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Breakthrough Discovery: Archaeologists Find 2,000-Year-Old Bust Believed to Be of Cleopatra

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In November, National Geographic Explorer and archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, with her team of Dominican and Egyptian excavators, recovered a 2,000-year-old bust that she instantly recognized as a woman crowned with a royal diadem known to be worn by Ptolemaic queens. Small enough to fit into the palm of a hand and exquisitely preserved with flecks of blue paint, the rare artifact could offer significant revelations about Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, one of history’s most enigmatic rulers, and provide a crucial clue to finding one of history’s greatest mysteries — the location of her tomb.

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Photograph by Kenneth Garrett for National Geographic

Destroyed by Romans or sunken beneath the Mediterranean Sea, many relics of Cleopatra’s ruling era have been lost to ancient history, leaving her life and death, as well as her likeness, shrouded in mystery. Martinez, who has dedicated her life to finding the ancient ruler, and her team of excavators spent weeks exhuming two hidden rooms at the temple ruins of Taposiris Magna in the coastal town of Borg El Arab, Egypt, when they recovered the find. Noted to be a “woman of surpassing beauty” by Roman historians, Martinez believes the bust offers an idea of Cleopatra’s true appearance. It also bears a striking similarity to another sculpture housed at the Altes Museum in Berlin, which experts believe is Cleopatra. With this recent discovery, “We have two busts that are similar now,” Martinez said. “This will be the most accepted image of the Queen.” While archaeological experts are still studying it, all evidence at the moment points to the queen.

The white marble statuette find was exclusively captured by National Geographic for the upcoming documentary special, CLEOPATRA’S SECRET TOMB (working title). The special, which is being produced by LionTV and set to air on National Geographic and Disney+ in 2025, will follow the extraordinary journey to uncover the truth about Cleopatra, one of history’s most iconic yet misunderstood figures. Martinez has been excavating the overlooked Taposiris Magna temple site for over 20 years, uncovering clues that she believes suggest it could be the final resting place of Egypt’s last pharaoh. Through tireless excavations, she has pieced together a story of resilience and defiance, revealing why Cleopatra may have hidden her tomb from her enemies all those centuries ago. With the help of famed Titanic discoverer and National Geographic Explorer at Large Bob Ballard, Martinez expanded her search to an unexplored site miles offshore in the Mediterranean, which led to groundbreaking discoveries that may offer fresh insights into the legendary queen.

Along with the bust, archaeologists found foundation deposits (collections of objects marking tombs, temples, and palaces) at the temple site of Taposiris Magna, with an inscription in Greek and hieroglyphics that proved that the temple had been dedicated to the goddess Isis. This link holds profound significance since Cleopatra was considered to many a living embodiment of Isis. The findings were reported to Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, which administers the Taposiris Magna site.

The team also recovered pottery, bottles that once held wine and perfume, incense, items used for makeup, and more than 337 coins bearing the image of Cleopatra. After cleaning and cataloging the rest of the items, the researchers have determined that the artifacts indeed date back to the time of Cleopatra’s rule, 51 to 30 B.C.

Rumored to have said, “No man will ever find my tomb,” and notably defiant of the gender roles of her era, it would perhaps be fitting if Martinez, who has faced her share of criticism from a traditionally male-dominated field for doggedly searching this site versus elsewhere as prevailing theory suggested, ultimately unearths the whereabouts of Cleopatra’s final resting place.

For more information, read the full story on NatGeo.com HERE.

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