The Claim
The Grave of Cleopatra, the most famous Egyptian queen still hasn’t been found
Cleopatra was one of Egypt’s most famous rulers and is known for losing the kingdom of Egypt to the Romans. Born in 69 B.C, Cleopatra became queen of Egypt at the age of 18 upon the death of her father, Ptolemy XII. She and her brother ruled the kingdom together under the title of husband and wife, as her brother was also crowned king upon their fathers death.
This strange arrangement broke down in 48 B.C when the siblings began a civil war, and it was perhaps due to this reason the country was weakened enough to allow the Romans an easy invasion.
The invasion itself was led by Caesar and went on for several years. During this time Cleopatra got to know various Roman figure heads and became very close to Caesar himself and even had a son with him named Caesarion which means little Caesar. She moved to Rome with him for a while but after he was assassinated she fled back to Egypt.
Soon after she got back she killed her brother and proclaimed herself ruler of all Egypt. Rome however was in the middle of its own civil war that kept spilling over into Egypt, and as she did with Caesar before, she now sought to seduce the main power of the local Roman forces, Mark Antony.
After bearing him 2 children and spending several years in relative peace, an enemy of Cleopatra declared war on her and due to her marriage to Antony, him as well. This new enemy was a man called Octavian who sent a large force to Egypt to meet Cleopatra and Antony’s army head on.
Even though they had a large army, the Egyptian’s were quickly defeated by the Roman’s, and since Octavian was a bitter rival of both Antony and Cleopatra, they didn’t want to be taken alive.
Cleopatra is believed to have killed herself by making a poisonous snake bite her on the breast, and upon realising his wife was dead and the enemy closing in fast, Antony also decided to commit suicide.
As for the bodies there’s no records as to what happened to them at this point. Some versions claim how the bodies were taken to a temple or secret burial site by some of their followers, where as other versions claim that Octavian knew of the death and permitted them to be buried together.
One thing that most people seem to agree on is that they were both buried at the same place, not only because of their relationship but it was also custom to bury rulers in the same grave.
One of the spots believed to contain the tomb is an area west of Alexandria in Egypt as this was a popular area for burying royalty during the reign of Cleopatra. Various sites below ground have been found in the area using radar, and some excavated sites have turned up coins and carvings showing the 2 together, but the actual grave itself remains hidden.
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