THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE 'CLEOPATRA: THE SEARCH FOR THE LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT'PRESENTS

WAS CLEOPATRA A CONNIVING TEMPTRESS WHO SEDUCED HER WAY TO THE TOP, OR THE TARGET OF RECORDED HISTORY'S MOST EFFECTIVE NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN? A STUNNING NEW EXHIBITION MAKING ITS WORLD PREMIERE 5.JUNE AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, MAKES A CASE FOR THE LATTER, USING RECENTLY DISCOVERED ARTIFACTS TO ILLUSTRATE TWO ARCHAEOLOGISTS' SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH, AND THE TOMB, OF ONE OF ANTIQUITY'S MOST MALIGNED AND ELUSIVE FIGURE. 'CLEOPATRA: THE SEARCH FOR THE LAST QUEEN OF EGYPT', FEATURES MANY NEVER BEFORE SEEN ARTIFACTS FROM A PAIR ON ONGOING EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS. IT REMAINS IN PHILADELPHIA UNTIL JANUARY, WHEN IT BEGINS A TOUR OF FIVE NOT YET ANNOUNCED AMERICAN CITIES. THE SHOW EMPLOYS THEATRICAL LIGHTING AND SOUND, 17 VIDEO SCREENS DOCUMENTING ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVERING SOME OF THE 150 ARTIFACTS ON DISPLAY, AND A FOUR MINUTE VIDEO PROVIDING AN OVERVIEW OF CLEOPATRA'S LIFE AND LOVES IN A STYLE THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE A TRAILER FOR AN UPCOMING ACTION MOVIE. THE FIRST OF THE EXHIBIT'S TWO SECTIONS SHOWCASES THE DISCOVERIES OF FRENCH UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGIST FRANK GODDIO, WHOSE 20 YEAR EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION SO FAR HAS UNCOVERED CLEOPATRA'S PALACE, TWO ANCIENT CITIES NEAR THE COAST OF THE ANCIENT CITY OF ALEXANDRIA, AND OVER 20,000 ARTIFACTS. THE ARTIFACTS RANGE FROM TINY GOLD COINS TO A PAIR OF TOWERING EIGHT TON GRANITE FIGURES. ALL WERE RAISED BY GODDIO'S TEAM FROM SUBMERGED RUINS NEAR THE COAST OF ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA, WHERE CLEOPATRA WAS BORN IN 69 BC AND WHERE 39 YEARS LATER, THE LEGEND CLAIMS, SHE CHOSE A SUICIDAL BITE FROM AN ASP OVER CAPTURE BY THE CONQUERING ROMANS. VISITOR'S WILL SEE, THROUGH A GLASS WALKWAY UNDER FEET, ARTIFACTS LONG HIDDEN UNDER THE HARBOR'S SEDIMENT AFTER EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS SUBMERGED ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA MORE THAN 1,500 YEARS AGO. IN THE SECOND PORTION ARE NEVER BEFORE SEEN FINDS OF ZAHI HAWASS, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES IN CAIRO. HAWASS, WHOM VISITORS MAY RECOGNIZE FROM HIS APPEARANCE ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTARIES, DESCRIBES IN A BRIEF VIDEO HIS QUEST FOR THE LOST TOMB OF CLEOPATRA AND HER LOVER, THE ROMAN GENERAL MARK ANTONY. HAWASS BELIEVES AN ARTIFACT TRAIL OD SCULPTURE, JEWELRY, MUMMIES AND SUBTERRANEAN SHAFTS IS LEADING HIS TEAM CLOSE TO THE RESTING PLACE OF THE ILL-FATED COUPLE. BEYOND THE RARE HISTORIC ITEMS, THE SHOW EXAMINES THE MYSTERY AND ENDURING LEGEND OF THE ICONIC QUEEN WHO REMAINS A FIGURE OF FASCINATION THOUSANDS OF YEARS AFTER HER REIGN.
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