Tomb of Alexander the Great
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Early rule
Conquest of the Persian Empire
Expedition into India
Death and legacy
Cultural impact
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The tomb of Alexander the Great is attested in several historical accounts, but its current exact location remains an enduring mystery. Following Alexander's death in Babylon, his body was initially buried in Memphis by one of his generals, Ptolemy I Soter, before being transferred to Alexandria, where it was reburied.[1] Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Augustus, among others, are noted as having visited Alexander's tomb in Alexandria in antiquity. Its later fate is unknown, and it had possibly been destroyed by the 4th or 5th centuries;[2] since the 19th century, over one hundred official attempts have been made to try to identify the site of Alexander's tomb in Alexandria.[3]
Background
According to
The possession of his body became a subject of negotiations between Perdiccas, Ptolemy I Soter, and Seleucus I Nicator.[6]
Alexander's wish to be interred in Siwa was not honored. In 321 BC, on its way back to Macedonia, the funerary cart with Alexander's body was hijacked in Syria by one of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy I Soter.[1] In late 322 or early 321 BC, Ptolemy diverted the body to Egypt where it was interred in Memphis, the center of Alexander's government in Egypt. While Ptolemy was in possession of Alexander's body, Perdiccas and Eumenes had Alexander's armor, diadem and royal scepter.[7]
According to
Historical attestations
According to Pausanias[10] and the contemporary Parian Chronicle records for the years 321–320 BC,[11] Ptolemy initially buried Alexander in Memphis. In the late 4th or early 3rd century BC, during the early Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexander's body was transferred from Memphis to Alexandria, where it was reburied.
In 61 BC during the Triumph of
In 48 BC Alexander's tomb in Alexandria was visited by
When
Present location
The Egyptian
In 1993, Triantafyllos Papazois developed the theory that it is not Philip II of Macedon who is buried in the royal tomb II at Vergina, Greece, but it is Alexander the Great together with his wife Roxanne, while his son Alexander IV is buried in tomb III.[20] Also based on the ancient historical sources he came to the conclusion that the breastplate, the shield, the helmet and the sword found in tomb II belong to the armor of Alexander the Great.[21]
In 1995, Greek archaeologist Liana Souvaltzi announced that she identified one alleged tomb in Siwa with that of Alexander. The claim was put in doubt by the then general secretary of the Greek Ministry of Culture, George Thomas, who said that it was unclear whether the excavated structure is even a tomb.[22] Thomas and members of his team said that the style of the excavated object was not, as Souvaltzi contended, Macedonian, and that the fragments of tablets they were shown did not support any of the translations provided by Souvaltzi as proof of her finding.[22]
According to one legend, the body lies in a crypt beneath an early Christian church.[23]
In a 2011 episode of the National Geographic Channel television series Mystery Files, Andrew Chugg claimed that Alexander the Great's body was stolen from Alexandria, Egypt, by Venetian merchants who believed it to be that of Saint Mark the Evangelist. They smuggled the remains to Venice, where they were then venerated as Saint Mark the Evangelist in St Mark's Basilica.[24][25][26] In an article in the Egyptology journal Kmt (fall 2020), Chugg showed that a 3rd century BC fragment of a high status Macedonian tomb found embedded in the foundations of St Mark's Basilica in Venice in 1960 is an exact fit as part of a tomb-casing for the sarcophagus[27] in the British Museum, which was long venerated in Alexandria as Alexander's tomb.[28]
The 2014 discovery of a large Alexander-era tomb at Kasta Tomb in Amphipolis in the region of Macedonia, Greece,[29] once again led to speculation about Alexander's final resting place. Some have speculated that it was built for Alexander but not used due to Ptolemy I Soter having seized the funeral cortege.[30] Based on findings unearthed at the site, the excavation team argued that the tomb was a memorial dedicated to Alexander's friend Hephaestion.[31][32]
In 2019, a marble statue claimed to be of Alexander was found by Greek archaeologist Calliope Limneos-Papakosta in the Shallalat Gardens, which occupy the ancient royal quarter in Alexandria.[33] In 2021, Egyptian officials claimed they had found Alexander the Great's tomb in Siwa Oasis, an urban area near the Libyan border with Egypt.[34] In 2023, Limneos-Papakosta uncovered a statue and an ancient Roman road in Alexandria. Following further excavations, her team of researchers also discovered the foundations of a large building.[35]
In 2024, Egyptologist Christian de Vartavan published his Locating the Tomb and Body of Alexandre the Great [36] in which he suggests that the body of Alexander may be in the Eastern desert of Egypt.
See also
- Tomb of Genghis Khan– also unknown
- Alexander Sarcophagus, unrelated to Alexander's body, but adorned with motifs related to his life.[37]
Notes
- ^ a b Saunders 2007, p. 38
- ^ "Alexander the Great, King of Macedon - Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- ^ a b c d e f Robert S. Bianchi. "Hunting Alexander's Tomb". Archaeology.org. Retrieved Aug 21, 2011.
- ^ a b Lauren O'Connor (2008). "The Remains of Alexander the Great: The God, The King, The Symbol". Constructing the Past. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d Saunders 2007, p. x
- ^ Saunders 2007, p. 34
- ^ Saunders 2007, p. 41
- ^ a b "Ancient sources". Hellenic Electronic Center Portal. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ^ Saunders 2007, p. 53
- ^ "Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.6 (καὶ τὸν μὲν νόμῳ τῷ Μακεδόνων ἔθαπτεν ἐν Μέμφει) -". perseus.tufts.edu.
- ^ "Parian Chronicle 112a (καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος εἰς Μέμφιν ἐτέθη)". Packard Humanities Institute.
- ^ Appian, The Mithridatic Wars, p. 117
- ^ a b "Alexander the Great, King of Macedon". Archaeology. July 16, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
- ISBN 9781960069450.
- ^ Madden 1851, p. 138
- ^ Madden 1851, p. 137
- ISBN 9780465006212. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Where is Alexander Buried?". Hellenic Electronic Center. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ^ a b Saunders 2007, p. xii
- ^ Saunders, Alexander's tomb, p.187
- ^ Τ.Παπαζώης, Ο Μέγας Αλέξανδρος με την οικογένεια του είναι θαμμένοι στους βασιλικούς τάφους ΙΙ και ΙΙΙ της Βεργίνας, 2017
- ^ a b "No evidence seen of Alexander's tomb, Greeks say". The Baltimore Sun. February 6, 1995. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ^ "Alexander's death riddle is 'solved'". BBC. June 11, 1998. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ "Mystery Files – The Disappearance of Alexander's Tomb". Metacafe. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
- ^ "Mystery Files: Alexander the Great, Wednesday, June 29". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 June 2011.
- ^ "About Mystery Files Show – National Geographic Channel – UK". National Geographic Channel – Videos, TV Shows & Photos – UK. 14 April 2020. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011.
- ^ "sarcophagus; bath-tub (re-use); religious/ritual vessel | British Museum". The British Museum.
- ^ A. M. Chugg, "Was Alexander the Great Originally Interred in the Usurped Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II?" Kmt: A Modern Journal of Egyptology, Volume 31, Number 3, Fall 2020, pp. 66–74
- ^ Giorgos Christides (22 September 2014). "Greeks captivated by Alexander-era tomb at Amphipolis". BBC. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΑΘΛΗΤΙΣΜΟΥ- Αρχική Σελίδα". www.culture.gov.gr.
- ^ "Archaeologist claims opulent grave in Greece honored Alexander the Great's best friend". US News. 30 September 2015.
- ^ "Hephaestion's Monogram Found at Amphipolis Tomb". Greek Reporter. 30 September 2015.
- ^ "New clues to the lost tomb of Alexander the Great discovered in Egypt". National Geographic. 28 February 2019. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019.
- ^ "Egyptian Officials Claim They've Found Alexander the Great's Tomb". 16 October 2021.
- ^ Bouzon, Charline (17 February 2023). "Alexander the Great: An Archaeologist Believes She Has Discovered His Tomb". EnVols. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ {{cite web| https://projectispublishing.com/localising-the-tomb-and-body-of-alexander-the-great/ | title = Locating the Tomb and Body of Alexander the Great
- ISBN 978-1846033285.
References
- Saunders, Nicholas (2007). Alexander's Tomb: The Two-Thousand Year Obsession to Find the Lost Conqueror. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465006212.
- Madden, Richard (1851). The Shrines and Sepulchres of the Old and New World. Newby.