Cleopatra wasn't black.

Indeed. A ginger Greek actress to be more accurate.

Formerly KingAngantyr

So you've never read ANYTHING about them and their history. A lot of the pharoes before her were black and olive because they were not part of the same family so in keeping with tradition they were all painted to look like so their line would appear timless and unchanging (much to her sons dipleasure). Read a book!

Exactly! If Ancient Egyptians WERE black, then why would they paint themselves as tan on their walls and murals?

Some people are so gullible when it comes to the Afro-centric views of Egypt.

If you can't fix it, you gotta stand it. -- Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain

People are repeating misleading myths that only were brought forth in recent times. There is absolutely no proof that either of Cleopatra's grandmothers, mother, father or whoever was of Egyptian or African origins.

Most reliable scholars admit Cleopatra was not of African/Egyptian descent. Even Afrocentrism scholars such as Ibrahim Sundiata, Asante and even Erich S. Gruen of wayout-liberal Berkeley tacitly admit that there is no evidence which point to either of Cleopatra's grandmothers of having African/Egyptian blood.

The Ptolemy Dynasty were very xenophobian but the xenophobia that they had, had nothing to do with race. The Macedonian Royalty, which Cleopatra was part of, have always believed they were descendants of the Greek Hero Hercules. To keep their Herculanian blood line "pure" the Ptolemaic Dynasty inbred like crazy. This belief is one that even Cleopatra herself believed in. She made sure she had her children from Roman families who supposedly traced their genes to the Trojans. This was not by accident on her part. Her son Ptolemy Caesar, she had with Caesar, who's family traced their well-known patrician family (gens Julia), to Julus, the son of the Trojan prince Aeneas, who was the supposed son of the Goddess Aphrodite/Venus. The earliest Hellenic explanations, in fact, had Greeks themselves, claiming the Trojans as ancestors there-fore ancestors of Rome - a fact that Cleopatra being of Greek origin would have been familiar with. As might be expected, these stories began to take shape in the era of Greek colonization in the west ala modern day Italy.

Antony's children, Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios, she believed she had with a family, Mark Antony's, which claimed descent from Anton, son of the Greek hero Hercules. Her alliance with Mark Antony was not only on the basis as lovers but infact both believed their families were descendants of Hercules there fore in a way making them kinfolk - in other words their families were related through Hercules. I know, I know, today we look upon Hercules as a fictional Greek mythical figure but to the ancients their mythology was actually real, in other words they believed in it as some Christians believe in Jesus, the Jews in God and the Buddist etc. etc. etc. (i.e. as really historical figures).

What people fail to mention about Cleopatra being of African descent is the fact that this theory was not raised until the 16th century - that is thousands of years AFTER Cleopatra's death. Most writers who question her heritage are not even ancient writers but modern revisionists.

The first American writer to suggest that Cleopatra had a black ancestor was J.A. Rogers, in World's Great Men of Color. Rogers muddled the Sibling-Loving family tree to the point were some use his theories as 'proof' of Cleo's questionable heritage. For one he claims her father was Ptolemy XIII, which is wrong, he was Ptolemy XII; he claims her grandfather was Ptolemy XI, which was wrong again, it was Ptolemy IX.

Another of his sources was the play Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. Shakespear descripes Cleopatra as being "tawny" or "mulatto". Personally I wouldn't give much credit to Shakespear's authority on Ptolemaic geneology.

Roger's other 'evidence' of Cleo's questionable parentage was Ripley's Believe It Or Not where Ripley says "he has proof that Cleo was 'fat and black'" even though he hasn't produced any evidence of the fact to back up this claim.

Another perpetrator of false Cleopatra information is by modern writer John Henrik Clarke, professor at Hunter College. He uses a modern portrait of a black Cleopatra to support his claims. He also says that in the Book of Acts Cleopatra describes herself as "black" but does not give the chapter and verse that this claim is made - the reason for this is that anyone familiar with the Book of Acts would tell you Cleopatra is not even mentioned in the Book of Acts. A lot of modern writers have used Roger's and Clarke's illogical/false theories as their bases to support the questionable birth of Cleopatra.

The Ptolemaic Dynasty followed the matrilinear nature of succession, a system in which one belongs to one's mother's lineage; inheritance of property or titles through the female line. A tradition that many ancient Greeks followed since the times of the Minoans and Mycenaeans. If Ptolemy XII's mother was not of Ptolemiac blood, there were other Ptolemaic children who's moms were that would have been chosen as rulers. For Ptolemy to become a ruler his mother had to have been of Ptolemaic bloodline. The Ptolemy also believed that the "sister-born" was a prerequisite of legitimacy and for a Ptolemaic princess to be a recognised sister she must also have been a queen. The biological mother of Ptolemy XII had to have been in a relationship with Ptolemy IX and she also had to have had sufficent standing for her son to be recognized as Ptolemy IX's heir. A non Ptolemic concubine's illegitimate off spring would never hold the status of ruling over the Ptolemy royal house hold since we have evidence that there were other legitament Ptolemaic children in the royal household to take that spot. Cleopatra VII herself followed the family practice of marrying within the family. She married her two brothers (Ptolemy XIII and XIV) in succession (after the first died in suspicious circumstances, she had the second murdered).

There is evidence which points to the fact that Ptolemy XII's mother, Cleo's grandmom, was Cleopatar IV, she was not a ruling Queen when she had Ptolemy XII but that does not mean she was not of Ptolemaic descent. Ptolemy XII's father, Ptolemy IX, was married for a brief period to his sister, Cleopatra IV, who was not a concubine as some have falsely suggested. It was during this period that they had Ptolemy XII, Cleo's dad, before Ptolemy IX was king of Egypt. They were both forcibly divorced by their mother, Cleopatra III, because she wanted Ptolemy IX to marry their other sister, Cleopatra Selena. Since Cleopatra IV, was not a ruling queen when she had Ptolemy XII, Cleo's dad, then any mention of her would be removed and disregarding. Thus labels such as "bastard" and "illegitimate" were given to Ptolemy XII but not because he was of an "unknown" concubine or whatever origin but because his mother was not a ruling queen when she had him. From his titulary Ptolemy XII claims to be heir to the god Soter but does not mention being heir to his mother. This is because his mother was not a ruling queen when she had him but she was of Ptolemaic descent for Ptolemy XII to be giving rule over Egypt, especially when legitament Ptolemaic children were a plenty in the royal household and could have been chosen if Ptolemy XII's mom was not of a Ptolemaic bloodline.

Just in case anyone is wondering: Paternal Grandmother ~ Cleopatra IV[famed Cleo's grandmom ~ dad's mom] she was the daughter of Cleopatra III Euergetis and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ~ her parents were uncle and niece ~ Cleopatra IV had with her husband and brother Ptolemy IX Soter II ~ Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos Philopator Philadelphos ~ he was famed Cleopatra's father; Maternal Grandmother ~ was Berenice III Cleopatra Philopator[famed Cleo's grandmom ~ mom's mom] she was the daughter of Ptolemy IX Soter II & Cleopatra Selene I and first cousin/sister to famed Cleo's father which I will explain in detail below ~ her parents were brother and sister their parents were Cleopatra III Euergetis and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ~ (in other words Ptolemy IX, Cleopatra IV and Cleopatra Selene I were all siblings) ~ Berenice III Cleopatra Philopator had with her husband and uncle Ptolemy X Alexander I Philometor ~ who was also the son of Cleopatra III Euergetis and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ~ Cleopatra V Tryphaena ~ she was famed Cleopatra's mother. Yes for those who have noticed famed Cleopatra's paternal and maternal grandfather is one and the same, he had children with both his sisters: one gave birth to Cleo's father, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos Philopator Philadelphos, and the other gave birth to Cleo's maternal grandmother, Berenice III; Cleo's maternal grandmother, Berenice, married her uncle(Bernice's father and mother's other brother, Ptolemy X Alexander); from that union they had Cleo's mother, Cleopatra V Tryphaena; Cleo's mother, Cleopatra V, then married Cleo's father, Ptolemy XII, who also happened to be Cleopatra V's uncle/cousin. Oh and just in case anyone is wondering about fame Cleo's great-grandmother, Cleopatra III Euergetis, who was both the paternal and maternal great-grandmother of fame Cleo, she was the daughter of Ptolemy VI Philometor and Cleopatra II, her parents were brother and sister. If anything the Ptolemies had some Persian in them. One of the Ptolemies very early great relatives, Ptolemy III Euergetes Tryphon, married Berenice II who was from the Greek rulers of the Seleucid Dynasty and we know that Berenice's great-grandfather, the Greek ruler Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals and creator of the Seleucus Dynasty, married the Persian Princess Apame, the only one according to ancient texts, of the Seleucid rulers to marry a non-Hellenic woman. Seleucus I Nicator and Apame's son, was Antiochus I Soter; Antiochus married the Greek Macedonian Princess Stratonice; Antiochus and Stratonice were materinal grandparents to Bernice II, their daughter Arsinoe Apama was Berenice II's mother; Arsinoe Apama husband and Bernice II's father was the Greek Macedonian ruler Magas. So you could say its through Berenice II, who's maternal great-grandmother was Persian, that the Ptolemy had something like 5% Persian in them.

Cleopatra VII spoke several languages for diplomatic purposes such as Latin and Egyptian but her first language was Greek. None of the former Ptolemaic rulers spoke any other langauge but Greek. Cleopatra however knew that being able to communicate in other peoples languages would help her gain the power which she was aiming to achieve. Plutarch tells us that her linguist skills were "extraordinary". He says she spoke 'most languages' and there were but few of the foreign ambassadors to whom she needed an interpreter for. Some of the languages which he specifies were - aside from Greek of course - Latin, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Coptic, Hebrew, Syrian, South Central Semitic, Persian and Mede(probably something close to Avestan and Scythian). Scholars have found her handwriting in Greek on royal decree. She chose to portray herself as an Greek and Egyptian not because she was an Egyptian biologically, but because she was ambitious to stay in power.

You are a very ignorant individual and your knowledge of history is very lacking. No pictures or depictions of Cleopatra show her light brown or tanned or whatever. The two official sculptures which we have and know that they are of the Queen show her as a white individuals with Greek features. Cleopatra was of Greek Macedonian descent who's family intermarried one another. Her family didn't want to intermix with anyone who wasn't of the same Greek Royal Household as them, never mind intermixing with total foreingers. How moronic ignorant.

Well apart from some modern Afrocentric views, there is no evidence what so ever to support this audacious claim of Cleo being anything but Hellinic in origin. But like Alexander claimed by the homosexual community, Orpheus by the Bulgarians, the Makedones themselves claimed by Slavs, even Homer claimed to be a Turk.... every wanna-be scholar with an agenda to promote makes claims on Hellinic history.

Now to all those that support the rediculous, "Egypt is in Africa = Egyptians black" analogy.
Please do explain the blonde hair of Queen Hatshepsut (long blonde to be exact), the reknowned pre-dynastic mummy niknamed "Ginger" (do to the hair color) found in the British Museum, Yuya-(Joseph II) dated 1400BC and his wife Thuya also found to be blonde and Caucasian, RamsesII the red-head...etc

There is far too much evidence to simply overlook.