Egypt’s new military authorities have reissued the license to Dominican archaeologist Kathleen Martinez to resume the excavations in the search for the tomb of Cleopatra at Taposiris Magna. Martinez also revealed the theft of many of the artifacts she had already unearthed and the “disappearance” of the excavation equipment during the year-long turmoil in Egypt.

A radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna, west of Alexandria in Egypt, was completed last month. The radar revealed three possible areas of interest where a tomb may be located. These locations have been passed to the archaeological team who will begin excavation of the targets next week. The most important recent development at Taposiris Magna has been the discovery of a large, previously unknown cemetery outside the temple enclosure.

Cleopatra did not die from a snake bite but a lethal drug cocktail that included opium and hemlock, according to Christoph Schaefer, German historian and professor at the University of Trier.

Egyptian archaeologists on Thursday lifted an ancient granite temple pylon out of the waters of the Mediterranean, where it had lain for centuries as part of the palace complex of Cleopatra, submerged in Alexandria's harbor. The pylon, which once stood at the entrance to a temple of Isis, is to be the centerpiece of an ambitious underwater museum planned by Egypt to showcase the sunken city, which is believed to have been toppled into the sea by earthquakes in the 4th century.

Egyptian archeologists will carry out new explorations in October to search for the tombs of Cleopatra and Mark Antony at Tabusiris Magna, the head of Egypt's Higher Council of Antiquities said.

Kathleen Martinez said that her search for Cleopatra’s tomb continues and is convinced she’ll soon find it. She said her search in the region has lasted four years in 4 to 5-month periods, and in addition to the Egyptian queen, expects to find at her side the mummified body Marc Antony. “Important evidence of a royal tomb was found and I affirm that it’s the tomb of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony."

Archeologists next week will begin excavating three sites in Egypt near the Mediterranean Sea that may contain the tombs of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. In a statement Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said the three sites were identified last month during a radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna. Excavators have also found a number of deep shafts inside the temple, three of which were possibly used for burials.

Archeologists and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra’s younger sister Arsinoe.

Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, has started searching for the entrance to Cleopatras tomb at the site of a temple, the Taposiris Magna, 28 miles west of Alexandria. Hawass has discovered a 400ft tunnel beneath the temple containing clues that the supposedly beautiful queen may lie beneath. “We’ve found tunnels with statues of Cleopatra and many coins bearing her face, things you wouldn’t expect in a typical temple,” he said.

Zahi Hawass, prominent archaeologist and director of Egypt's superior council for antiquities announced a proposal to test the theory that the couple were buried together. He discussed the project in Cairo at a media conference about the ancient pharaohs. Hawass said that the remains of the legendary Egyptian queen and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, were inside a temple called Tabusiris Magna, 30 kilometres from the port city of Alexandria in northern Egypt.