Recently, there has been significant research and discovery happening in Egypt — from the geographical origins of the Karnak Temple to an ongoing exploration that could reveal the elusive resting place of the country’s last pharaoh, Cleopatra VII.
Resulting from recent surveys of the Karnak Temple (a site that was expanded greatly by the Egyptian King, Amenhotep III) that took place near Luxor, one of the largest ancient temple complexes in the world and the location of the The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site welcoming millions of visitors every year, it’s been revealed that the temple rose from an island following flooding of the Nile River. This revelation was sparked by the analysis of 61 sediment cores and pottery fragments within and around the temple site that, when dated, were used to trace the transformation of the area spreading 3,000 years. The study, published in Antiquity on October 6, was led by Dr Ben Pennington, who is a Visiting Fellow in Geoarchaeology at the University of Southampton. With this newfound knowledge, the hot debate of the age of the Karnak Temple has been greatly narrowed within archaeological circles.
According to the study, the site was unsuitable for permanent occupation prior to 2520 BCE due to regular floods from the Nile (early occupation likely occurring during the Old Kingdom from 2591-2152), with the cutting of river channels into their beds to the west and east creating an island of high ground that enabled early occupation and construction of the temple. As centuries and millennia passed, these channels would diverge further — producing more space for the temple complex to develop. On top of this, it was seen how Ancient Egyptians themselves would shape the river through the dumping of sand into the channels, likely for the purpose of more land for building. Due to the similarities of the island rising from the water with an Ancient Egyptian myth that depicted a similar event with the creator god, Ra-Amun, researchers were led to believe that the building on this location was a result of religious reasoning.
In similar news, an underwater archeologist team with National Geographic explorers Kathleen Martínez and Bob Ballard has been involved in an ongoing study of a newfound sunken port outside the Taposiris Magna temple that Martínez believes to be the key to finding Cleopatra’s elusive tomb. Martínez has been eagerly searching for Cleopatra in this area since 2004, when she was granted a license to excavate the temple, which yielded immediately promising results after finding a piece of blue glass a year later. This piece of glass, which was etched with descriptions in Greek and hieroglyphics, revealed that the temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, who was associated as an extension of the late pharaoh. Martínez and her team made other finds, such as hundreds of coins with the name and face of Cleopatra. Eventually, in 2022, a tunnel beneath the temple was discovered and revealed to pour out into the sea, prompting Martínez to enlist the aid of renowned oceanographer and leader of the team that discovered the remains of the RMS Titanic, Bob Ballard.
Last month, a three-month excavation of the temple and underwater site began to further explore the possibility of it being the resting place of Cleopata, even while experts dispute the idea in favor of other possibilities such as Alexandria and patiently wait for the research to be published in a peer-evaluated publication. If the research proves fruitful, however, Martínez excitedly comments on how, with modern technology, revelations like the cause of death and facial structure of the pharaoh could finally be answered after a long period of ambiguity.
