Where Is Cleopatra’s Tomb?

One of the most well-known historical personalities from antiquity is Cleopatra, yet it is unknown where she is buried. Roman sources claim that after being defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Alexandria, she and her lover, Mark Antony, both killed themselves; however, Cleopatra did so only after learning that Octavian intended to display her as a prize during his Roman victory. Octavian then permitted the couples' interment together, but Antony might have been burnt rather than mummified.

The information we know from prehistoric sources ends there. The exact location of the tomb is still up for controversy in the present era. Some Egyptologists believe that Alexandria, the most obvious response, is the correct one, but in recent years, interest in the ruins of an ancient city called Taposiris Magna, which once housed a sizable temple devoted to Osiris, has increased.

Taposiris Magna has so far seen the discovery of dozens of tombs as well as a few mummies. A pair of male and female mummies that had been interred together and were completely coated in gold leaf were of particular interest. They weren't Cleopatra and Mark Antony, but they were undoubtedly prominent members of Egyptian society. But more importantly, they demonstrated that Taposiris Magna was an important city in Cleopatra's day and might have been the site of her tomb.