Egyptian Queen Cleopatra: Was she Egyptian?
The answer may be surprising: no—she was a descendant of the Greeks.
In the early 300s BCE, Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, declared himself king in Egypt and established the Ptolemaic dynasty. For nearly three hundred years afterward, this family remained on the throne: they lived in Alexandria, spoke Greek, and to preserve the so-called “pure” lineage, they practiced sibling marriage year after year and almost never intermarried with Egyptians. Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of this dynasty.
However, she was something of an exception. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch, she could speak Egyptian, and she was the first king in the dynasty to be willing to learn the Egyptian language. In 30 BCE, she took her own life, ending the dynasty, and Egypt was absorbed into the Roman sphere of influence.
So, strictly speaking, the “pharaoh” who ruled the final chapter of ancient Egypt was actually a Greek-speaking Macedonian descendant. Do you think she counts as Egyptian?
The answer may be surprising: no—she was a descendant of the Greeks.
In the early 300s BCE, Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, declared himself king in Egypt and established the Ptolemaic dynasty. For nearly three hundred years afterward, this family remained on the throne: they lived in Alexandria, spoke Greek, and to preserve the so-called “pure” lineage, they practiced sibling marriage year after year and almost never intermarried with Egyptians. Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of this dynasty.
However, she was something of an exception. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch, she could speak Egyptian, and she was the first king in the dynasty to be willing to learn the Egyptian language. In 30 BCE, she took her own life, ending the dynasty, and Egypt was absorbed into the Roman sphere of influence.
So, strictly speaking, the “pharaoh” who ruled the final chapter of ancient Egypt was actually a Greek-speaking Macedonian descendant. Do you think she counts as Egyptian?
