I think if someone knows anything at all about Cleopatra beyond "something to do with Egypt", they'd know she was a contemporary of Julius Caesar and Mark Anton

I think if someone knows anything at all about Cleopatra beyond "something to do with Egypt", they'd know she was a contemporary of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony (thanks to Shakespeare at least), even if they don't know anything about the Ptolemaic dynasty. The thing I do think a lot of people forget is just how old the Pyramids are. I do know it but often have trouble really putting it into perspective. Also note the Great Pyramid at Giza was the tallest building in the world for almost 4000 years. And some buildings that later took the title were actually shorter than the Great Pyramid originally was at construction, but the Great Pyramid eroded over the millennia.