| Arsinoe IV | |
|---|---|
| Queen of Egypt | |
| Reign | September 48 BC with Ptolemy XIII (December 48 - January 47 BC) |
| Successor | Ptolemy XIV of Egypt and Cleopatra VII |
| Father | Ptolemy XII Auletes |
| Mother | Cleopatra V of Egypt? |
| Born | Unknown Alexandria, Egypt |
| Died | 41 BC Ephesus |
| Burial | Ephesus |
Arsinoë IV (Greek: Ἀρσινόη, betw. 68 and 56 BC – 41 BC) was the youngest daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt. Arsinoe IV was the half-sister of Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII, sharing a father (Ptolemy XII Auletes) but having a different mother.[1][2][3][4]
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When their father died, he left Ptolemy and Cleopatra as joint rulers of Egypt, but Ptolemy soon dethroned Cleopatra and forced her to flee Alexandria. When Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria in 48 BC and sided with Cleopatra's faction, Arsinoë escaped from the capital with her mentor, the eunuch Ganymedes, and joined the Egyptian army under Achillas, assuming the title of pharaoh. When Achillas and Ganymedes clashed, Arsinoë had Achillas executed and placed Ganymedes in command of the army.[5] Ganymedes initially enjoyed some success against the Romans, but the leading Egyptian officers were soon dissatisfied with the eunuch. Under a pretext of wanting peace, they negotiated with Caesar to exchange Arsinoë for Ptolemy XIII, who was subsequently released.[6] However, Ptolemy continued the war, but soon the Romans received reinforcements and inflicted a decisive defeat upon the Egyptians.
Arsinoe was transported to Rome, where in 46 BC she was forced to appear in Caesar's triumph.[7] Despite the usual tradition of prominent prisoners in triumphs' being strangled when the festivities were at an end, Caesar was pressured to spare Arsinoe and granted her sanctuary at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. Arsinoe lived in the temple for a few years, always keeping a watchful eye on her sister Cleopatra, who saw her as a threat to her power. Her fears proved well-founded; in 41 BC, at Cleopatra's instigation, Mark Antony ordered Arsinoë executed on the steps of the temple, a gross violation of the temple sanctuary and an act which scandalised Rome.[8] The priest Megabyzus, who had welcomed Arsinoë on her arrival at the temple as Queen, was only pardoned when an embassy from Ephesus made a petition to Cleopatra.[9]
In the 1990s an octagonal monument situated in the centre of Ephesus was proposed by Hilke Thür of the Austrian Academy of Sciences to be the tomb of Arsinoë.[8] A writer from The Times described the identification of the skeleton as "a triumph of conjecture over certainty".[10] Although no inscription remains on the tomb, it can be dated to between 50 to 20 BC. In 1926 the body of a woman estimated at 15–20 years old was found in the burial chamber.[11] Thür's identification of the skeleton was based on the shape of the tomb (octagonal, like the Lighthouse of Alexandria), the carbon dating of the bones (between 200- 20 BC), the gender of the skeleton, and the age of the young woman at death.[12][13] It is also claimed that the tomb contains Egyptian motifs, such as "papyri-bundle" columns.[8]
Others remained less certain regarding the identification, for example, pointing out that she would have been between 8 and 14 at the time of Caesar's arrival in Alexandria, too young for someone to have led an uprising against Rome.[14] Her actions in the brief war that followed had suggested she was older than that.[13] As a result of the earlier assumption that she was older, her date of birth was usually placed between 68 BC and 62 BC.[15] which would have made it impossible for her to be the woman buried in the octagon. No date of birth exists for Arsinoe, however, and the possibility remains that she was in fact younger than had previously been assumed, and that she may just have been a figurehead rather than an active participant in the war. Indeed, the fact that the common people of Rome, who were known for their thirst for bloodsport, openly pressured Caesar to spare her at his Triumph in 46 BC, Caesar having not intended to spare her, and the people acting only on sentiment, indicates that she was then probably no more than a little girl.
The skull was lost in Germany during World War II. However, Hilke Thuer examined the old notes and photographs of the now-missing skull,[16][17] and concluded that it shows signs of an admixture of African and Egyptian ancestry mixed with classical Grecian features[8] – despite the fact that Boas, Gravlee, Bernard and Leonard and others have demonstrated that skull measurements are not a reliable indicator of race.[18][19] Afrocentrists have accordingly claimed that Cleopatra VII was black, in spite of the facts that:
(See also Ancient Egyptian race controversy)
If the monument is the tomb of Arsinoë, she would be the only member of the Ptolemaic dynasty whose remains have been recovered.[21] Forensic/archaeological analysis of the origins of the skeleton and tomb is ongoing.