Arsinoe IV of Egypt - Her Tomb at Ephesus

Her Tomb At Ephesus

In the 1990s an octagonal monument situated in the centre of Ephesus was proposed by Hilke Thür of the Austrian Academy of Sciences to be the tomb of Arsinoë. A writer from The Times described the identification of the skeleton as "a triumph of conjecture over certainty". Although no inscription remains on the tomb, it can be dated to between 50 to 20 BC. In 1926 the body of a woman estimated at 15–20 years old was found in the burial chamber. Thür's proposed identification of the skeleton was based on the shape of the tomb (octagonal, like the Lighthouse of Alexandria), the carbon dating of the bones (between 200- 20 BC), the gender of the skeleton, and the age of the young woman at death. It is also claimed that the tomb contains Egyptian motifs, such as "papyri-bundle" columns.

Others remained less certain regarding the identification, for example, pointing out that she would have been between 8 and 14 at the time of Caesar's arrival in Alexandria, too young for someone to have led an uprising against Rome. Her actions in the brief war that followed had suggested she was older than that. As a result of the earlier assumption that she was older, her date of birth was usually placed between 68 BC and 62 BC. which would have made it impossible for her to be the woman buried in the octagon. No date of birth exists for Arsinoe, however, and the possibility remains that she was in fact younger than had previously been assumed, and that she may just have been a figurehead rather than an active participant in the war.

The skull was lost in Germany during World War II. However, Hilke Thuer examined the old notes and photographs of the now-missing skull, and concluded that it shows signs of an admixture of African and Egyptian ancestry mixed with classical Grecian features – despite the fact that Boas, Gravlee, Bernard and Leonard and others have demonstrated that skull measurements are not a reliable indicator of race. Afrocentrists have accordingly claimed that Cleopatra VII was black, in spite of the facts that:

• The skeleton is not proven to be that of Arsinoe;
• The shape of the skull is no indicator of a person's race;
• Arsinoe was only a half-sister to Cleopatra, having a different mother;
• Cleopatra's own ancestors were of Greek-Macedonian origin.

(See also Ancient Egyptian race controversy)

If the monument is the tomb of Arsinoë, she would be the only member of the Ptolemaic dynasty whose remains have been recovered. Forensic/archaeological analysis of the origins of the skeleton and tomb is ongoing.