Cleopatra's sister remains missing

In 1929, the Austrian archaeologist Josef Keil and his colleagues discovered a sarcophagus completely filled with water in the ruins of the once magnificent "Octagon", a splendid building on the main street of Ephesos (Turkey). No significant grave goods were found in it, but a complete skeleton. Josef Keil only took the skull with him before the researchers closed the tomb on the important "Curetes Street" (Kuretenstraße) again.  After his initial analysis in Greifswald (Germany), he assumed that the burial was that of "a very distinguished person" and probably a 20-year-old woman. Keil was unable to provide any hard data, but the skull travelled to Vienna in his luggage on the occasion of his new appointment at the University of Vienna. In 1953, Josef Weninger, head of the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Vienna, finally published an article with photos and measurements. He also came to the conclusion that the skull from the "Heroon" (Heroengrab), as it was described on a yellowed note accompanying the find, represented a young woman who was of a "refined, specialised type", which could indicate the higher aristocracy of antiquity. 

The rest of the skeleton was found in Ephesos during later excavations in 1982, but this time not in the sarcophagus, but in a niche in an antechamber of the burial chamber. Due to the suspected architectural borrowing of the Octagon from the Egyptian model of the "Pharos of Alexandria" and the additional historical facts that Arsinoë IV was murdered in Ephesos around 41 BCE at the instigation of Mark Antony, Cleopatra's lover, a hypothesis arose in 1990: Arsinoë IV could have found her final resting place in this magnificent tomb in Ephesos. Since then, numerous reports and publications have surrounded this rumour. 

The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna has expanded considerably in recent years and now utilises practically all modern methods in this discipline. Together with geneticists, dating specialists, orthodontists of the University of Vienna and archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the scientific work on the skull began.

In the first step, the skull was subjected to micro-computed tomography to archive its digital copy with a resolution of 80 micrometres for all time. The scientists then took small samples in the milligram range from the base of the skull and the inner ear to determine age and genetic status. The data from the mass spectrometer was compared with the latest calibration curves, which even took into account the presumed dietary composition. The skull therefore dates to between 36 and 205 BCE, which corresponds well with the traditional date of death of Arsinoë IV in 41 BCE. The geneticists also found a match between the skull and existing samples of the femur. The skeleton that was later found in the anteroom of the Octagon therefore actually belonged to the same person as the skull that Josef Keil had removed from the sarcophagus in 1929. "But then came the big surprise: in repeated tests, the skull and femur both clearly showed the presence of a Y chromosome - in other words, a male," explains Gerhard Weber.

The morphological evaluation of the skull and the micro-CT data revealed that the boy from the Octagon was still in his puberty and was around 11 to 14 years old. This is confirmed by the high-resolution images of the dental roots and the still developing skull base. However, he obviously suffered from pathological development in general. One of his cranial sutures, which normally only fuses at the age of 65, was already closed in his case. This gave the skull a very asymmetrical shape. 

The most striking feature, however, was the underdeveloped upper jaw, which was unusually angled downwards and presumably led to major problems with chewing. This is also confirmed by the conspicuous angles of the temporomandibular joints and the dental findings of two teeth remaining in the jaw. The first permanent molar, the first tooth of the permanent dentition and therefore usually the longest in use, showed no signs of use at all. The first premolar, on the other hand, which only appears a few years later in the dentition, was chewed down and had clear cracks, presumably as a result of overloading. The researchers conclude that there was no regular tooth contact, a consequence of the growth anomaly of the jaws and face. What led to the growth disorders remains unclear for the time being. It could have been a vitamin-D deficiency, for example. Genetic syndromes such as Treacher Collins syndrome also lead to an appearance similar to that of the boy in the Octagon. 

It is now clear that it was not Cleopatra's sister who was buried in the Octagon in Ephesos, but a young man with developmental disorders who was presumably Roman. The reason for the architectural references to Egypt in this building remains an open question. What is clear is that the tomb was intended for a person of very high social status. In any case, the results of this study open up a wide field for exciting new research. And the search for the remains of Arsinoë IV can now be resumed free of rumours.

Original publication in "Scientific Reports": 

The cranium from the Octagon in Ephesos. 

Gerhard W. Weber, Petra G. Šimková, Daniel Fernandes, Olivia Cheronet, Elöd Ury, Harald Wilfing, Katarina Matiasek, Alejandro Llano- Lizcano, Pere Gelabert, Immo Trinks, Katerina Douka, Sabine Ladstätter†, Tom Higham, Martin Steskal, Ron Pinhasi 

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-83870-x

Here's a selection of pictures from the press conference.