The Experience
The world of Cleopatra, which has been lost to the sea and sand for nearly 2,000 years, will surface in a new exhibition, Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, making its world premiere in June 2010 at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, from June 5, 2010 � January 2, 2011. The exhibition will feature roughly 140 artifacts while taking visitors inside the present-day search for Cleopatra, which extends from the sands of Egypt to the depths of the Bay of Aboukir near Alexandria.
Cleopatra VIP Hotel Package
Cleopatra visitors looking to make it an overnight stay can book the Cleopatra VIP Hotel Package. Available at 11 hotels, the package includes overnight accommodations for two and two VIP (untimed, bypass-the-line) tickets to the exhibition. (VIP tickets are available only by purchasing a hotel package and are valued at up to $59.)
Click here to check rates and book the package.
The Search For Cleopatra
Cleopatra, the last great pharaoh of Egypt before it succumbed to Roman opposition, lived from 69 � 30 B.C., and her rule was marked with political intrigue and challenges to her throne. She captivated two of the most powerful men of her day, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, as she attempted to restore Egypt to its former superpower status. Later, her Roman conquerors tried to rewrite her history and destroy all traces of her existence. Although her body has never been found, her story survives.
Visitors to the exhibition will be treated to an inside view of the search for Cleopatra through two ongoing expeditions by modern explorers Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt´s pre-eminent archaeologist and Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and Franck Goddio, French underwater archaeologist and director of IEASM. Goddio´s search has resulted in one of the most ambitious underwater expeditions ever undertaken, which has uncovered Cleopatra´s royal palace and two ancient cities that had been lost beneath the sea for centuries after a series of earthquakes and tidal waves.
The artifacts in the exhibition � from the smallest gold pieces and coins to colossal statues more than 15-feet tall � provide a window into Cleopatra´s story as well as the daily lives of her contemporaries, both powerful and humble. Artifacts on display will include magnificent black granite statues of a queen of Egypt dating from the Ptolemaic era in which Cleopatra ruled, which Goddio´s team pulled from the sea.
