Cleopatra VII, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, is often enveloped in a mystique that ties her intimately with the ancient pyramids which are quintessential symbols of Egyptian grandeur. However, temporally, Cleopatra’s lifetime is much closer to the modern era than it is to the construction of the Great Pyramids of Giza. Cleopatra was born in 69 BC and died in 30 BC, which places her existence just over two millennia before the first moon landing in 1969.
By comparison, the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the most famous of the structures and last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, was completed around 2560 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, which is approximately 2,530 years before Cleopatra was born. This means that Cleopatra was born about 2,048 years before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, and about 2,478 years after the Great Pyramid was completed.
This perspective underscores a significant point about the breadth of Egyptian history, which spans thousands of years and encompasses numerous dynasties and rulers. Cleopatra's reign was marked by intricate political dynamics and her famed liaisons with powerful Roman figures like Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Her era, the Ptolemaic period, was characterized by a blend of Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures, with the Ptolemaic dynasty itself being of Macedonian origin, established following the conquests of Alexander the Great.
Thus, while the pyramids and Cleopatra are both emblematic of ancient Egypt in the public imagination, they actually belong to vastly different periods in the long continuum of Egyptian civilization. The fact that Cleopatra lived closer in time to the moon landing than to the era of pyramid-building serves as a reminder of the temporally expansive and complex history of one of the world's oldest civilizations. This temporal distance also highlights the extraordinary achievements of humanity spread out over the millennia, from constructing monumental pyramids to landing on extraterrestrial bodies such as the moon.
