A lawyer in Egypt recently sued streaming service Netflix for falsely depicting Cleopatra in its newest show as a Black woman. Attorne...
A lawyer in Egypt recently sued streaming service Netflix for falsely depicting Cleopatra in its newest show as a Black woman.
Attorney Mahmoud al-Semary filed the complaint against the streaming platform at the office of Egyptian Prosecutor General Hamada El-Sawy on April 16. In his complaint, the lawyer accused Netflix of “erasing the Egyptian identity” for its depiction of the ruler as a Black woman in the show “Queen Cleopatra.”
“In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world, there must be pride in the makings of such work,” said al-Semary. He then alleged that Netflix is attempting to “promote the Afrocentric thinking … which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.”
Aside from Netflix itself, the complaint also accused the makers of “Queen Cleopatra” – including its executive producer Jada Pinkett-Smith – of “forgery.”
The lawyer found an ally in the person of archaeologist and former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass. He condemned the production for “falsifying facts” and called on Egyptians to speak out against Netflix’s revisionism. Hawass also blasted the claim that Egyptian civilization actually came from Black Africa, a falsehood emerging in some Black American populations.
“Cleopatra was Greek – meaning that she was blonde, not Black,” the former minister said. “Netflix is trying to stir up confusion to spread false information that the origin of Egyptian civilization is Black.”
The complaint lodged by al-Semary sought legal action against the creators of “Queen Cleopatra” and an order to shut down Netflix in Egypt. The lawyer explained: “Most of what [the] Netflix platform displays do not conform to Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones.”
Petition to cancel the show gains ground
“We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens. That was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them,” Pinkett-Smith was quoted as saying.
Many historians and experts, however, disagree with her. They have reiterated that Cleopatra, formally Cleopatra VII, was of Macedonian heritage and likely fair-skinned. She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty that traces its origins to Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general who served under Alexander the Great.
Hawass and al-Semary are not the only ones to have spoken out against the false portrayal of the Egyptian queen. A petition to cancel “Queen Cleopatra” organized by Maha Shehata and Aikk Yasser has gained significant traction online, with over 60,000 people affixing their signatures to it.
The organizers called for the cancellation of the show due to “falsifying history.”
Shehata and Yasser opened their petition by blasting Afrocentrism – the belief that ancient Egyptian civilization has its roots in Africa – as a pseudoscience. They also noted that proponents of Afrocentrism desire to claim Egypt’s history for themselves, depriving true Egyptians of their history in the process. Moreover, the two blasted proponents of the idea for fabricating history using fraudulent articles and no supporting proof.
According to historical records, the 25th Dynasty – also known as the Nubian or Kushite dynasty – saw pharaohs of African origin ascend the throne. The Nubian dynasty originated from the Kingdom of Kush, which is located in the present-day country of Sudan south of Egypt. The Kushite pharaohs ruled Egypt from around 747 B.C. to 656 B.C. – a 91-year reign.
In contrast, the Macedonian Greek Cleopatra ruled a mere 21 years from 51 B.C. to 30 B.C. – the last pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which began in 305 B.C. The Ptolemaic dynasty’s 275-year rule ended in 30 B.C., incidentally the same year when Cleopatra died. Thus, the claim that Cleopatra is a Black woman is an utter falsehood.
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