Where is Alexander the Great's tomb?

After his death in Babylon in 323 BCE, his body became the centre of a political struggle among his former generals, who each recognised its symbolic importance.

The initial plan had been to bury Alexander at the temple of Zeus Ammon in the Siwa Oasis, which had gained significance after the oracle there declared him a son of Zeus during his visit in 331 BCE.

As the funeral procession began its journey westward, Ptolemy I Soter intercepted it while it was en route through Syria, although ancient sources do not agree on the exact location, and he redirected it to Egypt, where he had established his authority and tried to associate himself with Alexander’s reputation.

According to Diodorus Siculus, this interception occurred around the time of the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BCE, although the precise chronology is uncertain.

Ptolemy made his hold over Egypt firmer and saw the political value of possessing Alexander's remains.

By diverting the body to Memphis, Ptolemy strengthened his claim to rule and made Egypt's new political importance clearer in the post-Alexandrian world. 

Ptolemy chose Memphis as the initial burial site, likely because it had long served as Egypt’s administrative capital and held deep religious importance for the native population.

Later, Ptolemaic rulers, possibly beginning with Ptolemy II Philadelphus or more likely during the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator, arranged for the body to be moved to Alexandria.

The transfer showed the growing importance of Alexandria as the new capital of the Ptolemaic dynasty, and the decision to inter Alexander there placed him at the heart of the city he had founded in 331 BCE.

Written sources, including those by Strabo and Pausanias, indicate that the Ptolemaic court displayed the body in a magnificent mausoleum, often referred to as the Soma or Sema, which likely formed part of the royal quarter near the palace district.

Ancient writers described the tomb as constructed of glass, gold, or alabaster and placed it within the Brucheion, the royal precinct that housed Ptolemaic and Roman palaces. 

During the Roman period, emperors who visited Egypt often made a point of honouring Alexander’s tomb.

Augustus, who annexed Egypt after defeating Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BCE, reportedly visited the tomb and may have viewed the embalmed body, though ancient accounts differ on whether he saw the actual corpse or a representation, possibly during his stay in 30 or 29 BCE.

Later, Caligula, who reigned from 37 to 41 CE, allegedly removed what was believed to be Alexander’s breastplate and took it back to Rome.

The reliability of this claim is debated by historians. Caracalla, during his eastern campaign in 215 CE, performed rites at the site and left offerings.

These acts confirmed that the tomb was intact and accessible for centuries after Alexander’s death, and that it continued to serve as a powerful symbol of authority for later rulers who claimed to follow in his footsteps.

However, from the third century CE onwards, references to the tomb diminished, and its precise location faded from historical memory. 

Natural disasters helped to remove visible traces of the tomb as religious priorities changed.

This change reduced official care for pagan monuments and led to rebuilding that continued for years and buried earlier remains across Alexandria.

Later authorities often neglected or destroyed structures associated with the ancient gods and heroes.

The destruction of the Serapeum in 391 CE marked a turning point in the Christianisation of Alexandria and may have preceded the fate of other pre-Christian monuments.

Earthquakes and higher water levels also changed the city’s physical layout, and parts of ancient Alexandria’s eastern district near the harbour now lie underwater, although the precise location of the royal quarter is uncertain.

By the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, scholars could not confirm any trace of the tomb. 

In more recent centuries, archaeologists and historians have proposed a number of theories about the tomb’s location, although none have produced clear results.

One often suggested candidate is beneath the modern Nabi Daniel Mosque in central Alexandria, where local legends claim that an important ancient figure lies buried.

Excavations in the area have uncovered Greco-Roman foundations, but these findings have not confirmed the presence of Alexander’s remains.

Earlier mapping efforts by 19th-century Egyptian engineer Mahmoud el-Falaki and modern surveys of the ancient royal quarter have attempted to narrow down the possibilities.

Other ideas focus on the ruins near the former palace quarter or the submerged remains off the city’s shoreline, which may contain lost Ptolemaic structures.

However, modern urban growth and political restrictions, together with the dense overbuilding of the city, restricted opportunities for careful archaeological investigation. 

Some theories outside Alexandria suggested that the body was secretly transported to Byzantium or Venice in later centuries.

Some unlikely claims suggested that the corpse never reached Egypt at all and that conspirators displayed a replacement body in the tomb while the real remains were hidden elsewhere.

These theories, based on unclear sources or later legends, did not gain acceptance by scholars because of the absence of material evidence.

A 1990s search led by Liana Souvaltzi argued that Alexander's tomb was near Siwa Oasis, but most scholars rejected that idea. 

The search for Alexander’s tomb continued to prompt new fieldwork and scholarly study, and it kept public interest high.

Some 19th-century accounts claim that French officers during Napoleon’s occupation of Egypt expressed interest in locating it, though there is no firm evidence of an organised search, and local Islamic traditions later associated various sites with the grave of a prophet, possibly conflating Alexander with a Quranic figure.

Alexandria’s layered history, combined with the cultural and political upheavals that have altered the city across two millennia, has obscured the final resting place of the man who created one of the largest empires of the ancient world.

Until physical evidence is uncovered, the tomb of Alexander the Great will continue to be one of history’s most persistent mysteries.