(Cairo) High-profile Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, still wearing his Indiana Jones hat, announced the release of a documentary on Cleopatra on Wednesday, the same day Netflix aired a similar film that sparked the ire of the Egyptians.
The hour-and-a-half-long documentary is described on director Curtis Ryan Woodside’s YouTube channel as telling the story of “the REAL Cleopatra,” as Netflix’s choice to cast its Cleopatra with a black actress sparks passionate reactions in Egypt for weeks.
“Was Cleopatra black? First, I have nothing at all against black people, but I am exposing the facts: look at the Macedonian queens, none were black, ”insists Mr. Hawass in this documentary.
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities had already taken up the case, assuring that Cleopatra had “white skin and Hellenistic features”.
Social networks and the Egyptian media were inflamed as soon as the trailer for the series was broadcast Queen Cleopatraproduced by Jada Pinkett Smith for Netflix and billed as “based on re-enactment and expert testimony”.
An online petition, titled “Stop Cleopatra documentary on Netflix for historical tampering,” has garnered more than 40,000 signatures.
And, in a country where voices are calling for Netflix to be banned for content deemed offensive to Egypt or “its family values”, MP Saboura al-Sayyed has asked Parliament for the umpteenth time to ban the platform.
Regularly in Egypt, Internet users and commentators denounce campaigns, mainly from African-American groups, claiming a black-African origin of the pharaonic civilization.
Cleopatra belonged to the Macedonian dynasty of the Lagides, descended from General Ptolemy, who became King of Egypt during the division of the empire of Alexander the Great.
If the legend says that the queen born around 69 BC was of great beauty, her appearance and her skin color remain largely subject to interpretation.
In 2009, a BBC documentary claimed that she had African blood, without arousing passions.