Making historical dynastic family trees was supposed to be fun but instead I just spend hours raging about the rampant incest in the Ptolemaic and Seleucid families.

If anyone is curious this is Cleopatra VII Philopator’s entire known ancestry. Historians assume her mother was Cleopatra V/VI Tryphaena, her father’s half-sister, but there’s some ambiguity to that claim.

Hot take: if you don’t think Hamilton should be played by a diverse cast because it makes the founding fathers look good, you shouldn’t be asking for Cleopatra to be played by a black actress since all her known ancestors are Greek-Macedonian-Persian conqueror/colonizers.

Based on what historians and archeologists know of Ptolemy XII, his wife was probably Cleopatra V/VI Tryphaena. She disappears around the time of Cleopatra VII’s birth. Ptolemy XII’s mother was most likely either Cleopatra I Selene or Cleopatra IV. Both were his father’s wives.

Cleopatra Selene bore Ptolemy IX two children, but it’s unclear who they are. At least one theory says they died young. But it’s equally plausible that one of them was Ptolemy XII.

The truth is, we don’t really know who Cleopatra VII’s mother and grandma were.

Taken in context of Greco-Roman-Selucid-Ptolemaic relations, Occam’s Razor would suggest Cleopatra VII Philopoter was a Persian-Greek woman.

And that’s the particular reason I have problems with the theory that she was of West African descent. AFAIK, there are just as few internationally-known women for Persian girls to look up to as African girls. Knowing that a great queen is like you provides immense inspiration.

It’s definitely whitewashing to cast any Cleopatra as an Anglo-Saxon or Western European. But it’s also misguided to cast someone of West African descent.

The real answer to both these problems, imo, is to demand more pharaonically inspired stories be brought to film. There’s some AMAZING women of Ancient Egypt who were much, much, MUCH more likely to have black African ancestry than any Cleopatra.

Most people know Nefertiti, who founded a whole new city (Akhetaten/Amarna) with her husband and was one of the leading figures in the Egyptian monotheistic reformation of the 18th Dynasty. She also likely ruled as Pharaoh in her own right for up to three years after his death.

Her Mother-in-Law, and potentially aunt, was Tiye. Tiye’s titles, and the fact that official international diplomatic communication was addressed directly to her, indicates both her high status at court and power.

Ankhesenpaaten/Ankhesenamun is one of my favorites, even though we know almost nothing about her - they haven’t even found her tomb. She was married to her relative, Tutankhamun/Tutankhaten. She reigned as his queen for ~8 years then dissapears from history.

Ahhotep I was the daughter of commoner-turned-queen, Tetisheri. She potentially rallied Tripp’s and oversaw the defense of Thebes during the push to drive the Hyksos from northern Egypt.

Finally, Hatshepsut was Ahhotep I’s great-granddaughter and a pharaoh in her own right for ~21 years. Her reign saw the construction of many monuments and temples as well as expansion of foreign trade.

Why, exactly, Hollywood insists on recreating the same three stories about Ancient Egypt is beyond me. There’s more than Moses, Joseph, and Cleopatra and literally any of the above queens and pharaohs would provide a solid foundation for an amazing story.