The British Museum has exhibits of beautiful Assyrian bulls, Greek sculptures of the Parthenon, Egyptian mummies, the statue of Ramsses II, the Rosetta Stone, the busts of Augustus, Hadrien and Antinous, the objects from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, etc.

The objects tell us thousands of stories: who forged them, their models, their cities, their countries, continents, historical periods, meaning and religious or political values. Objects tell also the story of their owners for centuries. Every object is a precious witness of the ephemeral human existence.

The mummy of Cleopatra, who now reigns in the Egyptian section in the British Museum of London, is one of those immortal objects. Many people think that this mummy is the mummy of the real Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, who committed suicide bitten by an asp. But this is a big mistake: she's not the Cleopatra we know from the movies though one might hope she is a member of the same family who lived in II century AD. All of Cleopatra VII's siblings were executed by the Romans, specifically to prevent any comeback and challenge to Rome.

Here you have the explanation that appears written on the panel: 

"Cleopatra: the mummy of a young woman

The mummy and coffin of Cleopatra, daughter of Candace, from the Soter family burial, entered the British Museum in 1832 via the first collection of Henry Salt. The mummy is wrapped in many layers of cloth, with an outer shroud on which is painted a figure of the deceased woman. A comb and a necklace of beads were placed on the body inside the wooden coffin. The hieroglyphic inscription on the coffin gives Cleopatra’s age at death, for which a reading of 17 years, 1 month and 25 days has been proposed. X-ray studies using a CAT scanner show a skeletal development and a fusion of the ends of the long bones which is consistent with this age.

The skeleton appears to be in good conditions. The skull is tilted forward and the mouth is open. There are at least three packages in the right chest cavity, possibly the preserved internal organs. An object, about 9cm long, in the left chest cavity may be a roll of linen or a figurine. CAT scans also revealed the use of packing materials (probably mud or sand), which contribute to the substantial weight (about 75kg) of this mummy.”

There is also an interesting story related to the discovery of the Mummy, as it's always the case when the protagonists are Lords or British adventurers in Greece, Turkey, Egypt... Some speak of plundering of national treasures, and others (the explorers, archaeologists or simply rich people) talk about recovery of abandoned or severely neglected pieces that they brought to England for the future of the human being.

BRITISH MUSEUM WRITE UP

Mummy of Cleopatra, daughter of Candace, a member of the family of Cornelius Pollius, Archon of Thebes in the time of the Emperor Trajan. The inscriptions on her coffin state that she died at the age of 17 years, 1 month and 25 days (an earlier reading of the age as 11 years is now discarded, as the developmental state of the skeleton indicates death in late teens). The body is wrapped in fine linen bandages with an outer shroud, secured by bandages crossing diagonally and horizontally, decorated with a polychrome painted full-length representation of Nut, flanked by other deities, including Isis, Nephthys and Anubis, with a wooden comb, a string of berries and the remains of a funerary wreath lying on top of the mummy.

Body and Limbs - Very little can be observed in this mummy owing to dense material, probably plaster, under the bandages. The ribs and bones of the arms and legs can be seen to have no fractures. There is an indeterminate opacity in the body-cavity. The arms are extended, the palms of the hands in contact with the outer aspect of the thighs. the left hip is dislocated, probably the result of tight bandaging. No lines of arrested growth.

CURATOR'S COMMENTS

Found in coffin: 6706.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

S. Walker and M. Bierbrier, 'Fayum. Misteriosi volti dall'Egitto' (London, 1997), pp. 178-179 [136];

C. Riggs, in J. H. Taylor and N. Strudwick (eds.), ‘The Theban Necropolis : past, present and future’ (London, 2003), p.194 [pl.103];

J.Filer in M. L. Bierbrier (ed.), 'Portraits and masks : burial customs in Roman Egypt ' (London, 1997), p.124 [pls.16.1, 46.2];

C. Riggs, 'The beautiful burial in Roman Egypt : art, identity, and funerary religion' (Oxford, 2005), 183, 185, 186, 187, 191, 193, 195, 196, 199-201, 2020 Fig. 96, 202, 28.1.
Damon et alii, Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin, Nature 337 (no. 6208), 1989, pp. 611-615.

MEDIA INDEX

BBC NEWS - NETFLIX CLEOPATRA DOCUDRAMA 10 MAY 2023

BRISBANE TIMES - RADAR REVEALS POSSIBLE LOCATION CLEOPATRA'S TOMB 2009

BRITISH MUSEUM - CLEOPATRA, 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OF CANDACE, THEBES

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY - STUDY OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMY DNA 17 MAY 2017, RELATED TO MIDDLE EAST

CBC - CLEOPATRA OUTSMARTED EVERYONE, FEBRUARY 2021

CBS - WHY SOME EGYPTIANS ARE FUMING OVER NETFLIX'S BLACK CLEOPATRA

DAILY MAIL - ADELE JAMES BREAK SILENCE AS TO BLACKWASHING CLAIMS MAY 2023

DAILY MAIL - DEC 9 2024 KATHLENE MARTINEZ SEARCHING 20 YEARS MAKE SIGNIFICANT FIND

DISCOVERY MAGAZINE - JUNE 7 2023, WILL WE EVER FIND THE TOMB OF CLEOPATRA?

GREEK CITY TIMES - ARCHAEOLOGIST CLAIMS TO BE CLOSE TO DISCOVERY OF CLEOPATRA 2021

LIVESCIENCE - WHERE IS CLEOPATRA'S TOMB/PALACE JULY 2020

NATURE - STUDY 90 MUMMIES REVEALS ANCESTRY ANCIENT EGYPTIANS: MIDDLE EASTERN JUNE 2017

ROTTEN TOMATOES - CLEOPATRA CRITICS, SERIES 1 REVIEWS MAY 2023

SKY HISTORY - THE HIDDEN TOMB OF CLEOPATRA MARCH 2023

SKYE NEVILLE - PLASTIC FREE COMICS, WAITROSE BANS

SMITHSONIAN - MORE THAN HISTORIC SEDUCTIONS, REHABILITATED ELIZABETH TAYLOR, HOLLYWOOD ICON: 2010

SPECTATOR - THE TROUBLE WITH NETFLIX'S QUEEN CLEOPATRA 29 MAY 2023

THE CONVERSATION - WHY THE DISCOVERY OF CLEOPATRA'S TOMB COULD REWRITE HISTORY 2022

THE GUARDIAN - NETFLIX, NO NEED FOR WHITE ACTOR 10 MAY 2023

THE SUN - QUEEN CLEOPATRA'S TOMB, TAPOSIRIS MAGNA 2020

THE SUN - THE REICH STUFF: GLOBAL HUNT FOR HITLER'S LOST £20 BILLION NAZI GOLD HORDE APRIL 2021

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE - CLEOPATRA'S SUNKEN PALACE

USA TODAY - MUSTAFA WAZIRI, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS 2018

YOUTUBERS - MAKEUP, CLEOPATRA'S FACE & EYE COSMETICS, MUMMY MASK

YOUTUBERS - NETFLIX VIDEO COMMENTS MAY 2023

ZAHI HAWASS - DOCUMENTARY: CLEOPATRA VII PHILOPATOR

https://egypt-museum.com/mummy-of-cleopatra/
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA6707

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-egypt/cleopatra
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-hidden-tomb-of-cleopatra

https://egypt-museum.com/mummy-of-cleopatra/
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA6707

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-egypt/cleopatra
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-hidden-tomb-of-cleopatra

CLONED REPLICANT - Using the latest technology in computer genome mapping and digital DNA splicing, an scientists, reincarnate Cleopatra VII, who died in 30BC, having located her sarcophagus from its watery grave. The resurrected Pharaoh has to mesh with the modern world she's been reborn into, against many interested parties, who have other plans for the former Queen of Egypt.

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Please use our Ancient Egyptian A-Z to navigate the antiquities on this site

  CANDACE, 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER - MUMMY @ THE BRITISH MUSEUM

The rights of Jameson Hunter and Cleaner Ocean Foundation to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. This website and the associated Cleopatra artwork is Copyright © 2025 Cleaner Ocean Foundation and Jameson Hunter. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the authors' imaginations, and any resemblance to any person, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.