Sunken port near Cleopatra’s ruins could unlock her tomb, researchers say

A sunken port about two miles off the coast of Alexandria in the Mediterranean could provide a crucial clue to Cleopatra’s lost tomb, researchers said this week. The submerged harbor, located at a depth of roughly 40 feet, is connected to the site of Taposiris Magna, a temple complex long suspected to shelter the final resting place of Cleopatra VII and her ally-turned-lover, Mark Antony. The discovery adds fresh evidence that the coastal ruins may have been part of a broader burial landscape that survived centuries of erosion and sea-level change.

The newly identified port sits offshore where ancient shorelines once stood, and its remains include columns, polished stone floors and scattered amphorae—the tall, narrow jugs historically used for carrying wine. The discovery was announced by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on social media, highlighting the port as potential proof of “ancient marine activity” linked to the temple complex at Taposiris Magna. At about 40 feet below the surface, the harbor represents a significant shift in how researchers view the end-of-life arrangements for Cleopatra and Antony, whose deaths in 30 BCE ended the Ptolemaic era and left their final resting place a mystery for more than two millennia.

Taposiris Magna sits near the ancient capital of Alexandria and is home to a temple long associated with the Osirian cult—the mythic god Osiris. The name means “great tomb of Osiris,” and scholars have long debated whether the temple precinct and its underground passages could house Cleopatra’s tomb or point to a burial complex connected to the queen and Antony. In 2022, researchers led by Kathleen Martínez, an archaeologist who has spent years pursuing Cleopatra’s resting place, uncovered a 4,300-foot tunnel carved through rock beneath the ruins of Taposiris Magna. Inside the tunnel, jars and pottery from the Ptolemaic era were found, reinforcing the idea that the site functioned as more than a ceremonial space.

Martínez and colleagues have argued that Cleopatra may have been transported through an underground route to the port area after death, a theory that the tunnel’s orientation appears to support. The tunnel points toward the port, suggesting a possible link between the temple, the tunnel system and the harbor that could have served as a gateway to the queen’s final destination. While the finding does not confirm Cleopatra’s burial site, Martínez has emphasized that the evidence strengthens the case that the port and the temple were part of a linked burial network rather than isolated, unrelated structures. “Nobody can tell me that Cleopatra is not at Taposiris Magna,