The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2021

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In his lifetime King Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, forged one of the largest empires in ancient history. But it was what happened to Alexander following his demise – his ‘life after death’ - which resulted in one of the great archaeological mysteries of the ancient Mediterranean.

Following his death, aged just 32, his corpse became of prime importance for his former subordinates – a talismanic symbol of legitimacy during the tumultuous period that was the Wars of the Successors. Later still, the body and tomb of this great conqueror – placed right in the centre of ancient Alexandria – retained its importance. From Ptolemaic pharaohs to Roman emperors, Alexander’s tomb became a place of holy pilgrimage for many seeking power and prestige. For several centuries the tomb of this Macedonian ruler was one of the great attractions of the ancient Mediterranean. That was, however, until the end of the 4th century when all mention of this building, and the precious corpse housed within, disappeared. So what happened to Alexander’s tomb? And where might Alexander’s body be buried today? To talk through several theories surrounding one of ancient history’s great archaeological mysteries, Tristan chatted to Dr Chris Naunton. The third of 3 episodes we recorded with Chris earlier this summer.

Chris' Twitter / Instagram: @chrisnaunton

Tristan's Twitter / Instagram: @ancientstristan

Alexander the Great: The Greatest Heist in History documentary, featuring both Tristan and Chris: https://access.historyhit.com/videos/alexander-the-great-the-greatest-heist-in-history

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and it's the mystery story
0:09.2	that you have all been waiting for. You might have noticed over the past few weeks,
0:14.7	once and while we've been doing an interview with Dr. Chris Norton about late Hellenistic
0:20.4	Egypt, about lost tombs, about lost buildings. And we are now finishing this small trilogy.
0:28.1	We've talked about the lost bothers of Cleopatra. We've talked about the lost tomb of Cleopatra.
0:33.0	And now it's the big one we're talking about, the lost tomb of Alexander the Great.
0:39.4	It's quite a favourite topic of mine. It's a great story. And we're going from beginning to end,
0:44.4	shall we say. We're going from the initial hijacking of Alexander the Great's corpse,
0:49.7	spy tolamy, in the aftermath of Alexander's death and his wish to spite the imperial
0:55.8	and vicious aims of his rival, Perdicus, to the body's arrival in Alexandria to its use
1:03.3	by the Tallahmeric dynasty when ruling over Egypt during the Hellenistic period, to the importance
1:09.1	of the body during the Roman imperial period and ultimately to the body's disappearance.
1:14.6	And the search by archaeologists over the past few centuries to try and locate Alexander's tomb.
1:21.6	All as of yet to know of ale. One day Chris and I we will be out in Alexandria
1:28.9	searching for the tomb ourselves. I guarantee you that. But in the meantime, as a taster,
1:35.0	here is a podcast episode with Chris and I as we discuss the lost tomb of Alexander the Great
1:42.6	and his potential whereabouts. Here's Chris.
1:51.0	Chris, always a pleasure to have you on the podcast.
1:53.3	Always a pleasure to be here, thank you for having me.
1:55.5	You're very welcome. We've saved the biggest perhaps the death to last. They're all incredible,
2:00.2	but we both love this topic. We do.
2:03.4	The lost tomb, the lost body of Alexander the Great. This is one of the great mysteries that people
	...

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