Asp - or ash? Climate historians link Cleopatra`s demise to volcanic eruption
(The Guardian Egypt)

Study of ice-core records and Ancient Egyptian documents suggests environmental forces helped seal the last Ptolemaic ruler´s fate in 30BCThe fall of Cleopatra´s Egypt to Augustus, the first Roman emperor, is usually told as a melodramatic power struggle between elites on the world stage.Cleopatra famously forged a doomed political alliance with the Roman general Mark Antony, who was also her lover. But when their combined forces were defeated at the battle of Actium, the pair killed themselves and Egypt became a province of the newly formed Roman empire.The team found a strong correlation between more recent volcanic eruptions and severe dips in Nile flooding Related: Ancient Egyptian treasures uncovered in tomb near Valley of the Kings Related: New research may resolve a climate `conundrum´ across the history of human civilization | Dana Nuccitelli Continue reading...