A New Discovery Could Help Lead Archaeologists to Cleopatra’s Tomb

Popular Mechanics ^ | Sep 24, 2025 | Elizabeth Rayne

[nickcarraway]

The location of Cleopatra's burial has remained a mystery since her death, but a sunken port might be a key to finding it.

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:

-The location of Cleopatra’s burial has remained a mystery since her death, but a sunken port might be a key to finding it.

-This port is directly connected to the temple of Taposiris Magna, and it is thought that the tomb of Cleopatra may be hidden somewhere in the enormous temple complex.

-While no evidence of the tomb itself has surfaced, royal artifacts have, and the search continues.

Cleopatra VII was the last pharaoh to ever ascend the throne of Egypt. She wielded political power by allying her kingdom with Rome and, at one point, was the richest woman on Earth. She even declared herself the living incarnation of the goddess Isis. But despite her fame and infamy (she allegedly ordered her lover Mark Antony to demand the execution of her own sister), her tomb has never been found.

Rumors of its location have been swirling since Cleopatra’s death around two thousand years ago. She and Antony were supposedly buried together after Egypt was defeated by the forces of Augustus Caesar, (with him falling on his sword and her reportedly allowing a deadly asp to take her life), but neither body has ever surfaced.

That hasn’t stopped experts from searching. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, archaeologist and Cleopatra enthusiast Kathleen Martinez (along with her research team) recently discovered a port on the ocean floor that was unmistakably linked to a temple that Martinez believes could hold the body of the infamous queen.

It has long been thought that Cleopatra had been interred somewhere in her birthplace of Alexandria, but Martinez had a different idea. She believes that the queen actually sought her final resting place in a temple of Isis.

Eventually, Martinez and her team investigated the temple of Taposiris Magna—dedicated to Osiris, husband of Isis and king of the Egyptian pantheon. Built by pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (an ancestor of Cleopatra) between 280 and 270 B.C.E., it used to be a grand temple, but over time, Taposiris Magna has been reduced to crumbling walls and eroded monuments rising out of the sand. And it was there that Martinez and her team found their port, which just so happened to be underwater.

Clues Emerge About Mysterious Tunnels Below Europe

Thousands of years ago, the port stood firmly on land. The coastline was four kilometers (about 2.5 miles) further out during Cleopatra’s time, but today, it has encroached to the point that the port is in a much more waterlogged state than it would have been upon construction. Among the remains of the port were columns, cemented blocks, and polished stone floors. The seafloor was littered with anchors and amphora.

Martinez had previously explored a subterranean tunnel that led from Taposiris Magna to the Mediterranean Sea, which ended in a group of structures her team refers to as Salam 5. The sunken port is an extension of that, and adds to the trove of objects previously unearthed at Taposiris Magna. Prior finds include coins stamped with Cleopatra’s profile, bronze statuettes, oil lamps, ceramic vessels used in rituals, and limestone vessels for storage. A scarab amulet inscribed with The justice of Ra shines appears to be a royal talisman. (If the tomb of the iconic queen is ever found, it could possibly dull the shine of King Tut’s cache of gilded treasures.)

Whether the tomb of Cleopatra could have also have ended up submerged is still unknown, and its location still eludes Martinez. But she is determined to keep searching.

[circlecity]

“ it is thought that the tomb of Cleopatra may be hidden somewhere in the enormous temple complex.”

Well, that nails it down.

[Palio di Siena]

Underwater as well.

[Da Coyote]

The tomb is right next to Amelia Earheart’s Lockheed.

[jerod]

Cleopatra and Mark Anthony were the losers... Losers don’t get tombs.

[Hyman Roth]

Like I said on another thread. Quit wasting money. Just ask Keith Richards.

[Verginius Rufus]

Actually you might say that the last Pharaoh was Ptolemy XV Caesarion, Cleopatra’s son, proclaimed as co-ruler with his mother, and who outlived her briefly until Octavian had him killed.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Wanted Egypt and Rome both.

He might have been a decent (for a certain value of decent) ruler but as a person he stunk.

[Fiji Hill]

Dante uses his time machine to travel back 2,000 years so he can date Cleopatra.

Time Machine--Dante & the Evergreens (1960)

[Verginius Rufus]

Are you referring to Caesarion? He was just a teenager when he was killed so I don’t think we know enough about him to know how he would have turned out. At the end he would have been content just to have his life spared, but Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, didn’t want any biological sons of Caesar around. He would not have had any legal claim in Rome as the illegitimate son of a non-citizen.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

As I recall, Cleopatra's Tomb was next door to Plato's Retreat.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Nah. I am referring to the most undivine Augustus.

The more you learn about him the more you begin to dislike him.

[tumblindice]

The Romans chucked her into the Red Sea.
She would bathe there periodically.

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding kw, not pinging. This isn't really new per se.

The rest of the keyword, sorted:

• An Archaeologist Claims She's Found a Stunning Statue of Cleopatra at Her Alleged Tomb [12/13/2024]
• Vast tunnel found beneath ancient Egyptian temple [aqueduct] [11/08/2022]
• Archaeologists in Egypt Discover Mummy With Gold Tongue [02/05/2021]
• Mummy with a gold tongue found in Egypt [02/02/2021]
• 'Sensational' Egypt find offers clues in hunt for Cleopatra's tomb [07/15/2020]
• Antony and Cleopatra's long lost tomb 'FOUND and is set to be uncovered' [01/21/2019]
• Threshold to Cleopatra's mausoleum discovered off Alexandria coast [01/01/2010]
• Tomb of the century [Anthony and Cleopatra] [04/29/2009]
• Is this Cleopatra's skull? The thrilling finds at the dig to discover Egypt's lost queen [04/20/2009]
• Egyptians hope to find Cleopatra's tomb [04/15/2009]
• Dig 'may reveal' Cleopatra's tomb [04/15/2009]
• 'Indiana Jones'-Like Archeologist Says He's Found Cleopatra's Tomb [05/25/2008]
• Egypt: Tomb Of Cleopatra And Lover To Be Uncovered [04/25/2008]
• First Tut, now Cleo in Dr Zahi's sights [08/18/2006]
• Spotlight interview with Dr. Zahi Hawass [ Tabusiris Magna / tomb of Cleopatra / Mark Anthony ?] [08/17/2006]

[Deepeasttx]

As I recall, Cleopatra’s Tomb was next door to Plato’s Retreat.

---

Wrong

It’s in the basement under the Alamo.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

I am referring to the most undivine Augustus. The more you learn about him the more you begin to dislike him.

Augustus single-handedly saved and preserved the Roman state. If you don't like the Roman Empire, then you don't like Augustus.

If Augustus lost the civil war, we'd most likely not be typing in these Roman letters, if we'd be typing at all.

[GingisK]

Do Roman records indicate that a tomb was indeed built for her? I suspect her body was merely dumped in a swamp.

[Verginius Rufus]

If you follow his early career it's very easy to dislike Octavian--pretty ruthless character. Cicero helped him a lot at the beginning of his career (for ulterior motives--as a way to try to stop Marc Antony) but later Octavian did not object when Antony insisted on having Cicero killed.

A while back I learned that I had an ancestor 13 generations back whose name was Octavian. It didn't make me think better of Caesar Octavianus.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Thousands of years ago, the port stood firmly on land. The coastline was four kilometers (about 2.5 miles) further out during Cleopatra’s time, ****

Blame it on the earth quake in 365 AD, not Glo-Bull Warming.

[nickcarraway]

Really? In an area that is known for extensive burial of it’s rulers?