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Cleopatra: Short, Fat and Ugly By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News March 26 — Cleopatra, the most seductive queen of the ancient world, was in reality a short, fat and ugly woman, says a forthcoming exhibition at the British Museum. The scathing portrait emerged with the re-discovery of 11 previously unrecognized images of the queen — all statues done in the Egyptian style. Thought to portray other queens, the statues have now been acknowledged as being of Egypt's last pharaoh and will be displayed at the exhibition "Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth" in April. They depict the alluring...

A skull once thought to be Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoë IV was identified as that of a Roman boy with developmental disorders, ending decades of speculation. The search for Arsinoë IV’s remains now continues. Credit: Austrian Academy of Sciences/Austrian Archaeological Institute CSI methods indicate that the skull from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology’s collection does not belong to Arsinoë IV. An interdisciplinary research team led by anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with experts from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, has reanalyzed a skull discovered in 1929 among the ruins of Ephesos (modern-day Turkey). For decades, it...

Not everyone is convinced.-Archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, who has been on the hunt for Cleopatra VII’s tomb for nearly 20 years, believes she’s found a bust that depicts the Egyptian queen. -The claim has put some at odds with Martinez, as other experts say the bust looks nothing like Cleopatra. -Along with the marble statue, the team also discovered 337 coins—some of which (less controversially) depict Cleopatra. Lawyer-turned-archaeologist Kathleen Martinez has been on the hunt for Cleopatra VII’s tomb for nearly two decades. And now, she believes that she and her team have just unearthed a small marble bust of the...

Netflix Series Which Incorrectly Featured Cleopatra as Black Woman Gets Worst Audience Score in TV History The Netflix series about Cleopatra, which changed the race of the title character from Greek/Macedonian to an African black woman, has suffered the worst audience score in TV history. As The Daily Fetched reported last month, the government of Egypt has slammed Netflix for the portrayal, accusing them of falsely rating history for politics. The secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said the Netflix show wrongly Featuring Cleopatra was a black woman represents a “falsification of Egyptian history and a blatant...

An Egyptian lawyer has filed a case with the Public Prosecutor to close the Netflix platform after the trailer of “Queen Cleopatra" was released, which depicts the Greek historical figure as a black-skinned woman. According to Egypt Independent, Mahmoud al-Semary demanded that all legal measures be taken against those responsible for the documentary and the management of the streaming platform for its participation in “this crime.” He also called for an investigation and for Netflix to be blocked in Egypt. The complaint submitted against the streaming platform said that "most of what Netflix platform displays contradicts Islamic and societal values...

Egyptian experts have criticized Netflix for “blackwashing” its upcoming docu-series about Queen Cleopatra VII. Now, they’re taking action to see that the show never airs — by banning the streaming giant from the country completely. “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra” is narrated and executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, and stars Adele James, 27, who is biracial, as the legendary queen of Egypt, whose specific race has long been the subject of historical dispute. Pinkett Smith previously explained that she wanted to be involved in the project because she “really wanted to represent Black women.” But Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who...

Dr. Zahi Hawass, one of the most famous Egyptologists and the former Egyptian Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, has criticized Netflix for its controversial decision to cast Cleopatra with a black actress in an upcoming docuseries. The new Netflix series, dubbed “Queen Cleopatra”, which is produced and narrated by the American actress Jada Pinkett Smith, has sparked fierce debate over the misrepresentation of history and representation in TV and media. Hawass, who is Egypt’s most recognizable archaeologist, decried the decision by Netflix to portray Cleopatra as being of black descent, pointing out that the historical figure “was Greek”. Zahi...

Netflix announced on Wednesday that it would be releasing a documentary on the life of Cleopatra with one significant change, her ethnicity.

By the first century BCE, Rome had gained control of the entire Mediterranean, but those conquests had been accompanied by a century of civil war that witnessed the assassination of politicians on all sides of the political spectrum. At one point, the adherents of one populist politician marched on Rome's temple of Castor and Pollux, which was closely associated with the Senate, and tore up the temple steps. This period of nearly continuous warfare would not end until 31 BCE, when Julius Caesar’s nephew Octavian vanquished the combined forces of Mark Antony and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra at the battle...

There are some historical mysteries that may never be solved, from the date that Jesus was born to the identity of Jack the Ripper to the location of Cleopatra's tomb. Sometimes, that's because the relevant excavated material has been lost or an archaeological site has been destroyed. Other times, it's because new evidence is unlikely to come forward or the surviving evidence is too vague to lead scholars to a consensus. The lack of answers only makes these enigmas more intriguing. Here, Live Science takes a look at 14 of these historical questions that may never have definitive explanations. WAS...

Gal Gadot has defended her casting as Cleopatra after she was met with accusations of “whitewashing” the upcoming biopic. Critics have said that an Arab or African actress should play the role of the iconic Egyptian leader instead of the 35-year-old Israeli actress. “First of all, if you want to be true to the facts, then Cleopatra was Macedonian,” Gadot told BBC Arabic. “We were looking for a Macedonian actress that could fit Cleopatra. She wasn’t there. And I was very passionate about Cleopatra.”

Israel-born actress Gal Gadot announced Sunday that she would team up again with “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins in a new film about the legendary Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. The film will be produced by Paramount and written by Laeta Kalogridis in a retelling of the epic tale made famous by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 classic. The announcement drew criticism, with some railing against the casting of an Israeli as the Queen of Egypt... “Which Hollywood dumba** thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress as Cleopatra...instead of a stunning Arab actress like Nadine Njeim?” tweeted...

Israeli actress Gal Gadot has been slammed on social media after she was cast to play Cleopatra in the upcoming historical epic about the iconic Egyptian queen. The 35-year-old on Sunday confirmed she will play the titular role in a new movie after Paramount Pictures won the rights to the film in a bidding war between Universal, Warner Bros., Apple and Netflix. The casting however, immediately drew outrage from confused social media users who wrongly assumed Cleopatra was black and North African.

A new study of a monument built in Greece near the city of Nicopolis to commemorate Octavian’s victory over Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, in the Ionian Sea at the Battle of Actium has provided new information about Cleopatra’s fleet of warships, according to a report in The Independent. The monument once featured bronze battering rams set in well-fitted niches that had been taken from 35 of the 350 ships captured by Octavian during the battle. Recent excavation and measurement of those niches has allowed archaeologists to calculate the size of the timbers that held...

Cleopatra VII is not only a famous person in history, she is also the icon of a rich and powerful culture. She was usually depicted as a lover of great men, but the truth was different. More important than her love life was her educational pursuits. Cleopatra VII could be called one of the greatest intellectuals of her times.

Academics at The University of Manchester have dismissed the long-held argument that the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra was killed by a snake bite. Andrew Gray, curator of herpetology at Manchester Museum, says venomous snakes in Egypt -- cobras or vipers -- would have been too large to get unseen into the queen's palace. He was speaking to Egyptologist Dr Joyce Tyldesley in a new video which is part of a new online course introducing ancient Egyptian history, using six items from the Museum's collection. According to Dr Tyldesley, the ancient accounts say a snake hid in a basket of figs...

Nature Devours all CO2 Equally Some scientists claim that anthropogenic (human-produced) CO2 (carbon dioxide) lasts in the atmosphere for hundreds or even thousands of years. Of course, they also think that CO2 is the mother of all evils and, therefore, argue that the world needs to decarbonize, forget about using fossil resources (coal, oil, gas), and reduce the population from seven billion to one billion humans. Well, if that’s so, the world must be suffering from CO2 exhalations by the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Romans, and everyone else who lived since that time. How much CO2 is in the Air? On...

Netflix’s “Cleopatra” documentary has turned into an epic disaster. The audience despises the “woke” show that absurdly portrays a fair-skinned Greek woman as an “African queen.” Adding fuel to the fire, critics have also slammed it, labeling the documentary a complete failure, falling even below the quality of cheesy afternoon soap operas. It’s an embarrassing flop that leaves you scratching your head, wondering why Netflix would humor Jada Pinkett Smith’s inner racist and air such utter trash. On the flip side, Elizabeth Taylor’s rendition of Cleopatra came remarkably close to capturing the essence of the legendary figure. Beauty Flashback: Elizabeth...

Egypt has slammed Netflix for presenting Cleopatra as black in its new docudrama - accusing the streaming giant of 'falsifying Egyptian history'. Netflix had been accused of 'blackwashing' history by casting the black actress as the pharaoh in the new series about the Macedonian-Greek ruler. African Queens: Queen Cleopatra stars 37-year-old English actress Adele James as the titular character.

The 4,281-foot-long (1,305 meters) tunnel, which brought water to thousands of people in its heyday, was discovered by an Egyptian-Dominican Republic archaeological team, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement(opens in new tab). Ancient Egyptian builders constructed the 6.6-foot-high (2 m) tunnel at a depth of about 65 feet (20 m) beneath the ground, Kathleen Martínez, a Dominican archaeologist and director of the team that discovered the tunnel, told Live Science in an email. Finds within the tunnel included two alabaster heads: one of which likely depicts a king, and the other represents another high-ranking person,...