"[95] Schiff continues that Cleopatra "faithfully held up the family tradition". While Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she traced her family origins to Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great s generals. Nonetheless, they preserved many of the traditions of the ancient Egyptians. What Was Napoleons First Language? The Truth About Cleopatras Race: Black, White, or Mixed? Cleopatras father, King Ptolemy Auletes, married his sister -no surprise there. The temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis and standing proudly on an island just south of the Aswan Dam, was originally constructed by the son of Ptolemy I Soter, one Ptolemy II Philadelphus. [3] For example, the article "Was Cleopatra Black?" Last of the Kings of Egypt: The Ptolemaic Dynasty | Ancient Origins She issued this coin in c. 47 BC. His second wife, Arsinoe II, adopted his children. Meanwhile, the native Egyptians would connect him with Osiris and the Apis Bull myth. He then went on to meet the Oracle at Siwah, who proclaimed him to be the son of Amon. Cleopatra suicided by snake poison, leaving behind her four children. In 2009, a BBC documentary speculated that Cleopatra might have been part North African. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. These are third-party cookies that provide visitors with ads. Black man: Oklahoma Felon Arrested in Mass Shooting Five Children Dead, Seven Shot. In another standard genealogy, Ptolemy XII's mother is a Greek concubine and Cleopatra V's mother is Cleopatra IV, not Cleopatra Selene I.Cleopatra VI's parents are Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II rather than Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. Sibling marriage had ancient roots in Egypt, but it was regarded with distaste in Greece. Black Ptolemies "[33], More recently Kathryn Bard, Professor of Archaeology and Classical Studies at Boston University stated in 2020 that: "Cleopatra was white of Macedonian descent, as were all of the Ptolemy rulers, who lived in Egypt,"[34] while for Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Associate Professor of Classics, Women's and Gender Studies, and Environmental Studies at Denison University, since there is no genetic basis for race, any claims to being able to identify Cleopatra's "true racial background" from her family tree perpetuate nothing else but a modern political position. Naples National Archaeological Museum, Italy. Weighing the Evidence: Was Cleopatra Black? - African Explorer They are set by the statistics companies we use so their services work faster. The other 75% is inconclusive. Fun facts about the world.Trustworthy articles.Written by ex-journalists. A New Netflix Series Is Reviving an Old Controversy", "Netflix Sued for Depicting Cleopatra as Black", "Egyptian lawyer sues Netflix over Queen Cleopatra", "Cleopatra, Arsinoe, and the Implications", "197 Marble portrait, perhaps of Cleopatra VII's daughter, Cleopatra Selene, Queen of Mauretania", "262 Veiled head from a marble portrait statue", "What's New in Demotic Studies? Can we say for sure it was not? "[73], Scholars generally identify Cleopatra as essentially of Macedonian Greek ancestry with some Persian and Sogdian Iranian ancestry. Additionally, the temples at Dendera, dedicated to the fertility goddess Hathor, and Kom Ombo are original Ptolemaic constructions. However, Clarence C. et al. The king would have erased her from the records. [19][20][21], The race and skin color of Cleopatra VII, the last active Hellenistic ruler of the Macedonian Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, has caused some debate,[2] although generally not in scholarly sources. Its cavalry was mostly composed of skilled Greek warriors. The Ptolemies assembled a formidable army for land operations. She was the first Ptolemaic ruler to actually, Cleopatra was hailed as the physical reincarnation of Isis. The father of Cleopatra VII was Ptolemy XII Auletes, son of Ptolemy IX. And at a time when currying favor with Roman leaders was essential to maintaining power in Egypt, Cleopatra worked her charms wisely. All of the former peoples fall under the term Unfortunately, Rogers somewhat muddled Their conclusions are based on such arguments as the Biblical name Ham and the naming of Egypt as "kmt" or "the black land." The ancestry, in other words, is open to interpretation based on how one views the available evidence. There are no records of who Cleopatras mother was, either. It stores the user consent for cookies in the category "Others". "[108], Mary Beard wrote a dissenting essay criticizing the findings, pointing out that one, there is no surviving name on the tomb and that the claim the tomb is alleged to invoke the shape of the Pharos Lighthouse "doesn't add up"; second, the skull did not survive intact and the skeleton is of a child too young to be that of Arsinoe (the bones are said to be that of a 1518-year-old child, with Arsinoe being around her mid twenties at her death); and third, since Cleopatra and Arsinoe were not known to have the same mother, "the ethnic argument goes largely out of the window". [45], Cleopatra's official Ptolemaic coinage (which she would have approved) and the three Roman portrait busts of her considered authentic by scholars (which match her coins) portray Cleopatra as a Greek woman in style, including the Greek chiton, Hellenistic diadem, and Greek chignon. (Photo: APE), The son of the previous couple, Ptolemy V. He was Cleopatras great-great-grandfather. Together the couple had three children: twins a boy and a girl, named Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, and a second son named Ptolemy Philadelphus. Ptolemaic dynasty - Wikipedia At its apex, Ptolemaic Egypt had conquered the expanse of land from Sinai to Syria, the entire island of Cyprus, huge swathes of southern Anatolia, several Aegean islands most notably Delos, the birthplace of Apollo . British Museum, London, England. If this scenario is accurate, Cleopatra VII's maternal grandmother may be another Ptolemy relative or someone unknown, perhaps of a concubine of Egyptian or Semitic African or Black African background. That woman's background has been assumed to be either Alexandrian or Nubian. Landowners were considered creditworthy in ancient Egypt and were, therefore, able to more easily access the greater Ptolemaic economy. Coin minted in Egypt in 54 BC. (The numbers are an addition from later scholars, not present in the lifetimes of these rulers, and may obscure some ambiguities in the records.). YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. Ptolemies - Holman Bible Dictionary - StudyLight.org But the lack of documentation leaves a question mark when it comes to the famous Cleopatra VII. Now, this is a big gap since her mother provided 50% of Cleopatras racial makeup. Ptolemy Vs double-grandmother Berenice II was the daughter of Magus of Cyrene a city in modern-day Libya, Magus was half-brother to Ptolemy IIIs father Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and was born to Macedon parents. When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt in 332 BC, he was not only welcomed but deified. He first married a Greek/Macedonian noblewoman. [72] Furthermore, he points out that the Greek ruling class was able to adapt to their new circumstances "without fundamental cultural alteration", which, combined with their position of power in the Egypt, "enabled them to take whatever they wished from Egypt without ceasing to become Greeks. There's no record of any reaction to the color of her skin. Kept at the British Museum. , the grandson of Ptolemy I Soter and third reigning sovereign of the dynasty, made it as far east as Babylon and as far north as Thrace in his military campaigns. THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD (33230 BCE) - Cambridge Boston Museum of Fine Arts, US. The temple of Amon at Karnak, the most important ancient complex in Luxor, was significantly expanded by the Ptolemies. In the context of Egyptian feminism, Nour argues that for Egyptian women "the choice to cast an Egyptian woman in a role like Cleopatra can be incredibly empowering. According to the renowned British classicist Alan K. Bowman, both the government and economy of the Ptolemies were highly organized and tightly controlled. Because of this, the Ptolemaic Period saw increased urban development in ancient Egyptian cities and towns. Ancient Egypt had long been in its death spiral by the time Alexander and Ptolemy first entered the scene. But she is the most famous member of the House of Ptolemy for good reason. It is believed that the younger siblings of Antonys Cleopatra: Princess Arsinoe, and Ptolemies XIII and XIV whom she married respectively were born by a different mother. King Auletes had several children. During her reign, she garnered a reputation for truly caring about her subjects. Greek citizens were governed by a different set of laws, and the Ptolemies avoided marrying Egyptians, opting instead to marry within their own family. Instead, he continues, Cleopatra "wore the headband and robes of a Greek monarch. In this scenario, Cleopatra VII has Macedonian Greek heritage, with little contribution from any other heritage for generations. [97] As noted by Donald R. Dudley, Cleopatra and her family were "the successor[s] to the native Pharaohs, exploiting through a highly organized bureaucracy the great natural resources of the Nile Valley. In what's called the "argument from silence," many conclude from that silence that she did not have dark-colored skin. Soon after the birth of his daughter Cleopatra VII -our Cleopatra-, Queen Trypahena almost disappears from the official documents. [38], The 2023 Netflix documentary series Queen Cleopatra, which cast an actor of mixed English and Jamaican heritage as the queen,[39] ignited controversy with accusations of historical inaccuracy, including from the former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs Zahi Hawass. British Museum, London, England. During her reign, she garnered a reputation for truly caring about her subjects. But did Cleopatraonlyhave Macedonian blood? It was also not uncommon to pay foreign mercenaries to assist in campaigns as needed. American History 1st Edition Holt McDougal. WebThe Ptolemies were not native Egyptians, but Greek and Macedonian by descent. He left his small country in Europe with his army and crossed to Africa. They required little devotion on the part of the masses and were often modified to absorb new gods when it was convenient to do so. But there is no evidence one way or the other. By Michael ArnoldBA Art History, MA Ancient Mediterranean ArchaeologyMichael is a contributing writer and former world traveler whose hometown is New York City. Or was Cleopatra the queens daughter, and the association was erased because of a falling out? - Quora. Is there any evidence that either of those women were not Black Africans? He was nicknamed bastard. 1st century BC statue. was published in Ebony magazine in 2002. Unfortunately, the modern proponents of the "Black Cleopatra" theorystarting with J. In this theory, the indigenous people of Egypt, Badarian people, were invaded and overrun by Mesopotamian people, early in Egypt's history. 2,271 solutions. HISTORY So only 25% of Cleopatras racial makeup is certain: through her grandfather, Cleopatra was 25% European and Middle Eastern. "[28] the royal seats of the new and old dynasties respectively. Alexander was depicted as a god and pharaoh thereafter. Is there any evidence that either her mother or paternal grandmother was a Black African? 26 of the Most Unflattering Royal Portraits Ever, 38 Celebrities You Didnt Know Were Jewish, 27 of the Funniest Quotes by Winston Churchill, Cleopatras Children -This is What Happened to Them, 16 of the Largest Empires the World Has Seen (With Maps), Markled! Ptolemy, Latin in full Claudius Ptolemaeus, (born c. 100 ce died c. Much of the Ptolemaic bureaucracy and infrastructure was left in place during the Roman Period. [17][18], Arsinoe and Cleopatra shared the same father (Ptolemy XII Auletes) but may have had different mothers,[19] with Thr claiming the alleged African ancestry came from the skeleton's mother. Alexander Helios died early on in Italy. Later waves of Jewish immigrants in the 2nd century BC were primarily those fleeing, persecution under the Seleucid occupation of Judea, Much of the early migration, however, had to do with Egypts swelling empire. Later waves of Jewish immigrants in the 2nd century BC were primarily those fleeing persecution under the Seleucid occupation of Judea. Kom Ombo, among the most fascinating of the Ptolemaic temples, served as a shrine to the great crocodile god Sobek. He was the son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. So, usually, the concubines of the Ptolemies were Greeks. In other words, the Ptolemies were imperialist outsiders, Greeks, who ruled over native Egyptians. DIVISION OF ALEXANDERS EMPIRE AFTER HIS Who was his mother and who was the mother of his daughter Cleopatra VII, the last Pharaoh of Egypt? Classicist Grace Macurdy notes in her seminal 1932 book Hellenistic Queens: A Study of Woman-Power in Macedonia, Seleucid Syria, and Ptolemaic Egypt that scholars prior to her book had speculated Cleopatra was part Jewish, a hypothesis which Macurdy dismisses as having "slight evidence. These cookies do not collect personal data. Nonetheless, they often had to borrow at exorbitant interest rates. He ushered in the start of a renewed prosperity that continued into the Roman Period after the Ptolemies. It all began with a reorganization of the state. House of Ptolemy: Ancient Egypts Ptolemaic Dynasty This cookie is set by Clicky Analytics. Familiarity breeds: incest and the Ptolemaic Dynasty In this scenario, Cleopatra VII's great-grandparents are Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. Was Cleopatra Black? [7][8] Lefkowitz refutes Rogers' hypothesis, on various scholarly grounds. The conqueror, whose reputation quite literally preceded him, deposed the occupying Persian regime with ease. This cookie is set by Clicky Analytics. Her Family Tree. Made in Cyprus, c. 280 BC. WebThe Ptolemies were Macedonian by descent and were often represented as Greek rulers, as seen on the coinage, rings and stone portraits (UC 17231, bronze finger ring with an image of Ptolemy IX). Naples National Archaeological Museum, Italy. Egypt embraced an immigration boom under the Ptolemies. Ptolemy I Soter used Serapis as a great unifier. Cleopatra V, while often identified as a younger daughter of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III, may not have been the daughter of a royal wife. In fact, several of the best-preserved and most visited Egyptian sites today are products of the Ptolemaic kingdom. He married his full-sister, Arsinoe III. [64], In his Kleopatra und die Caesaren (2006), Bernard Andreae[de] contends that this Egyptian basalt statue is like other idealized Egyptian portraits of the queen, and does not contain realistic facial features and hence adds little to the knowledge of Cleopatra's appearance. But there are two historical mentions of Tryphaena later on. The Ptolemies were reigning royals. Marble portraits of Cleopatra at an exhibition at The British Museum in London 10 April 2001. The House of Ptolemy: Ancient Egypts Ptolemaic Dynasty The record is simply not conclusive as to the ancestry of either Cleopatra VII's mother or maternal grandmother. In some Renaissance art, Cleopatra is portrayed as dark-skinned, a "negress" in the terminology of that time. They were known as the Ptolemaic dynasty. Debate regarding the race of the Egyptian ruler, For further validation about Cleopatra VII being of predominantly Macedonian Greek descent, see, For further information and validation see. At the He ensured Cleopatras enduring rule of Egypt. The notion of a two-tier legal system implies that the Ptolemies promoted an unequal society. Contracts made in Greek would be settled according to Greek law in Greek courts, called chrematistai; meanwhile, contracts made in Demotic adhered to the laws of the land and were settled in Egyptian courts, laokriti. Meanwhile, the native Egyptians would connect him with Osiris and the, Serapis was the protector of the capital. Notably this included the first Ptolemaic Cleopatra, Queen Cleopatra I Syra, a Seleucid princess and daughter of Antiochus III the Great who married Ptolemy V Epiphanes. and were, therefore, able to more easily access the greater Ptolemaic economy. Xenophobia could also account for active cover-up or simply omitting mention of any other ancestry than Macedonian Greek. In this way, they broke sharply with their forefathers. But when fortune failed him and it certainly did: Alexander the Great became ill suddenly in Babylon and died aged only 32 the empire that hed sewn together so quickly fell apart just as fast. But the country enchanted an ambitious general within his ranks, a certain Ptolemy I Soter. Jone Johnson Lewis is a women's history writer who has been involved with the women's movement since the late 1960s. The family trees of these women are well documented because they came from royal houses. The Ptolemies of Egypt Musee dart et darcheologie de Laon. (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia/ Public domain), A bust of the same Ptolemy I in Egyptian style. Ptolemy III Eugeretes, the grandson of Ptolemy I Soter and third reigning sovereign of the dynasty, made it as far east as Babylon and as far north as Thrace in his military campaigns. Additionally, the temples at Dendera, dedicated to the fertility goddess Hathor, and Kom Ombo are original Ptolemaic constructions. Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent banner. It is during the 19th century that attempts to classify the Egyptians into what were assumed to be the key races were common. A long line of them would go on to rule after him, ending with the suicide of his last of kin. WebUpdated on January 29, 2020 That Cleopatra was an African queen is certain Egypt is, after all, in Africa but was Cleopatra Black? No. Lewis, Jone Johnson. [16], Similar to the Berlin Cleopatra, other Roman sculpted portraits of Cleopatra include diadem-wearing marble heads now located in the Vatican Museums and Archaeological Museum of Cherchell, although the latter may instead be a depiction of her daughter Cleopatra Selene II. "Weighing the Evidence: Was Cleopatra Black?" Check out her portrait in the coins she minted herself, her ancient statues and paintings, or read how her contemporaries described her. Actually, the name Cleopatra was popular in Macedon; it is not a native Egyptian name. "[101], Joyce Tyldesley concurs, noting that while there were blonde Macedonian rulers, like Ptolemy II, Cleopatra's known ancestry of Macedonian and Persian make it likely she had "dark hair and an olive or light brown complexion". Learn about how a Greek Macedonian family inherited Egypt and how Ptolemaic Egypt got conquered by Rome. They do not collect personal data. They make other claims (like that Cleopatra's brother, whom Rogers thinks is her father, had obvious Black features) without evidence. In her youth, she was married to her brother, a custom that had become common among the Ptolemies of the late period. And that he exiled Tryphaena. [3] He goes onto say outside the hypothesis of Cleopatra being three-quarters Macedonian Greek and a quarter Egyptian, there is "no room for anything else, certainly not for any black African blood. None of the Necessary, Performance, or Statistics cookies collect personal data or IP addresses. However, the royal line that Cleopatra was born into was of Greek origin, and dated back to the life of her ancestor Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian general who had served under Alexander the Great, and became ruler of Egypt in 323 BC. The famous temple dedicated to Horus at Edfu is a Ptolemaic reconstruction of a ruined Pharaonic one. years before Cleopatras birth, when Egypt was ultra-powerful. All of this investment is proof that Egypts Greek rulers promoted the cults of the ancient gods and even worshipped themselves. Kom Ombo, among the most fascinating of the Ptolemaic temples, served as a shrine to the great crocodile god Sobek. Worldhistory.us - For those who want to understand the History, not just to read it. Mary Lefkowitz, Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at Wellesley College, traces the main origins of the black Cleopatra claim to the 1946 book by J.A. Set by GDPR cookie consent banner. Government and conditions under the Ptolemies The native Egyptian pharaohs built the pyramids 2,500 (!!) Afro-centrists illustrate that Cleopatra who ruled as Cleopatra VII, was black largely basing their opinion on the fact that she was African and had an unknown grandmother the unnamed concubine of her grandfather Ptolemy IX Soter II. 1 position) of Greeks within the empire. When her third husband, Julius Caesar, took Cleopatra back to Rome with him, she certainly caused a sensation. In his spare time, Michael enjoys researching and writing about art, history, and archaeology with a focus on the ancient world. No mythical figure personifies the Ptolemaic dynasty better than he does. She married her first cousin Ptolemy III. (Photo: Jastrow/Wikimedia/Public domain). they were neighbors: they traded with Webnately for the Ptolemies, the status quo meant they were living gods ruling a prosperous nation. Race is a social construct, rather than a biological reality. Other scholars point out that the association of the Biblical figure of Ham with dark-skinned sub-Saharan Africans, or a Black race, is relatively recent in history, and that "the black land" name for Egypt has long been held to be about the black soil that is part of the phenomenon of Nile flooding. . Serapis was the protector of the capital. Coin issued in Tyre, c. 205 BC. But those artists were also not eyewitnesses, and their artistic interpretation may have been based on trying to depict Cleopatra's "otherness," or their own assumptions or conclusions about Africa and Egypt. "[4], Grant states that Cleopatra probably had not a drop of Egyptian blood and that she "would have described herself as Greek. They may therefore have found incest and inbreeding a supportable method of dynastic propagation. There are theories and speculation, based on sparse evidence, but no certainty where either of these women came from or what might be, in nineteenth century terms, their racial heritage. Clarence C. Gravlee, H. Russell Bernard, and William R. Leonard. (Photo: Marco Prins/Livius/CC01.0), Berenice II was of Macedonian and Persian descent. An Overview of the Publications 2010-2013", "The Great Seducer: Cleopatra, Queen and Sex Symbol", "325 Painting with a portrait of a woman in profile", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleopatra_race_controversy&oldid=1163421300, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Pages with login required references or sources, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, "Ptolemaic Dynasty Affiliates". [56], In addition to sculptures and coins, several surviving Roman frescoes from Pompeii and Herculaneum also likely depict Cleopatra. World History and Geography Student She was the last of the Ptolemy dynasty to rule Egypt. And all of the Ptolemies received a Greek education. They also allowed the traditional priesthood to remain fully intact. Cleopatras ancestors, the Ptolomies. What Do We Know About Cleopatra's Ancestry? The Religion of the Ptolemies: Syncretism and Temple Construction, river of the same name. So other scholars believe Auletes and his sister-wife Tryphaena had a falling out soon after Cleopatras birth. It checks if the user's browser supports cookies. Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent banner. After his death, however, Ptolemaic Egypt began to stagnate and then decline. Complicating such discussions is the fact that race itself is a complex issue, with unclear definitions. , was originally constructed by the son of Ptolemy I Soter, one Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Her father Ptolemy XII Auletes was born illegitimate in 117 BC to Ptolemy IX Soter II and the unknown grandmother but besides this, Cleopatras parents were completely related to each other. The Ptolemaic family tree is highly complicated, and when Ptolemy XII Auletes married Cleopatra V Tryphaena, he was marrying his half-niece because she was the daughter of his half-sister-double-cousin, Queen Berenice III, Cleopatra V Tryphaena was also his first-cousin being the daughter of his uncle, Ptolemy X Alexander. After Ptolemy died, his son Ptolemy II became king. Its light infantry ranks were populated by immigrants and natives seeking upward mobility. Interestingly, they also include the cookies that are set to comply with European "cookie laws" (e.g. And lets remember Romans had no problem calling someone a bastard to their face, as they did with Cleopatras father. "[36], In regards to the debate surrounding the casting in 2020 of Israeli actress Gal Gadot in a Cleopatra film project, Egyptian-Australian writer and journalist Daniel Nour contended Egyptians should have a say who is cast as Cleopatra, as she was a "queen of Egyptian history." The black Cleopatra claim was further revived in an essay by Afrocentrist author John Henrik Clarke, chair of African history at Hunter College, entitled "African Warrior Queens. The Ptolemies: What Was Ancient Egypt Like Under Greek Control? www.tyndalehouse.com. , or village administrator, factored into the network that linked all the way up to the monarch. The Ptolemies ushered in a new bureaucracy to govern the country that was, aptly, pyramid-shaped.
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