He described the hour-and-a-half-long YouTube documentary, directed by Curtis Ryan Woodside, as telling the story of “the real Cleopatra”, after Netflix’s choice to cast the role of pharaonic queen in an actress black has drawn much criticism in Egypt in recent weeks.
The production of this work came in response to a film presented by “Netflix” entitled “Queen Cleopatra”, produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and presented as “based on reconstruction (characters and events) and expert testimony”.
Hawass comments in the documentary, “Was Cleopatra black? First of all, I have nothing against black people at all, but I state the facts.” Look at the Macedonian queens, none of them were black.”
raging controversy
• The Supreme Council of Antiquities issued a lengthy statement last month in which experts pointed out that Cleopatra had “light skin and Hellenistic (Greek) features”.
• The Council added that “the antiquities and statues of Queen Cleopatra are the best evidence”, and the Council’s General Secretary, Mustafa Waziri, confirmed that “the appearance of the heroine in this form is considered a falsification of Egyptian history”. ”
• Egyptian netizens called the ‘Netflix’ artwork a rewrite of history, while an online petition titled ‘Stop Cleopatra documentary on Netflix for historical tampering’ garnered more than 40 000 signatures.
• Egyptian parliamentarians have called for a ban on the “Netflix” platform.
It should be noted that Cleopatra belongs to the Macedonian dynasty, and she is a descendant of General Ptolemy, who became, during the division of the empire of Alexander the Great, the king of Egypt, who saw the Hellenistic civilization flourish on the banks of the Nile.
Accounts passed down through history say that the queen, born in 69 BC. J.-C., was of great beauty, but its appearance and the color of its skin remain a source of speculation and interpretation.
In 2009, a documentary broadcast by the British channel “BBC” claimed that African blood flowed in his veins, but without arousing controversy.
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