Video: The Search for Antony and Cleopatra

May 21, 2009

Dr. Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, continues to delight us with new videos on intriguing archaeological mysteries. This time, Dr. Hawass takes us inside the temple of Taposiris Magna, some 50 kilometers west of Alexandria.

Founded about 2,200 years ago during the reign of Ptolemy IV, the temple may be an important burial place. According to Hawass, Cleopatra is buried right here, sharing her last resting place with Mark Antony, the Roman general who became her lover and had three children with her.

Excavations outside the temple have recently revealed a large cemetery dating to the Greco-Roman period, and a radar survey of the temple itself has identified three spots where a burial chamber might lie deep underground.

In this video, Zahi Hawass shows us the temple and discusses the latest discoveries.