Where to begin… Well, we actually really want to know just one thing:
What was it that this Queen did, that made her so undeniably influential?
So much so that Kings would be building replica’s of her buildings, scientist would be interested in learning from her, and fashion would be dictated by her. And this is just only a fraction of her influence during the time she lived.
Her influence goes further in to our modern day society were her fashion still leaves a big mark, writers still write about her and moviemakers follow that same pattern by making movies.
Was she really all beauty, so much so that it invoked the desire in others to either want her or want to be like her?
Well, the actual truth is. We think this lady was such a Boss.
Such. A. Boss.
Why? You ask?
According to Egyptian scholars: she wasn’t actually known for her beauty as many (western) writers have suggested. She may have been beautiful, but not the way she was portrait to be (intoxicatingly beautiful).
Here are some quotes of an Arabic scholar on how the image of Cleopatra actually was according to their ancient sources:
“The Arabic image of Cleopatra is in contrast to her- more familiar image in Greco- Roman sources and later, which presented the Queen as a hedonist, a seductive woman and a deceiving and over- ambitious queen”.
So according to the Egyptians, she wasn’t a hedonist, seductive, deceiving or a over- ambitious queen. Well, what do the ancient Egyptian sources do tell us about her than?
“The sources focus on her many talents but make not one reference to sexuality and seductive power”.
Well, if that is true; what about her was so ‘intoxicating’ or ‘seductive’, that lead to this madness?
According to the Egyptian scholars, it was her internal beauty. The person she was on the inside. Many of the scholars were actually very much fascinated by the personality of Cleopatra:
Quick summary of the things that were admired about this Queen:
- She was a strong and able monarch who was very protective of Egypt during her 19 years of ruling.
- She was politically very skilled and had courage (this was also the most admired quality in her).
- She was a very able administrator.
- She was a scientist who made significant contributions in the fields of alchemy, medicine and mathematics (she even attributed to certain devices and symbols used in alchemical works).
- She used to conduct courtly seminars attended by scientist from different fields and she contributed to the discussions as a polymathic scientist (meaning: genius who made proper use of her spare time).
- She was a great builder and was known by her many building projects;“Among her buildings in Alexandria, there is a great temple described by Philo of Alexandria as ‘a piece incomparably above all others’. “
- She was bilingual. She spoke several languages fluently and was also the first plotemaiac leader that spoke Egyptian.
- She was a philosopher that, not only enjoyed the company of scholars, but also elevated their ranks.
- She was a writer. She wrote books on medicine, charms, metrology, drugs and cosmetics in addition to many other books ascribed to her.
Well, if it was all brains, that would still be only half of the story right?
Although she could be counted as the Nicola Tesla, Leonardo Da Vinci, Aristotle and Benjamin Franklin of her time (polymathic scientists), that still wouldn’t answer our question; why the madness?
Why doesn’t this answer our question?
Because there wasn’t any shortage of women who’d we also can count among the list of polymathic scientists (a.k.a. geniuses) of their time, right?Hypatia, Trotula of Salerno, Marie Curie, Hellen Keller, Maria Montessori, Sutayta al- Mahamali, the list goes on and on..
The real question is, why wasn’t their amount of followers the same as Cleopatra’s?
Remember we told you it was going to be a romantic story? Well, here it is:
Cleopatra’s passion lead her to reach a level of that of a genius, which is undeniable even centuries on. What makes it romantic is our following conclusion about her:
We Moroccan Sisters think it wasn’t solely her personality (brains) just as it wasn’t solely her outer appearances, rather it was a combination of both. Which makes us lean to both opinions about her (the Western and the Egyptian):
We think that the fact that she wrote a whole book just on women cosmetics indicates that she was in fact a lady who cared about the way she looked as much as she cared about her inside. And her inside wasn’t only that she was smart, it was the way she held herself, her personality.. (that is what we get out of the scholars who admired her political skills).
You see; it was her way of thinking, that made her -already outer elegance- rise to an intoxicating level of beauty.
Beauty and Brains if you will. This Queen almost maintained the two in perfection.
And that combination our dear sisters… is the result of all this madness.
So, do you really need another example? Who says you can’t take care of your looks? Who says you can’t be vain? Who says you have to limit yourself out of fear that your personality will not show? All because of the possibility that if people think of you, the first thing they will compliment is your personality?
Or the other way around:
Who says you have to cut yourself short? Not to be interested in who you are as a person? You can’t have a personality because you already spend to much time looking good on the outside? A barbie that has to be beautiful and especially silent -having no real opinion- because of the fear that she might seem less attractive or perfect?
Who says you have to be less of this, to be more of that? Who says you can’t have the best of both worlds?
Is that romantic enough for you? We certainly think so. You see; the merge of body and mind is probably the most important if not the most romantic story ever. It is a lovestory that makes you able to know who you are.
And we do not feel ashamed when it comes to highlighting the importance of balance and perfection between the two.
p.s.: Did we get you curious to know the secrets of this Queen’s beauty routines?
Well currently we actually sell two of her (many) beauty secrets:
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3 Comments. Leave new
Great post and straight to the point. I don’t know if this is truly the best place to ask but do you people
have any thoughts on where to get some professional writers?
Thank you 🙂 Lista escape room
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