Scientists Have Made Large-scale Archaeological Discovery

Eccentric archaeologist Zahi Hawass, renowned throughout the world – remember his hat in the style of Indiana Jones, he always wears – thinks that found the burial place of Cleopatra.

Hawass has 60 years of age. He heads a government agency of Egypt – The Supreme Council of Antiquities. Now Hawass, who is assisted by 12 archaeologists and 70 workers, began searching for the entrance to the tomb.

Two weeks ago he made a large-scale discovery and now hopes to find Cleopatra and her lover, the Roman general Mark Antony. As expected, a couple was buried together in the temple of Osiris, known Taposiris Magna, 28 miles west of Alexandria.

Hawass has discovered a tunnel beneath the temple length of 400 feet, which provides guidance on what a beauty queen, perhaps, lies under a layer of earth here. “We’ve found tunnels with statues of Cleopatra and many coins that are minted her portrait – in a typical church is not expecting to see” – he explained.

Two weeks ago, Hawass discovered expedition bust of Mark Antony – the Roman general who became Cleopatra’s lover and pressing with her three children before as a desire to create an empire centered in Egypt led to their conflict
with Rome.

Mark Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide – he took his own sword, and she, according to legend, pressed it to his chest the poisonous asp – after Octavian defeated their army at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC “We proceed from the hypothesis that buried here and Cleopatra and Marc Antony,” – said Hawass.

This archaeologist who was in Britain know mainly as the man who demands to return the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum (as well as advertising the exhibition Treasures of Tutankhamun in London’s cultural and entertainment complex on O2), believes that the temple because of its location was ideal haven for Cleopatra hiding from the army of Octavian.

Now dig suspended for a period of summer heat. When they resumed in November, Hawass will use radar to search for secret underground chambers.

Life and death of the queen forever captured for posterity in Shakespeare’s play “Antony and Cleopatra” and the Hollywood movie “Cleopatra” with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (who, incidentally, on the set fell in love), but the whereabouts of her tomb remains a mystery.

If Hawass is right, he may be able to make the greatest archaeological discovery in Egypt since then, as in 1922 the British archaeologist Howard Carter found Tutankhamun’s tomb.

However, other experts estimate what is happening with caution. John Baines, professor of Egyptology at Oxford University, warned that searching for royal tombs often “hopeless” idea. He also expressed doubt that Anthony was buried next to his beloved.

“It is unlikely that Mark Antony was a grave, which may find, as the time of his death, he moved to the status of enemy” – said Baines.

Hawass, however, insists on his own. “That’s our theory. Maybe others do not agree with it, but we are digging to see if we can prove it “- he said.