Death of Alexander the Great

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Dying Alexander, copy of a 2nd-century BC sculpture, National Art Museum of Azerbaijan.

The death of Alexander the Great and subsequent related events have been the subjects of debates. According to a Babylonian astronomical diary, Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon between the evening of 10 June and the evening of 11 June 323 BC,[1] at the age of 32.

Macedonians and local residents wept at the news of the death, while Achaemenid subjects were forced to shave their heads.[2] The mother of Darius III, Sisygambis, having learned of Alexander's death, became depressed and killed herself later.[3] Historians vary in their assessments of primary sources about Alexander's death, which has resulted in different views about its cause and circumstances.

Background

With an effort he looked at them as they passed

In February 323 BC, Alexander ordered his armies to prepare for the march to Babylon.[4] According to Arrian, after crossing the Tigris Alexander was met by Chaldeans, who advised him not to enter the city because their deity Bel had warned them that to do so at that time would be fatal for Alexander.[5] The Chaldeans also warned Alexander against marching westwards as he would then look to the setting sun, a symbol of decline.[5] It was suggested that he enter Babylon via the Royal Gate, in the western wall, where he would face to the east. Alexander followed this advice, but the route turned out to be unfavorable because of swampy terrain.[5] According to Jona Lendering, "it seems that in May 323" the Babylonian astrologers tried to avert the misfortune by substituting Alexander with an ordinary person on the Babylonian throne, who would take the brunt of the omen.[4] The Greeks, however, did not understand that ritual.[4]

Prophecy of Calanus

Punjab, upon request by Alexander. He was 73 years of age at that time. However, when Persian weather and travel fatigue weakened him, he informed Alexander that he would rather die than live disabled. He decided to take his life by self-immolation. Alexander tried to dissuade him from doing so but upon the insistence of Calanus, Alexander relented and the job of building a pyre was entrusted to Ptolemy (son of Seleucus).[6] The place where this incident took place was Susa in 323 BC.[7] Calanus is mentioned also by Alexander's admiral, Nearchus and Chares of Mytilene.[8] He did not flinch as he burnt to the astonishment of those who watched.[9][10] Before immolating himself alive on the pyre, his last words to Alexander were "We shall meet in Babylon".[11][12] Thus he is said to have prophesied the death of Alexander in Babylon. At the time of the death of Calanus, Alexander, however, did not have any plan to go to Babylon.[12][13]
No one understood the meaning of his words "We shall meet in Babylon". It was only after Alexander fell sick and died in Babylon, that the Greeks came to realize what Calanus intended to convey.

Causes

The poisoning of Alexander depicted in the 15th century romance The History of Alexander's Battles, J1 version. NLW MS Pen.481D

According to historical accounts, Alexander's body began to decompose six days after his death. Proposed causes of Alexander's death include alcoholic liver disease, fever, and

symptoms of infectious diseases, including typhoid fever.[15] According to David W. Oldach from the University of Maryland Medical Center, Alexander also had "severe abdominal pain, causing him to cry out in agony".[15] The associated account, however, comes from the unreliable Alexander Romance. According to Andrew N. Williams and Robert Arnott, in his last days Alexander was unable to speak, which was due to a previous injury to his neck during the Siege of Cyropolis.[17]

Other popular theories contend that Alexander either died of malaria or was poisoned. Other retrodiagnoses include noninfectious diseases as well.[18] According to author Andrew Chugg, there is evidence Alexander died of malaria, having contracted it two weeks before the onset of illness while sailing in the marshes to inspect flood defences. Chugg based his argument[19] on the Ephemerides (Journal) compiled by Alexander's secretary, Eumenes of Cardia.[20] Chugg also showed in a paper in the Ancient History Bulletin[21] that the Ephemerides are probably authentic. Chugg further noted that Arrian states that Alexander "No longer had any rest from the fever" halfway through his fatal illness.[22] This is evidence that the fever had initially been intermittent, which is the signature fever curve of Plasmodium falciparum (the expected malarial parasite, given Alexander's travel history and the severity of the illness), thus enhancing the likelihood of malaria.[23] The malaria version was also supported by Paul Cartledge.[citation needed]

Throughout the centuries suspicions of possible poisoning have fallen on a number of alleged perpetrators, including one of Alexander's wives, his generals, his illegitimate half-brother or the royal cup-bearer.

Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs where he stated that Antipater murdered Alexander by feeding him a poison so strong that it "could be conveyed [only] in the hoof of a horse.".[26]

In Alexander the Great: The Death of a God,

Diodorus, who had recorded Alexander becoming "stricken with pain after drinking a large bowl of wine."[29]

"The Funeral of Iskandar," Folio from a Shahnama (Persian Book of Kings). Stories of Alexander's life and death detailed throughout his reign as ruler over the Persian empire.

Epidemiologist John Marr and

Winthrop University Hospital.[31] According to analysis of other authors in response to Marr and Calisher, the West Nile virus could not have infected humans before the 8th century AD.[31]

Other causes that have been put forward include

Guillain-Barré syndrome.[33] Fritz Schachermeyr proposed leukemia and malaria. When Alexander's symptoms were entered into databases of the Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network, influenza gained the highest probability (41.2%) on the list of differential diagnoses.[18] However, according to Cunha, the symptoms and course of Alexander's disease are inconsistent with influenza, as well as with malaria, schistosomiasis, and poisoning in particular.[14]

Another theory moves away from disease and hypothesizes that Alexander's death was related to a congenital

quadriplegic.[37] However, this hypothesis cannot be proven without a full analysis of Alexander's body.[36]

Some have speculated that he suffered from

Guillain-Barré syndrome, which typhoid fever can lead to when complicated with other maladies. He may have contracted this disease from a Helicobacter pylori infection after his lung wound during the siege of Multan, where it was common at the time.[38][39] Proponents say this would explain why Alexander's body reportedly did not decompose for 6 days following his 'death' as he may well have been still alive but in a deep coma.[40]

Body preservation

Funeral of Iskander (Alexander): pallbearers carry his coffin draped with brocaded silk and his turban at one end. In Nizami's version Iskandar fell ill and died near Babylon. Because it was believed he had been poisoned, no antidotes could revive him.

One ancient account reports that the planning and construction of an appropriate funerary cart to convey the body out from Babylon took two years from the time of Alexander's death.

Egyptian embalmers.[41]

Egyptian and

ascending paralysis, which causes a person to appear dead prior to death.[15]

Resting place

On its way back to

Leo the African, report having seen Alexander's tomb.[41] Leo the African in 1491 and George Sandys in 1611 reportedly saw the tomb in Alexandria.[43] According to one legend, the body lies in a crypt beneath an early Christian church.[44]

See also

Notes

  1. Livius.org
    . Retrieved Nov 5, 2019.
  2. .
  3. ^ .
  4. ^
    Livius.org. Archived from the original
    on August 2, 2016. Retrieved Aug 22, 2011.
  5. ^
    Livius.org. Archived from the original
    on April 27, 2016. Retrieved Aug 22, 2011.
  6. .
  7. ^ Yādnāmah-ʾi Panjumīn Kungrih-ʾi Bayn al-Milalī-i Bāstānshināsī va Hunar-i Īrān. Ministry of Culture and Arts, Iran. Vizārat-i Farhang va Hunar. 1972. p. 224.
  8. .
  9. .
  10. .
  11. .
  12. ^ a b National Geographic, Volume 133. 1968. p. 64.
  13. .
  14. ^ .
  15. ^ a b c d "INTESTINAL BUG LIKELY KILLED ALEXANDER THE GREAT". University of Maryland Medical Center. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
  16. ^ a b c d Carlos G. Musso. "MEGAS ALEXANDROS (Alexander The Great ): His Death Remains a Medical Mystery". Humane Medicine Health Care. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
  17. ^ "A Stone at the Siege of Cyropolis and the Death of Alexander the Great".
  18. ^
    PMID 15338538
    .
  19. ^ The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great, A. M. Chugg, AMC Publications, 3rd Edition, January 2020, Chapter 1 (pages28-45).
  20. ^ Aelian, Varia Historia 3.23 (a recognised fragment of the Ephemerides which is attributed to Eumenes in Aelian's text).
  21. ^ A. M. Chugg, "The Journal of Alexander the Great", Ancient History Bulletin 19.3–4 (2005) 155–175.
  22. ^ Arrian, Anabasis Alexandrou 7.25.4.
  23. ^ Robert Sallares, Malaria and Rome, OUP 2002, p.11.
  24. ^
    The Independent on Sunday
    . Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
  25. ^ John Atkinson; Elsie Truter; Etienne Truter (Jan 1, 2009). "Alexander's last days: malaria and mind games?". Acta Classica. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
  26. ^ Justin. "Preface". Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus. Translated by Watson, John.
  27. ^
    S2CID 20804486
    .
  28. ^ Bennett-Smith, Meredith (14 January 2014). "Was Alexander The Great Poisoned By Toxic Wine?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  29. ^ Wolfe, Sarah (13 January 2014). "Alexander the Great was killed by toxic wine, says scientist". Public Radio International. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  30. ^ "Nature-Alexander the Great". GIDEON. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
  31. ^
    PMID 15338538
    .
  32. .
  33. ^ Owen Jarus (4 February 2019). "Why Alexander the Great May Have Been Declared Dead Prematurely (It's Pretty Gruesome)". Live Science. Retrieved Nov 3, 2021.
  34. ^ Ashrafian pg. 138
  35. ^ Ashrafian, pg.139
  36. ^ a b Ashrafian, pg. 140
  37. ^ George K. York, David A. Steinberg, "Commentary. The Diseases of Alexander the Great", Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, Vol. 13, 2004, pg. 154
  38. ^ Meyer, Jean-Arcady (2023). The Rise and Fall of the Library of Alexandria. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 356.
  39. ^ Emerging Infectious Diseases Volume 9, Issues 7–12, Part 2. Rutgers University. 2003. p. 1600.
  40. ^ Hall, Katherine (2018). "Did Alexander the Great Die from Guillain-Barré Syndrome?". Ancient History Bulletin. 32 (3–4).
  41. ^ a b c d e f Robert S. Bianchi. "Hunting Alexander's Tomb". Archaeology.org. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
  42. .
  43. ^ Madden, Richard (1851). The Shrines and Sepulchres of the Old and New World. Newby. pp. 137–138.
  44. ^ "Alexander's death riddle is 'solved'". BBC. June 11, 1998. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.

References

  • Hutan Ashrafian, "The Death of Alexander the Great — A Spinal Twist of Fate", Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, Vol. 13, 2004

Further reading