Arsinoe IV's bones were located in the former city of Ephesus

Feb 27, 2013 15:21 GMT  ·  By

The remains of Cleopatra's sister may have been found in Turkey, reports say. While Arsinoe IV's bones have been analyzed, scientists have not been able to issue a conclusion.

Arsinoe IV was allegedly killed by Cleopatra and Mark Anthony in 41 B.C., in the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, a Greek city now located on Turkish territory.

The burial place was searched by Viennese archaeologist Hilke Thur and her team. She tells the Charlotte News-Observer that she found the remains in niches in a grave chamber in the Octagon, a funerary monument located in the center of Ephesus.

“The site of The Octagon has a grave chamber. It was opened in 1926, but the opening was very small, and no one entered it until later on.

“The skull had been removed for tests; it disappeared in Germany during World War II. But there are photos of the skull, and notes written down by those who examined it.

“In 1985, the back side of the chamber became accessible, and I re-found the skeleton – the bones were in two niches. The body was removed and examined. The bones were found to be those of a woman younger than 20 – 15 or 16, perhaps,” Thur describes.

She thought the octagonal monument might hide the remains of royalty because of its resemblance to the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

As the bones are 2,000 years old, DNA testing on them has proved inconclusive, Live Science adds. Thur hopes that alternative testing methods can be used to proceed with the investigation.

“I don’t know if there are possibilities to do more of this testing. Forensic material is not my field. [...] One of my colleagues on the project told me two years ago there currently is no other method to really determine more. But he thinks there may be new methods developing. There is hope,” she says.