A statue discovered in Cleopatra’s suspected tomb reveals her true face, scientists say

A statue discovered in Cleopatra’s tomb is suspected to reveal the true face of the Egyptian queen.

An Egyptian-Dominican archaeological mission in collaboration with the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University, led by Dr. Kathleen Martinez, discovered new artifacts and ceremonial artifacts from the late Ptolemaic period.

One of the most important is a white marble statue of a woman adorned with a royal crown, which a leading expert believes reveals the face of Cleopatra VII, Daily News Egypt reported.

Martinez, an archaeologist who has been searching for the tomb for nearly 20 years, believes the statue depicts the true face of the queen, who ruled from 51 to 30 BC.

However, other experts disagree, noting several facial features that differ from popular depictions of the queen. Instead, some have suggested that she portrays a princess from the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The team also found a half-length statue of a king wearing the Nemes headdress, 337 coins, many with the image of Queen Cleopatra VII, along with ritual pottery, oil lamps, limestone containers, bronze statues, a scarab amulet with the inscription “The justice of Ra is born” and a number of other objects.

The discoveries were made in the Temple of Taposiris Magna, located west of Alexandria, under the southern wall of the outer perimeter of the temple.

The temple is connected by a complex system of deep tunnels that stretch from Lake Mariout to the Mediterranean Sea.

A 2,000-year-old mummy with a tongue of gold and other important artifacts have also been discovered in the tomb in recent years.

It is believed to be the final resting place of the Egyptian queen – a hidden tomb where she is believed to have been buried with ill-fated lover Mark Antony after their suicides.

Cleopatra was the last queen of Egypt – having been crowned at just 18 – and is one of the most famous female rulers in history.

She is infamously believed to have committed suicide in Alexandria to avoid being paraded to Rome as a war prize.

Dead at the age of 39, she is said to have been buried with her lover.

Martinez has long believed that the queen’s tomb was hidden somewhere in the ruins of the temple, which sits atop a 4,281-foot-long tunnel 43 meters underground, according to the Daily Mail. It claims that Cleopatra’s body was moved from the palace through the tunnel and buried in a secret place.

However, other experts disagree on the more than 2,000-year-old mystery about the exact location of their tomb.

Beyond the grave, tech experts have also claimed to have configured what the Queen looked like.

Last year, a British film editor went viral for using artificial intelligence to imagine famous historical figures taking selfies, including Jesus, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and Cleopatra.