Archeologists and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Princess Arsinöe, the younger sister Cleopatra had murdered. The remains of Princess Arsinöe, who was murdered more than 2,000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen, are the first relics of the Ptolemaic  Dynasty to be identified. The breakthrough, by an Austrian team, also suggests the Egyptian queen was part-African. Traditional thinking has always been that the monarch  was Greek Caucasian.

Princess Arsinoe's remains were found in a tomb in Ephesus, Turkey.

There was no love lost between her and her powerful sister - it is believed that Cleopatra ordered Mark Antony to murder her.

Dr Hilke Thuer, from the Austrian Academy of Science, who led the  discovery, told the Sunday Times: 'It is unique in the life of an archaeologist to find the tomb and the skeleton of a member of Ptolemaic dynasty.

'The results of the forensic examination and the fact that the facial reconstruction shows that Arsinoe had an African mother is a real sensation which leads to a new insight on Cleopatra's family and the relationship of the sisters Cleopatra and Arsinoe.'

A documentary will examine the key events in Cleopatra's life, including her affair with Caesar, the killing of her two brothers and her pact with Mark Antony to murder Arsinoe.

Presenter and archaeologist Neil Oliver said: 'Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony... they are all iconic figures from history. It's almost impossible to remember they were real people and not the semi-mythical figures portrayed by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

'It was like a splash of cold water in the face to be confronted by them as human beings. When I stood in the lab and handled the bones of Cleopatra's blood sister - knowing that in her lifetime she touched Cleopatra and perhaps Julius Caesar and Mark Antony as well - I felt the hairs go up on the back of my neck.

'Suddenly these giant figures from history were flesh and blood.'

Scientific papers on the remains will be presented by Dr Fabian Kanz from The Medical University of Vienna at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Chicago, Illinois on March 31.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1162130/Found-Skeleton-younger-sister-Cleopatra-murdered.html