Queen of hearts

By Nevine El-Aref
Visitors to the Palazzo Ruspoli, just off Rome's central Piazza Venezia, can count on an encounter with royalty this winter. An exhibition on Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen who conquered the hearts of two of the most powerful men in the world, went on display there last month and will run through February 2001.
Exhibitions of Egyptian antiquities that bring together international collections are always marvellously illuminating and this one is no exception. The show pulls together some 350 objects from 28 museums in countries as diverse as Algeria and the United States. Thirteen countries are represented in all and also include Canada, Egypt, England, Germany, Italy and Russia. On display are marble and bronze statues of Cleopatra, Caesar and Antony, as well as statues of the god Serapis, jewellery, coins, ceramics and many other noteworthy pieces that celebrate the prominence enjoyed by Alexandria just before the Roman conquest in 30 BC.
Pieces from the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo include a unique mosaic of a dog seated beside a jar, an exquisitely polished black granite statue of Cleopatra and limestone heads of Caeser and Anthony. "These 44 unique objects reveal the lifestyle and elegance of the great Mediterranean seaport," said Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
For all her fame, however, very little is known about the real Cleopatra. She is mostly the stuff of legend, and this exhibition is designed, in part, to separate myth from reality. The last queen under Ptolemaic rule -- Cleopatra reigned between 51 and 30 BC and is remembered more for her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony than for her political prowess or leadership qualities. Despite the glamourous image immortalised in spectacular cinema productions like Anthony and Cleopatra, judging from coins minted in her likeness, she was, in fact, no great beauty. She was, nevertheless, a great and powerful Egyptian queen and her death at the age of 39 leaves one wondering what would have happened to Egypt had she ruled on.
Guarding the throne at a historical crossroads -- when Roman, Hellenistic and Egyptian civilisations met -- Cleopatra ascended the throne on the death of her father Ptolemy XI. At the 17, she married her brother Ptolemy XII (who was then 12 years old) in order to secure her right to rule. In the third year of their joint rule, Ptolemy managed to assume sole control of the government and he drove Cleopatra into exile in Syria. It was Julius Caesar, who fell under her spell and took up her cause, that ultimately saw her proclaimed queen of Egypt. The exhibition highlights Cleopatra's life, loves and dramatic death. A coloured booklet for Italian children, designed to raise interest in a common history that joins Egypt and Italy, is also provided.
The Pharaonic period saw a number of strong-willed women in positions of power and Cleopatra remains a symbol of this small. but memorable group. In the annals of ancient Egyptian history, she is joined by the likes of the legendary Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt as Pharaoh in the 15th century BC Other notable figures are Queen Tiy, mother of Akhenaten; Nefertiti, his wife; and the favourite wife of Ramses II. These women played an important role in ancient Egyptian history.
The exhibition, entitled "The Pharaoh of the Sun," has been touring for nearly a year and will be transferred in the spring to the British Museum for five months.
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