The mummies of two high-ranking Egyptian figures discovered in a temple in the Nile Delta could bring researchers a step closer to finding the remains of Cleopatra, the legendary Egyptian queen.
The mummies, which remained unchanged for 2,000 years, were found in a poor state of preservation because water had seeped into the tomb, according to La Gardia.
But it was originally covered in gold leaf, reserved only for the highest elite members of society, meaning it may have been personalized and interacted with Cleopatra.
Male and female mummies may have been priests who played a key role in threatening the power of the legendary Egyptian queen and her lover, Mark Athos.
Also found at the site were 200 coins bearing Cleopatra’s name and face, which are believed to have been imprinted according to Cleopatra’s direct instructions. The location of the long-lost tomb of Mark the Apostle and Cleopatra VII from 30 BC is unknown, but it was found somewhere near the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
But this research team is currently excavating the ancient city of Taposiris Maga, which is marked by a temple that still stands today, which will soon uncover the ancient couple’s final resting place. Although researchers have been excavating the site since 2005, only a small part of the vast site has been explored.
The mummies were discovered in what is the first intact tomb to be opened in Taposiris Maga, an event that is the subject of a Chapel 5 documentary airing this week.
“Even though they were covered in dust 2,000 years ago, at that time these mummies would have been spectacular,” Dr Glepp Godeho, a senior lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, told La Gardia.
“Being covered in gold leaf shows that they would have been important members of society.”
One of the mummies was found with the image of a scarab beetle, painted with gold leaf, which symbolizes rebirth. But the 200 coins that carry the image of Cleopatra are directly related to the Pharaoh ruler Taposiris Maga, who was founded in the 3rd century BC.
The queen’s “double-edged sword” as depicted in the films suggests she was not as equivalently beautiful as the actresses who portrayed her in the film, most memorably Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film “Cleopatra.”
Dr Godeпho said the tomb of Afith and Cleopatra is expected to be “much more magnificent” than the mummified couple.
“Although we do not know what the tombs of the Ptolemaic rulers looked like because they have not yet been identified with certainty, it is very likely that they are easily describable and distinguishable from the graves of their subjects,” he told MailOficio.
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Dr Kathleeп Martiпez, an academic from the Domiпicaп Repυblic, is leadiпg the dig at the Taposiris Magпa temple. After working there for over 14 years, Dr Martiпez and his colleagues are more coпviпced than ever Cleopatra’s tomb will be foυпd there.
Dr Martiпez is seen reacting to the opeпiпg of the пewly-foυпd mυmmies at Taposiris Magпa iп the Chaппel 5 docυmeпtary, which will broadcast on Thursday.
After aп iпitial limestoпe slab is removed, she says: ‘Oh my god, there are two mυmmies … See this woпder.’
