Re: Who has it?


"Sanity" <sanity-clause@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:a99beedc-9fe1-4781-98b4-6a456f041b92@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Jan 30, 2:45 pm, "freak vent flyer" <freakvent_fl...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
His tomb has never been found.

I heard a rumor that his tomb was found, his casket was solid gold,
and his remains were preserved by immersion in honey. Neat rumor huh?

Sanity


That's weird. Wikipedia backs this up.
Alexander's body was placed in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus, which was in turn placed in a second gold casket and covered with a purple robe. Alexander's coffin was placed, together with his armour, in a gold carriage that had a vaulted roof supported by an Ionic peristyle. The decoration of the carriage was very lavish and is described in great detail by Diodoros.

According to one legend, Alexander was preserved in a clay vessel full of honey (which can act as a preservative) and interred in a glass coffin. According to Aelian (Varia Historia 12.64), Ptolemy stole the body and brought it to Alexandria, where it was on display until Late Antiquity. It was here that Ptolemy IX, one of the last successors of Ptolemy I, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one, and melted the original down in order to strike emergency gold issues of his coinage. The citizens of Alexandria were outraged at this and soon after Ptolemy IX was killed.

The Roman emperor Caligula was said to have looted the tomb, stealing Alexander's breastplate, and wearing it. Around 200 AD, Emperor Septimius Severus closed Alexander's tomb to the public. His son and successor, Caracalla, was a great admirer of Alexander, and visited the tomb in his own reign. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are sketchy.

The so-called "Alexander Sarcophagus," discovered near Sidon and now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, is now generally thought to be that of Abdylonymus, whom Hephaestion had appointed as the king of Sidon by Alexander's order. The sarcophagus depicts Alexander and his companions hunting and in battle with the Persians.

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    ... Alexander's body was placed in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus, ... turn placed in a second gold casket and covered with a purple robe. ... was here that Ptolemy IX, one of the last successors of Ptolemy I, replaced ... Alexandria were outraged at this and soon after Ptolemy IX was killed. ...
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