12 Historical "Facts" That Simply Aren't True

7. Cleopatra Was Not Egyptian... She Was Of Greek Origin But Portrayed Herself As An Egyptian Goddess

20th Century Fox

Pharaoh Cleopatra VII Philopator - the last active pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and as Egyptian as they come. Well, actually no - she was of Macedonian-Greek origin and she became the first-ever member of her family to actually learn the Egyptian language. Once Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, the Ptolemaic dynasty took control of Egypt - and Cleopatra was a descendant of this family, ruling on the Egyptian throne between 51 BC and 12 BC.

In all popular culture, Cleopatra appears to be portrayed as being a native Egyptian, yet she was descended from a foreign family who ruling the nation - just like the Normans in England following the Battle of Hastings in 1066. In addition, this image may have been built by Cleopatra herself, as she wanted to legitimise her reign by making herself appear as Egyptian as possible.

As well as learning the language, Cleopatra also claimed to be a reincarnation of Egyptian goddess Isis.

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NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.