Princess of Egypt and Alexandria
Map of Ptolemaic and Roman kingdom
Cleopatra came from the Ptolemaic dynasty that migrated to Egypt from Macedonia.
Her father, Ptolemy-XII ruled Egypt in 69B.C. One of his three daughters
was Cleopatra-VII meaning "her father's glory". She grew up
in a time of religious fusion of Greek and Egyptian traditions. One of her sisters, Berenice took over her father's reign after her father fled to Rome because his rule was overthrown by a rebellion in Alexandria. Later, Ptolemy-XII got Berenice
beheaded with the help of Roman general
Pompey. After Ptolemy-XII died at the age of 51, he left Cleopatra and her
brother Ptolemy-XIII in charge.
By the time she was 18 years old, Cleopatra had seen her father's struggle for power, and corruption rampant in society. She became alert, shrewd and ruthless. Yet, she also had a softer side, she was passionate about art and science and liked to attend intellectual discussions. She was the first ruler of her dynasty to learn native Egyptian. She respected their religious beliefs in order to connect with them. She even dressed up as Isis, an Egyptian Goddess. She also inaugurated their sacred Buchis bull. This reflects diplomatic side of her personality. An inscription at the shrine says:
"The Queen, the Lady of the Two Lands, the goddess who loves her father, rowed the Bull in the Barge of Amon to Hermonthis." (wfu.edu)
A modern historian Micheal Foss wrote:
"She was not just a Macedonian Greek from Alexandria who farmed an alien land for her own benefit from the distant Mediterranean shore. She was an Egyptian whose heart beat in time with pharaonic tradition, a queen of all her people" (cornellia.fws1.com)
By the time she was 18 years old, Cleopatra had seen her father's struggle for power, and corruption rampant in society. She became alert, shrewd and ruthless. Yet, she also had a softer side, she was passionate about art and science and liked to attend intellectual discussions. She was the first ruler of her dynasty to learn native Egyptian. She respected their religious beliefs in order to connect with them. She even dressed up as Isis, an Egyptian Goddess. She also inaugurated their sacred Buchis bull. This reflects diplomatic side of her personality. An inscription at the shrine says:
"The Queen, the Lady of the Two Lands, the goddess who loves her father, rowed the Bull in the Barge of Amon to Hermonthis." (wfu.edu)
A modern historian Micheal Foss wrote:
"She was not just a Macedonian Greek from Alexandria who farmed an alien land for her own benefit from the distant Mediterranean shore. She was an Egyptian whose heart beat in time with pharaonic tradition, a queen of all her people" (cornellia.fws1.com)
Video Secrets of Egypt: Cleopatra (watchknow.org)