Secrets of Egypt: Alexander's Tomb

Sunday 01 February
10:00am - 11:00am
Five

Historical documentary series probing the secrets of Ancient Egypt. This instalment looks at the ongoing hunt for the tomb of Alexander the Great - conqueror and self-proclaimed pharaoh of Egypt. Gathering together old sources and new evidence, the search moves from the necropolis of ancient Egypt to the city that the king founded, Alexandria.

More notes taken from a TV show. I remembered that I had seen a show from the series on a Sunday, when I took notes about Ramesses II. Unfortunately I have a cold, yet again, and between coughing and sneezing it was a challenge to hear the TV, never mind attempt to type at the same speed as the information was being delivered, so apologies that it is all a bit fragmented. There are probably a dozen typos, which I'll root out when I'm feeling a bit less fuzzy.

The show begins with the statement that Egypt is a land of unanswered questions. Today a new generation of experts hunt for the tomb of Alexander the Great. After 2000 years using new research and new thinking can Alexander's lost tomb finally be found? The first task is to retrace his movements through.

Alexander only spent 6 months in Egypt but the effects of his presence there were felt for centuries. It is well known that Alexander lived and ruled in Egypt in life but his body also traveled through this country again after he had died. Nick Saunders says that it is difficult to know where to start to search for the tomb of Alexander because so much of what is told about Alexander is formed of legends, stories, and propoganda.

What facts are known about Alexander? He was a blonde haired Greek from Macedonia. When he arrived in Egypt the country was under Persian occupation. By defeating the Persians Alexander was welcomed by Egyptians. Robert Steven Bianchi discusses the walls of the Temple of Karnak, which was the centre of religions and political power when Alexander came to power. Every leader added to the temple as a statement of both piety and power. Bianchi says that by inscribing their names into the walls at Karnak these leaders were inserting themselves into history. In one side room the name of Alexander is shown in hieroglpys contained within a cartouche and the text accompanying it says that he was responsible for restoration work at Karnak. Alexander is in association of Tuthmoses III. By linking himself to a great warrior, Alexander was showing him as the spiritual heir of that great pharaoh. It legitimized his own role as Pharaoh.

Egyptologist Andrea Kay is retracing Alexander's trip through Western Desert. The footage shows her traveling in a four wheel drive over miles and miles of dunes through a desert landscape that is very hard to navigate. The Western Desert is 400 miles wide, from edge of Nile Valley to the Libyan border. Just years before an army of 1000s attempting to cross the same desert was destroyed. Hawass says that when crossing the desert Alexander's soldiers were thirsty and dying but then, astonishingly, rain came. Myths of this sort surrounded Alexander during his lifetime. He was heading for Siwa, the most remote settlement in Egypt, an oasis of fertile land fed by natural springs. It was a sacred place in ancient Egyptian times, home to Amun the ram deity and father of the pharaohs. Andrea Kay thinks that what happened here was a pivotal moment. Alexander asked for an audience with the priests of Amun at the Temple of the Oracle which still stands in ruinous form in Siwa. Although usually accompanied by soldiers on this occasion Alexander is said to have climbed the path to the temple sanctuary on his own. Although open to the hot sun today the Kay syas that the temple would have been covered over in antiquity, and would have been a cool very quiet place. In 331BC he stood on a precise spot in the sanctuary to have a conversation with the god - a statue probably, with priests hidden in a passage behind. When he left he had what he wanted, and from this moment on no he was longer the son of Philip II of Macedonia he had a new father. He was now the son of Amun. This would have given total legitimacy to his new role, the beginning of a new dynasty and a new era.

He left Egypt after six months and never returned. He died in Babylon from a mystery illness. But his remains were returned to Egypt and today the disvoery of the tomb and body of Alexander remains one of the greatest prizes in archeaology.

Bianchi says that there is a tradition that he who holds the body of Alexander holds Egypt. Many scholars would like to solve the mystery of what happened to that body. Archaeologist Nick Saunders is one of them. He thinks that the body of Alexander was a symbolic weopon used by generals as justification for their role as the legitimate successor to Alexander. Alex had appointed a successor, Perdicas, who took charge of Alexander's body, but another genereal, Ptolemy, realized that the remains had power. History does not record what Perdicas intended to do with the body. But Ptolemy hijacked the body and took it to Egypt to use as his own legitimation. A battle took place on the banks of Nile but Ptolemy won and ruled unopposed, is dynasty lasting for 300 years. The very origins of that dynasty lie in the body of Alexander.

It is thought that Alexander would first have been laid to rest in Memphis because that's where he needed the body to be if Alexander was to legitimize the new ruler, as that's where Ptolemy was located himself. Memphis was Egypt's political heart and its most important burial ground was the nearby Saqqara necropolis. The necropolis is where Saunders believes that Ptoelmy brought Alexander. The Serapeum way leads between Memphis and Saqqara, at end of which is Step Pyramid. Saunders believes that Ptolemy would have buried Alexander in the place where earlier Pharaohs had been buried. But is there any proof? Saunders sees connections. The Serapeum way ends in a subterranean labyrinth which houses the tombs of the apis bulls. Serapis became the protective god of Alexandria. Alexander incorporated the essence of Egyptian gods into himself, a move which was at once religious and political. Saqqara is a prime candidate for the location of his tomb. A few yards from the Serapeum Mariette discovered statues. They are badly damaged Greek sculptures which represent famous Greek philosphers and are made from local Egyptian limestone. It was only recently learned what connects the statues to the landscape - each of the individuals represented had very powerful links to Alexander. Homer's Achilles was a powerful role model for Alexander. Pindar praised Alexander's ancestors. Plato taught Aristotle who taught Alexander. All of the statues reference the ancient world that Alexander knew so well and are an ideal reference for tomb of Alexander But even if Alexander was buried here a widely believed account records that Alex's body was moved from its original place of burial to Alexandria, Egypt's flourishng new capital.

Alexander gave his name to a dozen cities. The greatest of them, Alexandria, was founded by Alexandria but was built by Ptolemy. In 280BC Ptolemy's son brought Alexander's body here. One of the greatest tourist attractions of all time to see Alexander's tomb. A whole range of people have ideas about where Alexander might be found. Up until the 3rd century BC it was recorded that emperors came to the tomb to seal their legitimacy as the successor of Alexander's legacy. In the late 5th century AD the tomb dissapeared when the empire fell. Today's Alexandria is a very different place. The centuries have rebuilt the city and ancient Alexandria lies far below street level. The tomb has now been lost for 1600 years. Legends, half-truths and outright lies have hindered the search for the site. At Nabi Daniel mosque a Russian tour guide emerged from a crypt and made extraordinary claim. He said that he had found the burial place of Alexander the Great. Zahi Hawass says that the claim looks entirely plausible and it was widely believed until 1958. No evidence, however, was found following excavation. This begs the question - how would the tomb be recognized?

A possible template could exist in ancient Macedonia. Vergina stands on the remains of ancient Macedonia, and royal tombs can be used as a model. The tomb of Philip II looks like a greek temple with frescoes and rich burial remains. One frescoe possibly features Alexandria in a hunting scene. It is possible that Alexander was buried in a Macednian type tomb.

If the tomb of Alexander still exists in Alexandria it probably lies 10s of feet beneath the modern city. Water tanks, extraordinary works of engineering which supplied the city have been searched for clues but none were forthcoming. Nick Saunders believes that a surface perspective is required to try to locate the tomb's location in the ancient city even though subterranean entry points are physically nearer. One point on landscape that has survived is a peninsula that offers a geographical point of reference, known as the "Inner Royal Palaces" and once the home of the pharaohs. A single pillar marks where the grand palaces were once located. This is one of the most elite areas of Mediterranean world, an extraordinarily rich place for the royal family and entourage to live. A route once linked the site to the more public areas. The Geography of Strabo is considered one of the most reliable of ancient sources. Strabo was here and wrote that he saw Alexander's tomb in the Royal Palaces district where the modern library now stands. It was certainly the centre of power and possibly where the ruling class needed Alexander to be. But other Classical writers differ.

Andrew Chugg believes that the tomb can be located by putting all the information from classical sources - all small fragments of information used together at same time. He believes that the tomb was located in the centre of the city close to a crossroads. 19th C maps show the city before it was modernized, but Chugg's solution puts the possible location of a tomb far away from Palaces district. He sees the tomb complex as econmpassing the vast Soma area. He believes that the Shallat gardens where city walls dating to 100s years after tombs lost contains original remains of Ptolemaic walls and thinks, on the basis of the stone cutting, that the Soma enclosure of Alexander's tomb was incorporated into the later city walls. The reconstruction of a vast enclosure within which a vast mausuleum would have been consistent with Alexander's status. The solution reconciles differences between the various accounts and plausible locations. The downside is that it lacks solid archaeological evidence.

A few 100 yeards away are the Latin cemeteries where vast chunks of alabaster were found., forming a chamber. Alabaster was the stone of the god Amun, very expensive, and Hawass believes that alabaster would have been a logical choice for Alexander. The interior was smoothed and polished to a flat beautiful surface. The exterior, however, was left rough so it is possible that this alabaster chamber was buried. It was similar in concept to the Macedonian tombs shown earlier in the programme. Stairs led down to the chamber and Hawass believes that it is possible that these were used as an approach by priests leaving offerings at the tomb. Hawass believes that this is the tomb of Alexander. A very good computer reconstruction showed how it might have looked in the light of the Macedonian model. Nick Saunders doesn't believe that this could have been the tomb of Alexander because although it was obviously the tomb of a highly important Greek born Macedonian it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The problem is due to its location which is not near enough to the heart of the city. In addition, recent excavations have drawn a blank.

There is one final twist. A new theory suggests that the tomb would be empty even if it was eventually located. There is a possibility that the body was smuggled from the city to be hidden during the political upheavels when the Greek empire fell. There is a suggestion that the body itself was moved to Bahariya to the desert necropolis now referred to as the "Valley of the Golden Mummies".

Accounts suggest that the body of Alexander remained in Alexandria for 400 years. But at the end of the 4th century AD successive religious movements with Islam replacing Christianty and the legend of Alexander and his cult being driven underground. Many scholars believe that his body was moved to a place of safety. 200 miles from Alexandria in the oasis of Bahariya a donkey from Hawass's team fell into a hole which turned out to be a subterranean cemetery - now called Valley of the Golden Mummies. Different races and traditions have beenburied here in vast numbers - Roman, Greek, Beduoin, and Egyptians were all buried here. What better place to hide a pagan lord than in a huge burial field? What drew people to this remote site? the answer may lie in the oldest structure on site - a temple showing Alexander standing and holding offerings, with Amun. Hawass says that this was a place of offerings and that thousands of pottery sherds of offerings provide evidence that a cult of Alexander continued into 17C AD. No church existed in Bahariya, even when Egypt was Christian. Saunders says that early Greek Christians may have had a strange relationship with the idea of Alexander. It is impossible to rule out the idea that Alexander's body may haev been re-buried here. Hawass believes that the numbers of other individuals buried here reprsent those who wished to be buried near him.

Alexander continues to fascinate people. The search goes on.