Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra

Historical sources

Throughout history many references to the tomb of Antony and Cleopatra have been made.

Primary source location

Plutarch places the tomb near a Temple of Isis. Plutarch and Cassius Dio describe Cleopatra VII moving between her palace and the tomb in her last days. Strabo and John (Bishop of Nikiu) place her palace on the island of Antirhodos. Plutarch and Suetonius say that Augustus completed the unfinished tomb and buried Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony together in regal fashion. Cassius Dio mentions about the mausoleum that "the upper part of it next to the roof was not yet fully completed" at the time of Cleopatra's death and that Cleopatra and Anthony "were both embalmed in the same fashion and buried in the same tomb".

Archaeologist Franck Goddio has spent 25 years performing a geophysical survey of the bay of Alexandria, revealing many Ptolemaic structures which reside under at least 16 feet of water, some under another 16 feet or more of sediment. He has identified the submerged island of Antirhodos along with remains of a palace that contains artifacts from the reign of Cleopatra VII and an Isis temple. Currently, only this temple of Isis has been located in Alexandria.

Goddio assumes Cleopatra VII's mausoleum to be located on the submerged Antirhodos Island between the palace and the Isis temple.

In fiction

Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra''

Main article: Antony and Cleopatra{{!}}''Antony and Cleopatra''

William Shakespeare, inspired by Plutarch, briefly alludes to this common entombment in the voice of his character Caesar (Octavian), in the last verses of his play Antony and Cleopatra (Act V, scene II): No grave upon the earth shall clip in it A pair so famous.}}

Exploration and discovery efforts

Many searches for the tomb of Antony and Cleopatra have taken place.

Taposiris Magna excavation

Reports in 2008 and 2009 focused on an announcement by the noted Egyptologist Zahi Hawass that he might find the tomb in Taposiris Magna, a temple to Osiris, located west of Alexandria, Egypt. Excavations carried out by Kathleen Martínez have yielded ten mummies in 27 tombs of Egyptian nobles, as well as coins bearing images of Cleopatra and carvings showing the two in an embrace. So far, the tomb itself remains elusive, but the temple excavations continue, with additional sites below the surface identified using ground-penetrating radar in 2011.

In January 2019, controversy arose over the possibility that the discovery of the tombs was imminent, attributed to remarks by Zahi Hawass at a conference at the University of Palermo. The Egyptologist denied the news in an article in the newspaper Al-Ahram, affirming that the thesis that the tombs were in Taposiris Magna was not his but that of Kathleen Martínez, and that "the temples were for worshiping, and this was for the goddess Isis. It is therefore unlikely that Cleopatra was buried there"; he also claimed that he did not believe Martínez's hypothesis because "the Egyptians never buried inside a temple". The last statement is contradicted by the fact that burials of some pharaohs - for example rulers of 21st and 22nd Dynasty buried in Tanis, and of ephemeral king Harsiese - were indeed located inside temple's enclosure or in its close vicinity.

In early November 2022 the team of archaeologists led by Martínez identified a 1300 m long tunnel in the area of the temple of Taposiris Magna, west of Alexandria, that could lead to Cleopatra's tomb.

The search seeks to find Antony's mummy as well, despite Plutarch's observation that Antony was cremated: "After Cleopatra had heard this, in the first place, she begged Octavian that she might be permitted to pour libations for Antony; and when the request was granted, she had herself carried to the tomb, and embracing the urn which held his ashes."

Tomb contents

It is likely that the tomb contains nothing besides human remains.

When Octavian approached Alexandria, Cleopatra VII retreated to her tomb:

Octavian had no intention of leaving it there:

Romans eventually gained access to the tomb (Plutarch, Cassius Dio), and Octavian obtained the treasure:

References

References

1. (April 15, 2009). "Dig 'may reveal' Cleopatra's tomb".
2. (24 February 2015). "Cleopatra's tomb may have been found: Egypt's top archaeologist says the lost tomb of Mark Antony and Cleopatra may have been discovered.". [[SBS News]].
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7. John of Nikiu. "Chronicle".
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12. (Dec 2021). "University of Oxford Live: "The Portus Magnus of Alexandria: 25 years of underwater archaeological research"".
13. Goddio, Franck. "The Submerged Royal Quarters. London, 1998".
14. Shakespeare. "The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra".
15. Shakespeare. (1623). "Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies: published according to the true originall copies". Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount.
16. Green, Lucca. "The Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra?".
17. Tharoor, Ishaan. (April 23, 2009). "The Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra?". Time Magazine.
18. (July 5, 2011). "Search for the tomb of Ahmed and Cleopatra continues". Archeology News Network.
19. Antón, Jacinto. (February 11, 2019). "Zahi Hawass reconoce que no se está cerca de hallar la tumba de Cleopatra". [[El País]].
20. Naunton, Chris. "The Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt". Hudson & Thames.
21. Edwards, Christian. (2022-11-10). "Tunnel discovered beneath temple may lead to Cleopatra's tomb, archaeologist says".
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23. link. "The Life of Antony". Plutarch, 74:1-2
24. Cassius Dio. "Roman History".
25. link. "The Life of Antony". Plutarch, 79:1
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