What can you learn from the trailer of the new Netflix documentary? At the very beginning, the narrator emphasizes that Cleopatra is one of the most iconic queens in history, and the black actress who plays her says: “I would die for Egypt.” Later, the viewers are informed that Julius Caesar was aware that the ruler of Egypt was one of the best educated women in the Mediterranean and wanted to rule with her.
The trailer for “Queen Cleopatra” was enough and the controversy began
One of the speaking experts points out that Cleopatra used her relationship with Mark Antony to protect herself and her country. There is also information that she was the last ruler of Egypt to exercise the function of pharaoh. “Cleopatra was a ruler from the Ptolemaic dynasty, the first representative of this family was a general in the army of Alexander the Great” – says the unsigned researcher, and the next one adds – “It is possible that she was Egyptian”. Another, also uncredited, black expert reports – “I imagine she had curly hair and a skin color similar to mine.” The last to speak is an old lady who makes perhaps the most electrifying statement – “I remember my grandmother telling me: – No matter what they teach you in school, Cleopatra was black.”
Of course, you have to remember that this is a trailer for a four-episode series, and the quotes contained therein are fragments of longer statements, and cut out of context. It is possible that the promotional material was also assembled in such a way as to arouse controversy, and the production itself will contain information that scientists emphasize that many hypotheses about the origin of Cleopatra cannot be proven. There is a lack of hard evidence for this, and the concepts are mostly circumstantial. Whether it is really a documentary series with a wishful thesis, we will only be sure after the premiere of the document.
Nevertheless, it is hardly surprising that viewers in the comments below the trailer point out various inaccuracies and accuse the creators of falsifying history: “I was captivated by the moment when they omitted the information that she was not even Egyptian, but a Greek from the Macedonian dynasty”, “You can’t change history “, “Cleopatra was so Greek and separate from what we know as Egyptian, it’s a miracle she was able to speak both Greek and Egyptian. The true story of Cleopatra is far more fascinating than the distorted view of reality shown in this trailer.” “needs to see a documentary on Cleopatra.” “Scientists have determined that Cleopatra is generally of Macedonian descent with some Persian ancestry. While it’s possible she had a North African family background, the notion that she had significant sub-Saharan ancestors is probably just a fabrication fantasy.” “The sentence ‘It doesn’t matter what they teach you in schools’ and the name of the producer of the documentary say everything you need to know about this series” – they argue.
What did Cleopatra look like?
Thanks to pop culture messages and a handful of information from school, everyone knows that Cleopatra was beautiful and ruled Egypt with a firm hand. Thanks to the Hollywood movie with Elizabeth Taylor, the knowledge that she first made an alliance with Julius Caesar, with whom she had a son, and then became involved with Mark Antony. Although descriptions of the queen’s beauty were devoted to long pages in various chronicles, in fact, apart from her reign, no portrait of the queen created during her lifetime has survived, reports “National Geograpihic”. Her tomb has never been found, which makes even digital facial reconstruction impossible, but in fact, the debate about whether Cleopatra was a black person has been going on for years.
The basic facts are that Cleopatra VII came from the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty, was born in 69 BC, reigned over Egypt for 20 years (from 51 to 32 BC), and died exactly on August 12, 30 BC. PWN”. She was the daughter of Ptolemy XII, but to this day it has not been possible to determine the name of her mother, although it is assumed that she could have been a royal wife of a lower rank from a family of priests worshiping the god Path of Memphis. Even less is known about Cleopatra’s grandmother. The lack of specific data on this subject allows for all kinds of speculation about the full origin of Cleopatra.
The BBC’s 2009 documentary “Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer” actually seriously considered the possibility that Cleopatra was partly African. These conclusions were drawn on the basis of a closer examination of the tomb of the queen’s sister, Arsinöe, in Ephesus. This one was discovered for the first time in the 1930s, and that’s when the initial documentation was made. Researchers, however, did not realize for a long time that they might have dug up a relative of the famous ruler – reports Anna Błońska on the website
Years later, researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences came to the conclusion that the mother of the deceased was black, which means that Cleopatra herself probably had this skin color. However, the skull from which the conclusion about African roots was drawn was lost during the war and only the original records survived – these may not have been very accurate. There is also no certainty that these are actually the remains of Cleopatra’s sister, or whether the women had the same mother. Other researchers point out that the remains, on the basis of which conclusions about the dark skin color were drawn, belong to a girl much younger than the princess. Therefore, the described thesis was considered very improbable and difficult to prove.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
