The Babylonian Talmud's portrait of Cleopatra VII Philopator

What is it about?

The Babylonian Talmud uses the portrait of Cleopatra to support certain rabbinic concepts, like resurrection and menstrual impurity, through references to Cleopatra’s knowledge of the human body, and to elevate and include the rabbis themselves in the famous struggle of Cleopatra versus Rome, with the goal of further authorizing the rabbinic project itself.

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