepted reality, he started walking around the city as if he was the country’s king. This act provoked many of the patriotic Alexandrians.

According to the roman historian Plutarch, Cleopatra and Marc Antony were buried together after they both committed suicide, Antony with a sword and Cleopatra with poison, after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Actium in 30 BC.

We excavated with Kathleen Martinez, who leads the archaeological team from the Dominican Republic at the Taposiris Manga temple for three years near the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

By using radar, the teams found a number of deep shafts inside the temple, three of which are believed to have been used for burials

Also, we found 22 coins with the image of Cleopatra, two statues of Cleopatra, another statue of a king and tunnels which show the temple was used for burial.

The discovery of the tombs around the temple is especially important because this can signal that important persons are buried inside the temple.

I think that the coins we found at the site bearing the likeness of Cleopatra reveal that she was a beauty and contradict a study by a British University team, which contended that Cleopatra was ugly and had a crooked nose. The finds from Taposiris reflect a charm and indicate that Cleopatra was in no way unattractive.

Noteworthy, during her ruling era Egypt was strong economically and politically. When Cleopatra visited Roma, she met Julius Cesar and felt as if she became Roma’s queen. She stayed there for two years. Julius Cesar then was killed inside the senator.

Julius Cesar’s end was unexpected for Cleopatra who, out of deep sadness, returned to Egypt. She declared her son as her partner in ruling Egypt. This declaration came after she killed her brother Ptolemy XIV.

Moving to Rome, a serious conflict broke out between Julius Cesar’s enemies and his supporters. Mark Antony and Octavius leaded the supporters’ army. Julius Cesar’s enemies were defeated and the kingdom was pided between both leaders. Marc Antony had the kingdom’s eastern part.