Posted on 03/15/2009 11:07:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
ARCHEOLOGISTS and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra’s younger sister, murdered more than 2,000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen.
The remains of Princess Arsinöe, put to death in 41BC on the orders of Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony to eliminate her as a rival, are the first relics of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be identified.
The breakthrough, by an Austrian team, has provided pointers to Cleopatra’s true ethnicity. Scholars have long debated whether she was Greek or Macedonian like her ancestor the original Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who was made ruler of Egypt by Alexander the Great, or whether she was north African.
Evidence obtained by studying the dimensions of Arsinöe’s skull shows she had some of the characteristics of white Europeans, ancient Egyptians and black Africans, indicating that Cleopatra was probably of mixed race, too. They were daughters of Ptolemy XII by different wives.
Related Links Temple site ‘hides tomb of Cleopatra’ Preserver of the lost artefacts Call for return of Egyptian treasures The results vindicate the theories of Hilke Thür of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who has long claimed that the skeleton was Arsinöe. She described the discovery of Arsinöe’s ethnicity as “a real sensation which leads to a new insight on Cleopatra’s family”.
Fellow experts are now convinced. GüntherHölbl, an authority on the Ptolemies, said the identification of the skeleton was “a great discovery”.
The forensic evidence was obtained by a team working under the auspices of the Austrian Archeological Institute, which is set to detail its findings at an anthropological convention in the UnitedStates later this month.
The story of the discovery will also be the subject of a tele-vision documentary, Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer, to be shown on BBC1 at 9pm next Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Ping
What? I thought it was well-accepted that she Macedonian. There's at least one coin that survives with her profile. It's clearly a European honker.
This is very interesting. Thanks for the post.
Ptolemy wasn’t made ruler of Egypt by Alexander. When Alexander died, Ptolemy, being smart, stole the body and along with a portion of the army, fled to Egypt where he set up shop as head duomo.
Bleh, looks like some Long Island housewife to me.
Cleopatra portrait coins are not all that uncommon.
All I can say is that she must have been GREAT in bed.
This coin had busts of both Antony and Cleopatra.
Well, with a nose like that, you know she didn't have to breath through her mouth, if you know what I mean.
Of course, however great her charms (and yes, they must've been immense), it still wasn't enough to win over Augustus. We all know how that turned out.
I heard she had a nice asp.
Bingo - We have a winner....
Post of the Week!
Laughed my asp off.
She looks like Helen (of Detroit) Thomas.
If that coin is really a portrait of Marc Antony, he wasn’t much to look at either.
Since the statute of limitations for murder never expires will they try her mummy and possibly put it in jail for a while?
That top coin seems to have confirmed the ancestry of Helen Thomas.
And there’s no statute of limitations on murder!
Ancestry? The portrait on the coin IS Helen Thomas.
Meaning Arsinöe's presumed ethnicity may well have no bearing whatsoever on Cleopatra's.
I think the issue is less what her father was and more what her mother was, but that is really irrevelant by the find of her sister because her sister is by another mother.
So they still really haven’t figured much out except that Ptolemy was Macedonian which I don’t think was in dispute.
I still don’t know how much they have found out about Cleopatra with this find.
That middle one looks like Sylvester Stallone. Top one looks just like a plain ole b.... errr witch. LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.