When one considers famous women from the ancient world, Cleopatra often tops the list. Yet despite her well known name, most of what we know about the Egyptian queen are buried in legend and stories written by the people who led to her downfall. In fact, only seven known images of her exist because the Romans who defeated her tried to erase all images of her. In addition to the many mysteries surrounding the Queen of the Nile, one secret still has yet to be solved: where is Cleopatra buried. This puzzle will attempt to be answered in National Geographic’s new Cleopatra’s Final Secret.
What Is Cleopatra’s Final Secret?
Cleopatra’s Final Secret is a documentary that follows National Geographic explorer and archeologist Kathleen Martinez as she excavates in Egypt. Using her experience as a criminal attorney in the Dominican Republic, Martinez looks for clues as to where Cleopatra’s tomb might lie. If the Romans had captured her, they would have taken her back to Rome as with other defeated leaders. However, since there is no record of this, Martinez believes Cleopatra took her own life an arranged for her body to be hidden in a secret tomb where the Romans would never find her. After researching and exploring for about 20 years, Martinez has identified what she believes is a temple that might have been dedicated to Isis, the Egyptian god who was most identified with Cleopatra.
While excavating, her team discovered a tunnel that led to the ocean and a submerged site miles offshore in the Mediterranean. She has enlisted Titanic discoverer Bob Ballard, the Egyptian Navy, and a team of archaeologists and divers to help her explore this mysterious location. Their discovery of a port possibly destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 365 AD could provide more clues to the lost tomb. National Geographic has posted an article about this discovery at their website.
Cleopatra’s Final Secret premieres Sept. 25 at 10/9c on National Geographic and begins streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
Why You Should See Cleopatra’s Final Secret
National Geographic has produced many great series that focus on ancient history as they have looked for lost cities and studied civilizations that have disappeared over millennia. I have enjoyed watching many of them and have even had opportunities to interview National Geographic explorers. Therefore, when I heard about Cleopatra’s Final Secret, I was excited to view it. I was not disappointed. I had not heard of Kathleen Martinez before this show. However, her interest in archeology and especially Cleopatra led to her set aside her law practice and travel to Egypt to find clues pointing her towards Cleopatra’s final resting place. Using skills developed in criminal justice, she was able to deduce that a temple in ruins that did not appear on many ancient and more modern maps may have been a main temple of Isis and a place where Cleopatra may have had her body taken.
Cleopatra’s Final Secret keeps viewers engaged as she follows clues from exploring a main temple of Isis in the southern part of the Egyptian empire and using that to identify a northern main temple to the goddess at the ruins of Taposiris Magna. Even when the trail disappears into the ocean, Martinez brings in an expert on finding things underwater and makes an incredible discovery. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show and highly recommend it, especially if you have even a faint interest in ancient history.
Be sure to watch Cleopatra’s Final Secret when it premieres Sept. 25 at 10/9c on National Geographic and begins streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Here is a trailer for the series.
Fonte: GeekDad - Leia mais