A.R. Van Halleorg

A video from National Geographic’s website. It’s in 2 short videos. Not very long, but kind of interesting.

Religious rituals carried Cleopatra’s message: I am a deity, Caesar is a deity, and our child is the product of a divine union.

There’s more to Cleopatra than the Romans would have you believe.

Mathematician, chemist, philosopher; Often times when we think of the famous Egyptian ruler, we think of her relationship with Marc Antony, her ‘drug use’, and her promiscuity, but according to an article I read yesterday on Discovery’s website, it may appear that this woman may have been more of a scientist standing tall among other scientists of her time. She took on large building projects; much like Pharaoh Hatshepsut did in her time (The Temple of Hatshepsut, among the most famous).

An excerpt from : Cleopatra: Scientist, Not Seductress? By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

El Daly attributes the first Arab account of Cleopatra as a scientist to Al-Masudi, who died in 956 A.D. In his book “Muruj,” Al-Masudi wrote of Cleopatra, “She was a sage, a philosopher who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company. She also wrote books on medicine, charms and cosmetics, in addition to many other books ascribed to her which are known to those who practice medicine.”

Medieval Arab writers such as Al-Bakri, Yaqut, Ibn Al-Ibri, Ibn Duqmaq and Al-Maqrizi also wrote how impressed they were by the queen’s building projects. In fact, El Daly believes the earliest Arabic book to mention Cleopatra, a history of Egypt by the Egyptian bishop John of Nikiou, says the queen’s building projects in Alexandria were “the like of which had never been seen before.”

Yet another Arab historian, Ibn Ab Al-Hakam, credits one of the greatest structures of the ancient world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, to Cleopatra.

In an interview with Radio Netherlands, El Daly said, “It was not just a lighthouse to guide ships, it was a magnificent telescope and it had a huge lens that could burn the oncoming ships of enemies that were going to attack Egypt.”