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Irish Daily Mirror

Cleopatra's tomb 'found' as archaeologists make 'significant discovery'

An archaeologist on a quest to find the elusive tomb of Cleopatra VII believes she has "found" the ancient Queen's final resting place. Kathleen Martinez, who has been searching for the tomb for nearly two decades, thinks she has discovered a statue that could depict the face of the queen who ruled from 51 to 30 BC. The white marble statue, consisting only of a head, bears the likeness of a woman with a petite nose, full lips and hair braided around the head. In addition to this, Martinez and her team unearthed 337 coins bearing Cleopatra's image, as well as a variety of pottery, oil lamps, figurines and other artefacts at the Temple of Taposiris Magna. Martinez has long maintained the belief that the queen's tomb is hidden somewhere within the temple's ruins, which are situated above a 4,281-foot-long tunnel 43 feet underground, reports the Express. She theorises that Cleopatra's body was transported from the palace through the tunnel and buried at a secret location. However, some archaeologists have claimed the statue represents another Royal woman. Critics of Martinez have also disputed her theory about the queen's burial, asserting that Cleopatra was entombed in the city of Alexandria, not 25 miles outside of it. This is yet another "significant finding," according to Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced that recent discoveries at Taposiris Magna are crucial in deepening our understanding of the architectural, cultural, and ceremonial practices of the time. In addition to a potential statue of Cleopatra, Martinez and her team also unearthed a limestone bust of a king, adorned with the Nemes - the traditional headwear of the pharaohs. The dig was led by Martinez, who worked alongside a team of Egyptian and Dominican archaeologists from the National University Pedro Henríquez Ureña. According to an official release, the researchers found foundation deposits beneath the southern wall of the temple's outer enclosure. While the female statue is considered the most significant discovery, some experts have questioned whether it truly represents Cleopatra, as suggested by Martinez. Some have pointed out differences in facial features between the statue and the ancient Queen, suggesting that it may instead depict a princess. However, this isn't the only artifact bearing a resemblance to Cleopatra. Martinez and her team also discovered over 300 coins, many featuring her image. Other notable discoveries include a scarab-shaped amulet inscribed with 'The justice of Ra has shone,' a bronze ring dedicated to the goddess Hathor, and ancient burial sites. The researchers uncovered a large cemetery consisting of 20 burial chambers, and a tomb with three chambers beneath the Taposiris Magna lighthouse. In 2022, Martinez dug up a tunnel that has an uncanny resemblance to the famed Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos Island, renowned as a major engineering triumph from the Classical era. Speaking to Heritage Key, Martinez said: "If there's a one per cent chance that the last queen of Egypt could be buried there, it is my duty to search for her. This is the first time that any archaeologist has found tunnels, passages underground [and] inside the enclosure walls of the temple, so we have changed forever what they know about the architecture." Martinez proposes that following Mark Antony's suicide after his defeat by Caesar Augustus, also known by the name Octavian, Cleopatra meticulously prepared for their combined burial at this site, resonating with the famous saga. Additionally, the team unveiled remains of a fourth-century BC Greek temple that was razed between the second century BC and the start of the AD period. Reportedly connected to a complex labyrinth of subterranean passageways stretching from Lake Mariout to the Mediterranean, this temple adds to the historical enigma. Study of broken pottery pieces collected during the dig verified the construction date of the Taposiris Magna temple to the 1st century BC. The temple's moniker, "great tomb of Osiris," suggests its devotion to the deity Osiris and his queen - goddess Isis - with whom Cleopatra was believed to emulate. Today, Taposiris Magna is in ruins due to the Egyptian coastline being battered by earthquakes over the centuries, causing parts of the temple to collapse and sink into the sea. The site has been subject to multiple excavations, with the first dig initiated by Napoleon in the early 19th century. Martinez began her investigation of the site in 2005, convinced that Cleopatra may have been buried there following her suicide in 30 BC. She suggests Cleopatra's death was a ceremonial act - part of a ritual apotheosis, or the shedding of her mortal body to ascend to the status of a goddess. If this were true, she would have been entombed in a temple, most likely a temple dedicated to Iris. Over the past two decades, Martinez has discovered numerous findings that enhance experts' understanding of the Ptolemaic era, including skeletal remains, but the ancient queen's tomb continues to evade her.