Unearthed 13 meters below the site of an ancient city west of Alexandria, a tunnel over a kilometer long has revived hopes of finding the tomb of Egypt’s most famous ruler after the announcement by press release from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Are we really close to finding the funeral complex of the “Queen of Queens”, so nicknamed in the comic strip? Asterix ? Not so fast, tempers an expert.
In the area of the temple of Taposiris Magna on the northern coast of Egypt, where the tunnel was unveiled, the finds are legion. “There are always plenty of micro-discoveries each year on this site because it is very, very, very active, notes Egyptologist Perrine Poiron in an interview with The duty. Each time, this site causes a sensation because the basic assumption is that Marc-Antoine and Cleopatra would be buried there. »
For several decades, the excavations carried out by the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo have been orchestrated with the aim of getting their hands on the sepulcher of the famous couple. The religious complex dating from the Hellenistic era, founded under Ptolemy II and originally dedicated to Osiris, recently revealed that part of the place of worship was dedicated to Isis, a deity particularly associated with Cleopatra.
“We discovered small statuettes, elements that represent Alexander the Great,” says the doctor of Egyptology, who also points out that a small sculpted head of Cleopatra has increased the iconography hitherto known to her.
Partially submerged, the passage which is more than two meters high, “quite impressive in terms of its dimensions” according to Perrine Poiron, also offered archaeologists notorious artefacts, including coins with the effigy, as well as in the name of the queen and Alexander the Great.
Another intriguing fact, the corridor would be an almost exact replica of a tunnel located… in Greece. For Perrine Poiron, the explanation is “excessively simple”. The Mediterranean had opened up during this period, colonies, as well as Greek counters were established in Egypt.
“The world was much less closed than we imagine, explains the doctor in Egyptology. They were influenced by their multiple roots, as we are today. They are human beings who lived their globalization on their scale, the scale of the Mediterranean. »
So, is there reason to get excited? “Lots of small elements could imply that hope is here”, cautiously advances the Egyptologist. According to her, this is a discovery to watch closely.
“There is only time, excavations […] which will make it possible to settle the question, believes Perrine Poiron. I think it may be probable, there are several elements that suggest that something interesting is to be discovered on this site, it is undeniable, really. […] Will it be Cleopatra’s tomb I don’t know, but I wish them. I wish it for all of us, because it would be a magnificent discovery, I think it would become the discovery of the 21st century, after Tutankhamun, it would be Cleopatra,” she laughs.
With CTVNews.