The start of the docudrama “Queen Cleopatra” might have simply gone under in the gigantic Netflix universe if two more or less prominent Egyptians hadn’t spoken up and lost sharp words about the cast of the main character. Because the famous pharaoh is played by the black actress Adele James.
Lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary complained that this was a clear case of “blackwashing”. In other words: the role of a white woman is played by a black woman. The lawyer even asked prosecutors to block Netflix in Egypt. Reason: The streaming service violates media laws because it aims to support Afrocentric thinking and erase the idea of Egyptian identity.
Traditionally, cultural workers tend to complain more about white people taking on roles portraying non-white people. Just as in most films (and in church art) Jesus Christ is portrayed by average blond Central Europeans, although in reality he was more likely to have been the oriental type – just like presumably Cleopatra. Of course that is not certain.
Unlike Jesus, there is the pharaoh born in 69 B.C. was born, contemporary representations. For example on coins and a bust that can be seen in the Berlin Collection of Antiquities. British archaeologists from Newcastle have reconstructed her appearance from this: the ruler is said to have had a receding forehead, a pointed chin, a square nose and thin lips – by today’s standards, she was not the beauty she was portrayed as in many films. Or with Asterix and Obelix. Their legendary success is apparently based more on intelligence and skillful dealings with Roman Caesars.
But that doesn’t say much about the color of her skin. At least indirectly, her complexion can be narrowed down and she was probably neither light like Elizabeth Taylor, nor dark like Adele James is now. Egyptologist and the country’s former antiquities minister, Zahi Hawass, said in an interview, “Cleopatra was Greek, meaning her skin was lighter, not black.” The only Egyptian rulers known to be black were the Kushites of the 25th dynasty, who lived more than half a century earlier.
Cleopatra’s exact lineage is surprisingly unclear. At least on my mother’s side. It comes from the Macedonian-Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, which arose at the time of Alexander the Great and ruled over Egypt for three centuries. Her father was King Ptolemy XII. Neos Dionysos, the origin of her mother is not clear. Presumably, she came from the Egyptian nobility – which says little about her skin color, which she could have passed on to her daughter.
Speaking about her series, Tina Gharavi, director of Queen Cleopatra, said Cleopatra’s family of European descent had lived in Egypt for 300 years prior to her birth, making it “quite unlikely” that she was white. The argument sounds plausible, but ultimately it is just speculation. Because very often little is known about the origin of the countless women with whom the pharaohs fathered offspring. However, researchers are undisputed that the power of the Ptolemaic dynasty rests on its guards, who were recruited from the Greek-Macedonian environment. All too obviously non-European rulers might have had legitimacy problems.
Incidentally, the few representations not only show Cleopatra more as a European and thus more light-skinned type. The bust of her sister or half-sister Arsinoë IV also suggests the same or similar roots. In short: Even if it will probably never be clarified, the world-famous pharaoh may have looked like today’s Southern Europeans or North Africans. Nevertheless, a few years ago the planned cast of a Cleopatra film with the Israeli Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman”) also caused trouble. Because the actress is “too white”.
Sources: “Die Welt”, State Museums Berlin, “FAZ”, “Spiegel”, Livius.org
