Is Cleopatra black or white?

Question

some people think that she is black and some think she was black teachers and webites give me mixed answers, i just want to know what she is for sure?

Answer 1

She was Greek.   Fair skinned ( because she was royalty, and they didn't go out into the sun to work) and probably fair haired.  The pictures you see of her depict her with the traditional Egyptian wigs

Answer 2

there is no right answer you dont know back then empires controlled basically everything and the soilders came from all over there empires so alot of people were mixed and remember that region isnt so big people came from africa, europe or asia it wasnt uncommon for people to marries outsiders

She was from greece but if you look at a map greece is very close to africa and asia so she probably wasnt full greek, probably a mix of white black semitic and asian

you can have someone that is black and through generations there descendants can be white and the opposite so you cant say for sure. everyone has dna of another race in them, and everyone has someone of another race as one of their ancestors somewhere down the line so you cant say yes or no to anything

Answer 3

as many before me have said, definitely not black, although there would not be a way for her to be white either. She would probably look more mexican to give a modern day example if you've never seen someone egyptian.

Answer 4

She was Greek.Wikipedia says that for many years, Egypt' s rulers were of Greek heritage:"Though she bore the ancient Egyptian title Pharaoh, her primary language was Greek; for several centuries preceding her rule, Egyptian kings had been of Greek (i.e. Hellenistic) origin rather than Egyptian origin. The establishment of a Greek-speaking aristocracy in Egypt had come with Alexander the Great nearly 300 years before. When Cleopatra was born, the Great Pyramid was nearly 2,500 years old. The Ptolemaic dynasty had maintained their Greek heritage at the expense of Egyptian religion - while the populace of Egypt used the popular Egyptian script Demotic, Hieroglyphics, which had primarily been used by priests, was falling into disuse. Cleopatra followed the Egyptian belief system in the land's many gods and goddesses. Her patron goddess was Isis, and thus during her reign, it was believed that she was the re-incarnation and embodiment of the goddess of wisdom."

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopat...

Answer 5

Cleopatra was of Greek origin and was the supreme ruler of Egypt. Athough she bore the ancient Egyptian title Pharaoh, her primary language was Greek; for several centuries preceding her rule, Egyptian kings had been of Greek (i.e. Hellenistic) origin rather than Egyptian origin.

Answer 6

Cleopatra was of Greek ancestry.  

Before the Greeks took over the thrown, the Egyptian Royalty was Arab.  

Egypt is part of North Africa, which is Arab and Berber, not black.  Ancient Egyptians looked Arab, not black.

Answer 7

There is no evidence either way.

Answer 8

Think about where Egypt is. Rome, she could be any colour but by bet would  be dark not black

Answer 9

she was born white being that her great-great-great-grandfather was ptolemy who was white

the problem was she spent so much time out in the sun she became very tan

Answer 10

Macedonian, here is a link to her family history.

http://www.royalty.nu/Africa/Egypt/Cleop...

Answer 11

We'll never know for certain, as her tomb has been lost.  She may have been black, mixed, or white.  Instead, why not focus on her qualities as a ruler during a period when women so rarely were able to assert themselves or hold power?

Answer 12

You can call it what you like but the truth is she was of dark complexion and yes; Egyptian, bottom line she was black.

Answer 13

Alexander the Great, a Greek, had his conquests divided among his friends, at death.  Ptolemy got Egypt.  Cleopatra was part of the Ptolemy dynasty, so she was Greek and white.  I think the Ethiopians ran Egypt during the 2nd dynasty.  They were and are black.

Answer 14

Cleopatra or should I say Cleopatra VII (Marc Antony's Cleo) was Caucasian.  She was a direct descendant of Ptolemy a Greek general under Alexander the Great .  When you see coins minted during her reign she shows a Caucasian profile.

Answer 15

For sure she is dead!

Answer 16

she was brown!!! that's so simple comman ppl!

Answer 17

Cleopatra was most probably neither, because if you look at Egyptians today, they're more middle-eastern-looking. It's also probable that Cleopatra could be black (but almost definitely not white), given the location and the time period. There are no definite answers as to what her race is, but many historians believe that she was an African-Egyptian (mixed race).

Many people in the last few centuries have made historical figures white: many people couldn't accept that Jesus, Mary, and many other main figures in the Bible were middle-eastern, despite the fact that their home was clearly stated. It was only recently that many people began accepting the fact that the Holy Family was NOT white and was indeed middle-eastern.

ALSO:

Here's where the scholars seem to agree: Cleopatra was the last in a line of Ptolemies--Macedonian Greeks--who ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander the Great in 305 B.C. until Antony's defeat in the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. The Ptolemies, as was the custom, were an incestuous, intermarrying breed (they were concerned about preserving the royal bloodline). But they took their pleasure with the courtiers and concubines who filled their palaces. Many of the children born of these assignations were bestowed a place in the royal lineage despite their dubious--and unspoken--parentage.

Many believe that Cleopatra's father was the product of such a union--his mother may have been a concubine from Nubia or Alexandria. Lending credence to this theory is the fact that Cleopatra's bond to the people of Egypt seemed greater than those of her Ptolemic ancestors, who aligned themselves culturally and linguistically with Greece. "Far more than her predecessors, [Cleopatra] made an effort to learn Egyptian and was very savvy about presenting herself as Egyptian to the people that she ruled," says Molly Levine, a professor of Egyptology in the classics department at Howard University.

So it seems that Cleopatra may have had a true Egyptian (as opposed to Macedonian-Greek) grandmother.

Hope I helped a bit!

Answer 18

i think she's tanned by staying in egypt so much

its so sunny there

Answer 19

Cleopatra was almost certainly of mixed Semitic and Greek heritage. The era of Nubian Kings of Egypt were long over by her reign.

So, white.

Answer 20

Cleopatra VI was Macedonian Greek by descent, language, and culture.  The third daughter princess of Ptolemy XII as well as the daughter of Cleopatra V, Cleopatra was reputedly the first Egyptian ruler in 300 years who attempted to learn the Egyptian language.  Although coins minted in her image are not conclusive proof of her ethnicity, she does appear to have the aquiline nose of the Ptolemies and was, at least by today's standards, no beauty.

Answer 21

cleopatra was the called the "queen of the Nial."

she's wasn't black or white.

she was egyptian.

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wikipedia is a great site for some serious answers.

hope i helped.

:D

Answer 22

Is it really all that important? If she was a different race than what you thought would it change anything? I always imaged her of somewhat tan, but if she was black or white it wouldn't matter to me.

Answer 23

well think about it........im thinkin black.....because ofthe way they did there  hair back then they could do some wigs

Answer 24

Cleopatra was  of Greek ancestry.  She was a descendant of the Greek General Ptolemy that Alexander set on the thrown when he conquered Egypt.