Have archaeologists found Cleopatra’s lost tomb?

• Cleopatra was the last of a series of rulers called the Ptolemies who ruled ancient Egypt for nearly 300 years
• Archeologist Ms Martinez said that if her theory about the burial site is true, then it would be the “most important discovery of the 21st century”
• Cleopatra  died by suicide after her husband, the Roman general Mark Antony, also killed himself.

Decades of search for famous Queen Cleopatra’s lost tomb will possibly end soon as archaeologists have found a tunnel below the ancient temple that may lead to discovery of Egypt’s last pharaoh.

For nearly 20 years, archaeologists have been searching the area around the temple Tapuziris Magna for the final resting place of the Egyptian queen and her husband Mark Antony, according to a British daily.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the find last week, describing the 4,265-foot tunnel, located 43 feet underground, as a “geometric miracle.” It is similar to the Tunnel of Eupalinos on the Greek Island of Samos, considered one antiquity’s engineering marvels, reported the Metro.

It has been dubbed a “geometric miracle” by archaeologists. One of them, Kathleen Martinez from the University of San Domingo, believes Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony were laid to rest within the temple, which is located near the ancient Egyptian capital of Alexandria.

According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, Ms Martinez, one of the archeologists, said that if her theory about the burial site is true, then it would be the “most important discovery of the 21st century”.

“As a result of 10 years of study of Cleopatra’s historical character, I need to come to Egypt to the field to see the remains of this temple to be sure that these remains have the possibility of being the lost tomb of Cleopatra,” Ms Martinez said

“After three months of studying the area, I realised it was the perfect place for Cleopatra’s tomb. Nobody ever came up with this idea. If there is a one percent chance that the last Queen of Egypt could be buried there, it is my duty to search for her,” she said.

Egypt’s most famed archaeological discovery, of course, is King Tut’s tomb, unearthed 100 years ago last week by Howard Carter in the Valley of Kings outside the city of Luxor.