Charlotte Booth in the History Channel Documentary on sex in ancient Egypt, discussing about the Turin Erotic Papyrus and the graffiti showing Hatshepsut and Senmut engaged in copulation

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last person to rule Egypt as an Egyptian pharaoh – after her death Egypt became a Roman province.

She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt, and therefore was a descendant of one of Alexander the Great’s generals who had seized control over Egypt after Alexander’s death. Cleopatra learned Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of the goddess Hathor.

Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Gaius Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name.

After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar’s legal heir, Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. Her unions with her brothers produced no children. After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian’s forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit, according to tradition killing herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC.[3] She was briefly outlived by Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh, but he was soon killed on Octavian’s orders. Egypt became the Roman province of Aegyptus.

Her death marked the end of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Hellenistic period and the beginning of the Roman era in the eastern Mediterranean.

To this day, Cleopatra remains a popular figure in Western culture. Her legacy survives in numerous works of art and the many dramatizations of her story in literature and other media, including William Shakespeare’s tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, Jules Massenet’s opera Cléopâtre and the 1963 film Cleopatra. In most depictions, Cleopatra is put forward as a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world’s most powerful men are taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.

The Nile River traverses about 1,600 kilometers through Egypt and flows northward to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Nile in Egypt is a combination of three long rivers whose sources are in central Africa. The White Nile, which begins at Lake Victoria in Uganda, supplies about 28% of the Nile’s waters in Egypt. The Blue Nile, which originates at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, provides an average of 58% of the Nile’s waters in Egypt. The much shorter Atbara River, which also originates in Ethiopia, joins the main Nile north of Khartoum between the fifth and sixth cataracts (areas of steep rapids) and provides about 14% of the Nile’s waters in Egypt.

Before the Aswan High Dam was completed in 1971, the White Nile watered the Egyptian stretch of the river throughout the year, whereas the Blue Nile, carrying seasonal rain from Ethiopia, caused the Nile to overflow its banks and deposit a layer of fertile mud over adjacent fields, the Gift of the Nile. The great flood of the main Nile usually occurred in Egypt during August, September, and October.

At Cairo, the Nile spreads out to form a fertile, fan-shape delta about 250 kilometers wide at the seaward base and about 160 kilometers from north to south. The Nile Delta extends over approximately 22,000 square kilometers. Seven branches of the Nile once ran through the Delta. Nature and man have closed all but two main outlets: the east branch, Damietta and the west branch, Rosetta.

Egypt may not be the first place you’d look for whales, but once upon a time the Wadi Hitan desert was underwater and teeming with the sea giants.

Geologist Philip D. Gingerich and his team had excavated the first known nearly complete skeleton of a Basilosaurus isis. The first of the truly gigantic whales, Basilosaurus had the serpentine shape of a sea monster and short, sharp teeth for hunting sharks and other prey. Unlike today’s whales, it had no blowhole—the ancient behemoth had to raise its head above water to breathe. What’s more, Basilosaurus still had the feet it inherited from its land-dwelling ancestors.

It’s a story that spans 4,000 years, older than the Bible…and it’s all true. It was lost for thousands of years, discovered a century ago, and its true meaning recently resurrected by the miracle of computer graphics! The reason the Egyptians built the pyramids, it’s the first written description of any religion–and is the likely source of the 10 Commandments! In this feature-length special we follow the ancient scroll from creation around 1800 BC near the site of the Egyptian city of Thebes, to rediscovery (and theft!) in 1887 AD. Join us in a tale that spans from the age of papyrus to the age of silicon…and beyond. Biblical scholars agree that portions of the Old Testament are direct descendants of the Egyptian text, and some archaeologists argue that Moses must have read and carried a copy of it with him when he fled Egypt! And now, a new generation is reexamining the ancient text for wisdom that can still affect our inner lives!

Available at AMAZON

Egypt: Rediscovering a Lost World (2005)

The BBC’s unique style of dramatization brings ancient Egypt to life like never before! Take an action-packed trip back in time and re-live ancient Egypt through the eyes of three of it’s greatest explorers. The ancient past and the recent past are skillfully interwoven, merging drama with documentary, as brave 19th and 20th century adventurers, explorers and code-breakers risk everything to unveil the world of ancient Egypt. As their discoveries unfold, the tales of Tutankhamun and Ramesses II are brought to life in this breathtaking production.

Available at AMAZON

Over 3,500 years ago, Rome was no more than a soggy marsh and the Acropolis was just an empty rock, but Egypt was on the brink of its greatest age – the New Kingdom. There was an explosion of creativity, wealth and power in Egypt that would make it the envy of the world.

After defeating the Hyksos invaders, successive Pharaohs expanded and maintained their Empire through both force and diplomacy. In the process, they won Egypt vast amounts of gold, influence and respect. They included; Ahmose, Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Amenhotep III, Akenhaten, Tutankhamen and Ramesses III. They created the first largest empire, the most powerful and fearful nation the world had ever seen.

For 3,000 years, from the construction of the first pyramid until the death of Cleopatra, Egypt was a land of prosperity; largely thanks to the River Nile. What is the story of the development of this impressive civilization and its relationship with its principal source of life? How did the river valley evolve during antiquity? Why did the Egyptians never fight against nature, preferring to draw their own life-force from its natural power? And what remains today of the riches and wealth that nature has offered to Egypt? Shaped and fashioned by the hand of man in his pursuit of modernity, against all odds, the Nile has finally been tamed.

This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilizations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.

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

Alexander the Great created one of the largest empires in ancient history. He succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon to the throne in 336 BC after the King was assassinated, and died thirteen years later at the age of 32. Although both Alexander’s reign and empire were short-lived, the cultural impact of his conquests lasted for centuries. Alexander was known to be undefeated in battle and is considered one of the most successful commanders of all time.

Remarkable though his conquests were, Alexander’s lasting legacy was not his reign, but the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. Alexander’s importation of Greek colonists and culture to the East resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire until the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which generals, even to this day, compare themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactical exploits.

Source: Wikipedia