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The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

2022-06-21 21:27:09Histori SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

 

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra
In the photo, the movie Cleopatra, role played by the memorable Liz Taylor

 

History has not been generous with the last of the pharaohs of Egypt. She is described as a manipulative queen who fascinated two leaders from the world's largest empire and was willing to kill for her right to rule. But no.

She was a resourceful politician, a very knowledgeable woman, she was not Macedonian and she was not a "fatal woman"… and she did not die from a snake.

Exalted in art and cinema, as she has been rumored for 2000 years, Cleopatra was very different from what history has told us. To give justice to this charismatic character, here are some slightly lesser known, and perhaps unexpected, facts about her public and private life.

1- She was not Egyptian

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

She was Macedonian, like her whole family. It was in fact descended from one of the generals of Alexander the Great, who after the death of the warrior had divided his kingdom. She was born in 69 BC, from a concubine of Pharaoh Ptolemy XII, and therefore belonged to the dynasty of Ptolemy. She was the last sovereign of the Hellenistic era and probably the only one from the family who had political talent, so much so that she came to power when she was 18 and stayed there for about two decades.

2- She was not beautiful, but she was intelligent

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

The image of the fatal woman was "climbed" during the Renaissance (at that time she was also imagined as a blonde Swede). But Plutarch, the Greek historian who traces her most faithful portrait, describes her not so much as beauty, but as intelligence and sympathy. From her father she had taken an eagle-like nose, and even the hair style with which she is presented on the coins was not beautiful. Also she was usually dressed as a man (in the tradition of Pharaoh women).

3- He read a lot

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

Cleopatra was a very curious and cultured person. He had grown up with Greek tragedy-comedies and knew the basics of astronomy, geometry, arithmetic and medicine. She was very smart in rhetoric and especially in language. She knew at least 8 languages ​​and liked to study to perfection to follow the tradition of her family.

4- It originated from a family of murderers

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

In the struggle for power, Cleopatra had killed, through the bodies of her lover, Caesar, her brother-husband, Ptolemy XIII. But this was not the only fratricide at home. Her father, Ptolemy XII, had executed his daughter Berenice IV, who had tried to seize power; her uncle had eliminated the wife, after only 19 days of marriage, and the great-grandfather Ptolemy VIII had been killed by the nephew, to take the throne.

5- He did not eat men

 

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra
Pictured are Caesar, played by Rex Harrison and Cleopatra by Liz Taylor

 

No other relationship is known, beyond those with the two Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. We do not know if he was in sincere love with them: Cleopatra certainly knew how to take advantage of her beauty to consolidate political power. Caesar was more than twice her age (52, versus 21 of the queen), and with it, the political account was more apparent. The queen used it to regain Alexandria and the power usurped by her brother Ptolemy XIII. With Mark Antony, with whom he had three children, it was probably true love, even though the queen was accused by political opponents in Rome of having seduced him by magic.

6- Victim of gossip and defamation campaigns

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

Like the one orchestrated by Caesar's heir, Octavian, to weaken rival Mark Antony, Cleopatra's boyfriend. In a threatening correspondence that preceded the direct confrontation, Octavian accused the queen of spending time drunk and having orgies, or of seducing Mark Antony by magic. Cleopatra was not touched and used Octavian's talk to build a powerful fleet to fight the Romans.

7- She was jealous

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

Cleopatra was very possessive and jealous of Antony, and the fact that the latter was a feminist did not help at all. Chronicles report that Anthony had requested a portrait of King Herod's daughter, known for her beauty, causing Cleopatra to explode. Upon returning to Rome, Antony married the sister of his rival Octavian, to formally sanction the division of Roman territories after Caesar's death. And while his wife was pregnant he returned to Cleopatra, who did not let him escape again, and married her according to Egyptian rites.

8- He did not kill for love

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

But she preferred to die like a queen, rather than end up in chains before the Roman people, after the triumph of the enemy Octavian. Her suicide was an act of pride, the last call for freedom, as she had tried, according to some sources, to seduce Octavian as well, when he came to her for Alexandria. This version seems more plausible than the suicide for love of Antony, who believing the queen was dead, jumped on his sword.

9- He did not die from the snake

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

Edhe rrethanat e vetëvrasjes së Kleopatrës duken të imagjinuara. Vështirë se mbretëresha është vrarë duke lënë t’i kafshojë gjirin një gjarpër, i sjellë në një shportë fiqsh. Gjarpri i vërtetë (Vipera Aspis) në fakt nuk ekziston në Afrikën e Veriut. Gjarpëri tjetër më bindës, Kobra i Egjiptit që ishte i shenjtë për faraonët (Naja Haje) ishte shumë i madh për t’u futur në një shportë. Ndoshta Kleopatra vdiq e kafshuar nga një echide careened (Echis carinatus), një gjarpër origjinale në Lindjen e Mesme, më pak se një metër i gjatë dhe vdekjeprurës.

Por një teori e fundit tregon se Kleopatra nuk vdiq pasi u pickua nga një gjarpër, por thuhet se kishte pirë helm. Studiuesit thonë se pickimi i gjarprit do t’i kishte shkaktuar asaj një vdekje të ngadaltë torturuese, dhe se Kleopatra duhet ta kishte ditur këtë nga interesat e saj rreth mjekësisë.

10- Një mendje mjekësore

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra

Sipas studimeve të fundit, Kleopatra kishte studiuar shkencë dhe mjekësi siç bënin shumë femra në Egjipt, dhe shkroi një traktat të quajtur “Kozmetika”, jo në lidhje me makiazhin, por për mjetet juridike mjekësore.

11- Basti me Mark Antonin

Ekziston një histori e famshme se si Kleopatra një herë piu një koktej me një margaritar të tretur në mënyrë që të fitonte një bast me Mark Antonin.

Sipas gojëdhënave, çifti vuri bast nëse Mbretëresha e Egjiptit do të mund të shpenzonte një pasuri të madhe në një vakt të vetëm. Prandaj ajo futi një perlë në koktejin e saj dhe e piu.

12- Nuk dihet se ku ndodhen eshtrat e saj

Para se të vriste veten, Kleopatra shprehu dëshirën e saj për t’u varrosur ngjitur me Mark Antonin. Kronikat thonë se Oktaviani ia plotësoi, por varri i çiftit nuk është gjetur.

The Last Pharaoh: 12 facts you did not know about Cleopatra
In the photo, Hawass with a statue in the alabaster of the Queen

In 2009, Egyptologist Zahi Havass announced that he had discovered the place where the two were buried, a room hidden under the temple of Taposiris Magna, 50 km west of Alexandria, where 10 mummies belonging to the nobility of the time were found. Excavations continue, but the discovery has not yet been confirmed.

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