Alexander the Great Tomb

On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, in Babylon, at age 32.

Alexander asked his general shortly before his death to interred him in the temple of Zeus Ammon at Siwah Oasis.

Alexander requested his follower to refer and perceived him as the son of Zeus Ammon. He told his soldier not to bury him alongside his actual father at Aegae. His followers placed Alexander’s body in a coffin of “hammered gold”.

Alexander’s body was laid in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus that was filled with honey, which was in turn placed in a gold casket.

The recent discovery of an enormous tomb in northern Greece, at Amphipolis, dating from the time of Alexander the Great. This has given rise to speculation that its original intent was to be the burial place of Alexander. This would fit with the intended destination of Alexander’s funeral cortege.

Mystery of Alexander the Great Tomb

In 321 BC, one of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy I Soter hijacked the funerary cart with Alexander the Great Tomb on its way back to Macedonia in Syria.

In late 322 or early 321 BC Ptolemy diverted the body to Egypt where he interred body to 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.

His successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, transferred the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where it remained until at least late Antiquity. Ptolemy IX Lathyros, one of Ptolemy’s final successors, replaced Alexander’s sarcophagus with a glass one so he could convert the original to coinage.

Pompey, Julius Caesar and Augustus all visited the tomb in Alexandria, where Augustus, allegedly, accidentally knocked the nose off. Caligula took Alexander’s breastplate from the tomb for his own use.

The so-called “Alexander Sarcophagus”, discovered near Sidon and now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Historian speculated that it contained Alexander’s remains, because its bas-reliefs depict Alexander and his companions fighting the Persians and hunting.