Snake 'not guilty of killing Cleopatra', The adventure that Cleopatra, age-old queen of Egypt, was dead by a snake chaw has been alone as "impossible" by University of Manchester academics.
Egyptologists and snake experts accept accumulated to appraise the believability of the account of the queen getting dead by a cobra hidden in a bassinet of figs.
They accept a snake big abundant to annihilate the queen and two maids would not accept been baby abundant to be concealed.
They aswell claiming the believability of three afterwards baleful bites.
Cleopatra, who died at the age of 39 in 30BC, was a adjudicator of Egypt who became affected in ability struggles aural the Roman empire.
But her adventure and her afterlife accept become allotment of accepted legend, portrayed in fabulous anatomy from Hollywood epics to Carry On films and television comedy.
'Infamy, infamy'
From Roman sources onwards, her afterlife has generally been attributed to a poisonous snake or "asp", with the queen application the baleful chaw as a way of catastrophe her own life.
But Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley and Andrew Gray, babysitter of herpetology at Manchester Museum, say the declared culprit - a cobra - would accept been too physically big to be buried in the way that has been portrayed.
They are about 5-6ft continued and can abound to 8ft (2.5m), and the Manchester experts adios the abstraction such a snake could be hidden in the way suggested.
Even if such a snake had been banned in to Cleopatra, they say it would accept been actual absurd that it could accept dead Cleopatra and two of her agents in quick succession.
"Not alone are cobras too big, but there's just a 10% adventitious you would die from a snake bite: a lot of bites are dry bites that don't inject venom," said Mr Gray.
"That's not to say they aren't dangerous: the acidity causes afterlife and will absolutely annihilate you, but absolutely slowly.
"So it would be absurd to use a snake to annihilate two or three humans one afterwards the other.
"Snakes use acidity to assure themselves and for hunting - so they conserve their acidity and use it in times of need."
Dr Tyldesley, columnist of Cleopatra: Egypt's Last Queen, is a contributor to a chargeless online advance - a Mooc - about age-old Egypt fabricated by the university.
The course, A History of Age-old Egypt, is getting launched next anniversary and will abstraction Egypt from afore the pharaohs through the relationships with Greece and Rome and catastrophe with Cleopatra.
Egyptologists and snake experts accept accumulated to appraise the believability of the account of the queen getting dead by a cobra hidden in a bassinet of figs.
They accept a snake big abundant to annihilate the queen and two maids would not accept been baby abundant to be concealed.
They aswell claiming the believability of three afterwards baleful bites.
Cleopatra, who died at the age of 39 in 30BC, was a adjudicator of Egypt who became affected in ability struggles aural the Roman empire.
But her adventure and her afterlife accept become allotment of accepted legend, portrayed in fabulous anatomy from Hollywood epics to Carry On films and television comedy.
'Infamy, infamy'
From Roman sources onwards, her afterlife has generally been attributed to a poisonous snake or "asp", with the queen application the baleful chaw as a way of catastrophe her own life.
But Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley and Andrew Gray, babysitter of herpetology at Manchester Museum, say the declared culprit - a cobra - would accept been too physically big to be buried in the way that has been portrayed.
They are about 5-6ft continued and can abound to 8ft (2.5m), and the Manchester experts adios the abstraction such a snake could be hidden in the way suggested.
Even if such a snake had been banned in to Cleopatra, they say it would accept been actual absurd that it could accept dead Cleopatra and two of her agents in quick succession.
"Not alone are cobras too big, but there's just a 10% adventitious you would die from a snake bite: a lot of bites are dry bites that don't inject venom," said Mr Gray.
"That's not to say they aren't dangerous: the acidity causes afterlife and will absolutely annihilate you, but absolutely slowly.
"So it would be absurd to use a snake to annihilate two or three humans one afterwards the other.
"Snakes use acidity to assure themselves and for hunting - so they conserve their acidity and use it in times of need."
Dr Tyldesley, columnist of Cleopatra: Egypt's Last Queen, is a contributor to a chargeless online advance - a Mooc - about age-old Egypt fabricated by the university.
The course, A History of Age-old Egypt, is getting launched next anniversary and will abstraction Egypt from afore the pharaohs through the relationships with Greece and Rome and catastrophe with Cleopatra.
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment