Alexander the Great died suddenly in Babylon in 323 BC, when he was 33 years old.
The location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is one of the greatest mysteries of the archaeological world. For decades, researchers have had headaches and hoped for promising clues, only to be disappointed, again and again.
However, two contemporary experts may have finally solved that age-old puzzle. Dr Andrew Michael Chugg, author of The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great, and archaeologist Liana Souvaltzi believe they are closer than ever, but not without huge hurdles.
The information of these two experts led the Greek and Egyptian governments to stop their investigations. So where is Alexander the Great buried, how did he die and what led Dr. Andrew Michael Chugg and his colleague Liana Souvaltzi to find out? As always, the answer lies in an ancient stone.
Death of Alexander the Great
While most people would imagine the death of a famous ancient king like Alexander the Great to be a solemn event, the truth is more macabre.
In 2019, Dr Katherine Hall of the University of Otago (New Zealand) presented the latest horrifying theory on this issue. Dr Katherine Hall believes that Alexander, who died in Babylon in 323 BC (BC), suffered from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).
Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC) was the son of the Macedonian King Philip II. Immediately after ascending the throne (336 BC), he began to invade the East.
In just over 10 years, from East to West, Alexander established an Alexander empire whose vast map, East to the Ganges, West to the Sanniro River and the Balkan peninsula. Alexander was once a glorious hero, and also a mystical figure.
Unfortunately, the historical records of his life are gone. Later, there were also a number of books that were copied but had many different opinions, were extremely contradictory, and were heavily colored with legends and personal colors.
This auto-immune disorder caused the young Emperor to exhibit symptoms such as abdominal pain and gradual paralysis that eventually rendered him unable to move.
Despite these symptoms, he was mentally healthy.
For years, experts wondered why the king’s body hadn’t decomposed for several days after his death. Katherine Hall said that GBS only made him seem dead when he was actually alive and couldn’t tell anyone before he was imprisoned.
“I have worked for five years in the medical profession taking care of critical cases and have seen about 10 cases of GBS,” says Hall, “a combination of progressive paralysis with normal mental capacity.” It’s very rare and I’ve only seen it with people with GBS.”
While other historians have suggested that Alexander the Great died of typhoid, malaria, alcohol poisoning or assassination, Dr Katherine Hall insists his strange illness was caused by an infection. Campylobacter pylori – a common bacterium of Alexander’s time.
So the death of Alexander the Great is possibly the most famous case of pseudothanatos, or misdiagnosis of death, ever recorded – leading us to bury him.
Where is Alexander the Great buried?
There are far too many questions regarding Alexander’s burial than clear answers. According to National Geographic, modern historians largely agree that the ancient king was buried in Alexandria (Egypt).
Alexander the Great was the emperor of the Kingdom of Macedonia, the ruler of Greece, the lord of Asia Minor, the pharaoh of Egypt, and the great king of Persia at the age of 20.
When he died at the age of 33, his advisors initially buried him in Memphis (Egypt) before deciding to go to Alexandria. His tomb became a place of worship, although periods of earthquakes and rising sea levels increasingly threatened the city.
However, it still exists and has been built for centuries.
In 2019, Calliope Limneos – Papakosta, Director of the Institute of Greek Studies of the Alexandrian civilization, has made great progress in the search for the tomb of the great king.
Archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert said: “This is the first time the original foundations of Alexandria have been found. I got goosebumps when I saw it.”
While it was a promising leap, Alexander the Great’s tomb has yet to be found. According to Ancient Origins, his body disappeared when the Roman Emperor Theodosius banned pagan worship in AD 392.
However, the two competing theories of Dr Andrew Michael Chugg and archaeologist Liana Souvaltzi may be closer than ever.
The Search for the Tomb of Alexander the Great
According to Express, Liana Souvaltzi believes Alexander the Great’s wish to be buried in the temple of the Egyptian god Amun Ran was granted – which led to her asking for permission to excavate the Oasis of Siwa in 1984.
The Egyptian authorities granted her a license until 1989. What they found were lion statues, an entrance and a 5,651 square meter Greek royal mausoleum. Souvaltzi believes the carvings and inscriptions, which refer to the transport of a body, were written by Ptolemy, Alexander the Great’s famous companion.
Archaeologist Souvaltiz believes that Alexander’s tomb lies within the ruins of the ancient fortress of Siwa Oasis in Egypt.
At the time, Souvaltzi said: “I don’t have any thoughts on whether this is Alexander’s tomb, I want the Greek people to feel proud, because Greek hands have been found. this very important monument.”
Although it was announced in 1995 that the ancient king’s tomb had finally been found, the Greek government called on the Egyptian government to stop the excavations – as tensions between the two sides ran high. Even so, Souvaltzi continues his work, while the latest findings of Dr. Andrew Michael Chugg have turned out to be promising.
Dr. Andrew Michael Chugg has a different theory when it comes to the tomb of Alexander the Great. He explained in his book that the temple converted from the original tomb of Alexander, near Memphis in Egypt at the Serapeum complex built by pharaoh Nectanbo II.
Protected by sculptures of Greek poets and philosophers, it was the obvious choice to house Alexander the Great’s tomb.
16 years after the publication of his book, new evidence from Dr Andrew Michael Chugg seems to support that point. A fragment found in the foundations of St. Mark’s church, in Venice (Italy) perfectly matches the size of the Nectanbo II sarcophagus in the British Museum – it could confirm the location of Alexander’s tomb.
Dr Andrew Chugg believes the sarcophagus of Nectanbo II, in the British Museum in London, holds the real clue to the exact location of Alexander’s tomb.
Since Alexander’s body disappeared in AD 392 and Saint Mark’s tomb appeared at the same time, the links are now being connected.
Dr Andrew Michael Chugg theorized that Alexander the Great’s body was stolen from Alexandria by Venetian merchants, who mistook it for Saint Mark’s body.
They later moved it to Venice and have venerated it as Saint Mark, in the Basilica Patriarcale di San Marco ever since.
For Dr Andrew Michael Chugg, who said the fragment found in Venice exactly matched both the height and the length to make the outer shell of the sarcophagus in the UK, this means that the rest is located in Venice. belongs to Alexander the Great.
Even the British Museum is now convinced, as they have changed part of the lines describing the sarcophagus to reflect this new evidence: “This sarcophagus is improperly believed to be associated with the sarcophagus. Alexander the Great when it was added to the collection in 1803, now reads the same way – but without the word “incorrect”.
However, the views of Dr. Chugg and archaeologist Souvaltzi are not convincing enough to archaeologists because they do not provide scientific evidence.