A photo from open sources In history, there are individuals who, even in life were surrounded by many puzzles. One such person is Alexander the Great. There are a lot of questions connected with it. One of them – and where, in fact, is this outstanding person buried? Versions a great many have accumulated on this score over the centuries, one more believable than the other, but the grave has still not been found that leaves a wide field of activity for new seekers.
To understand, we recall significant milestones in fate Alexander the Great.
This great commander made many glorious victories. After he defeated the Phoenicians bloodlessly conquered Egypt – the people met it with joy, as a deliverer from the Persians. At the mouth of the Nile, Alexander dreamed of founding a city – as a stronghold on the border between Egypt and Mediterranean neighbors, as well as for the development of trade and sciences. At the beginning of 331 BC he sailed along the Nile on a luxurious boat and found a place to build. So Alexandria came about, the largest and most perfect of the cities that were founded king in subsequent years and bore his name.
Immediately after that, Alexander made a few unexpected things. trip to a remote oasis of Siva – 300 km through lifeless desert. In the middle of the oasis stood an ancient temple. What was needed there To Alexander? According to the chronicler Arrian, the king wanted to know more about to yourself. Are all your obsessed really still he owed victories to the gods, being their favorite? What a favorite Alexander was firmly convinced that his mother gave birth to him from Zeus! So, by at least she claimed. Another question that him strongly occupied whether the gods would help him in the future, when will he begin to realize his idea of world domination?
Alexander was received by the Egyptian priests, and he was the only one was allowed, without changing clothes, to enter the sanctuary. High priest met him with the words: “Blessed be the son of Amon!” Then Alexander asked the priest his questions.
When after a long time the commander left, his friends surrounded and wanted to know what he was asking and what received answers. Alexander said: “I found out what I wanted to know, and the answers came to my heart. “Only one question (and the answer) to us definitely known. When on the way to Asia, Alexander wanted to go under sails from the Indus delta into the sea, he said: “Now I will make a sacrifice to those gods who confirmed in Siwah my descent from Amon ” (Egyptian version of Zeus).
After that, Alexander, who finally believed in his divine origin, went to Mesopotamia, broke Persian king Darius and took Babylon, after which he invaded India, where he won many easy victories. In India, Alexander was hard wounded, the soldiers were exhausted by endless transitions and battles, and in 325 BC the king returned to Babylon to rest, heal and make new plans for conquering the world, this time North Africa. But in 323 BC he died unexpectedly in almost thirty-three years old. And here riddles begin.
According to one version, he drank poison, thereby making an ancient ritual according to which the greatest of people should die at the zenith glory. This seems somewhat dubious, but poison it really could. Roman historians noticed that in the return trip from India to Babylon Alexander fainted on whole day, suffered from physical impotence and loss of voice, which reminds poisoning by poison of slow action.
The historians Arrian, Diodorus and Plutarch wrote that Alexander was poisoned by secret order of the governor of Macedonia Antipater. Though, according to others, deep disappointment with the outcome of the trip to India, debauchery and unbridled drunkenness, aggravated by malaria, brought Alexander before perforation of a stomach ulcer.
Anyway, after the death of Alexander, the empire drowned in blood and tears. Companions of Alexander – the Diadochi – did not fight only for the throne, but also for the right to own the king’s body: for two years it lay down where he died – in the sleeping quarters of the palace, embalmed by priests discharged from Egypt. It was obvious, that one of the dyadohs in whose country the tomb will be erected Alexandra, will become the owner of the symbol, meaning a special status the main heir.
Ptolemy first realized this, and reminded everyone that Alexander bequeathed to bury himself in Egypt, in the oasis of Siwa (wrote about this and biographer of Alexander the Great Kalsinias). Warlord Perdika promised Alexander to do this, but decided to take the king’s body to Macedonia, to the homeland of Alexander. In accordance with the last will the deceased Greek engineer Philip designed a grand a chariot in which 64 mules were harnessed. On the chariot was installed a marble sarcophagus, on the golden cover of which lay king’s weapons and shield of Troy. On top was a canopy similar to the vault of heaven resting on ivory columns and adorned with precious stones. Ahead of the funeral procession detachments of builders and diggers moved, which aligned old and built new roads, strengthened bridges, because the procession accompanied by thousands of horsemen, phalanx of foot soldiers, chariots and wagon carts, as well as Indian elephants.
But the idea of Perdica failed – Ptolemy, having met in 321 BC AD a chariot in Damascus, took the sarcophagus to his possessions in Memphis, and two years later he transferred him to Alexandria, buried in the underground the tomb.
The grave becomes a place of mass pilgrimage, due to why Alexandria is experiencing an unprecedented flowering. Three centuries later Roman emperor Augustus during the capture of Alexandria “examined the body Great Alexander, whose coffin was carried out of the sanctuary: as a sign worship he laid a crown of gold on him and strewn his body flowers, “writes Suetonius. He also writes that he has been there and Caligula (37-41 AD), who “sometimes wore a shell Alexander the Great, mined from his tomb. “Septimius Severus (193-211 AD) – a soldier emperor, ordered to immure sacred tomb, and since then it is not known where she is is.
True, according to one version, this place is known. According to Kiev archimandrite Konstantin, who tried in 1803 to find the grave of Alexander, until the XV century. her location was not a secret.
In 1850 a message appeared that the translator was from Russian Consulate in Cairo, Greek Skilitsis, penetrated the basement of the Nabi Mosque Daniel (Prophet Daniel) in Alexandria. He went down into a narrow and a dark underground passage and discovered a decrepit wooden door. Looking into the cracks, he saw the body in a glass coffin. On the head there was a golden diadem. Around – scattered papyrus scrolls. is he wanted to stay longer in the vault, but was kicked out by one of ministers of the mosque, and despite his repeated attempts to return, he was forbidden to visit the crypt. Skilitsis obviously made a written report to the Russian consul and the Greek patriarch Alexandria. (Curiously, the story of the prophet Daniel is very strong recalls the story of Alexander the Great, only slightly biased in time.)
There is also a written report by Mahmoud Bey El Falaki. This Egyptian astronomer and engineer visited crypts near Nabi Mosque Daniel in 1865. His task was to map the ancient cities. In a report, El Falaki reports: “During my visit vaults under the mosque I entered a large room with an arched roof on the ground level of the city. Inclined from this room corridors in four directions. Due to their length and poor condition I could not consider them completely. Great quality stones, used in construction, and many other signs confirmed my belief that these underground passages must have led to the tomb of Alexander the Great. So I came back to resume my research, but unfortunately it was me prohibited”.
In 1879, masons ordered masonry by sheikh mosque in the basement and reached an inclined underground passage. They passed some distance and monuments made of granite. When they wanted to go further, the sheikh ordered them come back and not talk about what he saw (it seems that the masons still not very diligently kept the secret).
Professor of Cairo Islamic University Abdel Aziz in 1990 Mr. also stated that, according to his calculations, the coffin with the body of Alexander hidden under the ruins of the Nibi Daniel mosque. This mosque is located in area of the modern street of the prophet Daniel, at the intersection with Avenue Gamal Abdel Nasser in the city center, planned yet renowned architect Dinocrates. Many modern researchers believe that the mosque of the Prophet Daniel is built on place of the mausoleum of Alexander. Some early Arab historians reported that they themselves visited the tomb of Alexander and prayed in his mosque, to which Muslims attributed a special holiness.
So, there is a mosque, a version of the burial is also there, but … The mosque has long been in a dilapidated state, but for the Egyptian Muslims she is sacred. To investigate, you need permission local clergy, which is almost impossible to get, so that historians have to wait.
According to another version, the grave of Macedon went under water. Last archaeological surveys in Alexandria indicate that some parts of the ancient city actually went under water. Quite it is possible that the part where the tomb was also gone under the water. Indeed, remnants are now found in the sea off the coast of Alexandria ancient structures. In 1996, when carrying out work in the area abandoned east port french archaeologists in a small at the bay near Cape Abukir discovered coins, jewelry, whose age exceeds 2.5 thousand years, and two granite statues, one of which is Isis. Now these statues are in park, broken around the column of Pompey. Among other things, there were several sarcophagi found. This suggests that the main part of the royal residence is located exactly in the place therefore, for excavation, it is necessary to drain the bay. Without it the hypothesis cannot be verified in the foreseeable future.
The next version refers us to the biographer Calsinias, who voiced the command of Alexander to be buried in Siwa. Greek Athens archaeologist Liana Suvalidis decided to check this version in 1989 began to excavate in Siwa, in ancient times called Santaria. A year later, under the foundation of the temple of Amun, she discovered a secret passage stretching for 40 m. Archaeologists have unearthed a room, resembling a crypt with dimensions of 30 x 7 m, and in it are small chambers, closed by powerful granite slabs. Such a large complex is not found neither in Greece, nor in Macedonia, nor in Egypt. According to the conclusion experts, the buildings and murals of the complex are not characteristic of the ancient Egyptian culture but have a lot to do with decoration Macedonian tombs. But in the crypt found only fragments of alabaster sarcophagus made outside of Egypt, a bas-relief with an eight-pointed star – a personal symbol of Alexander, and three stone slabs with inscriptions in ancient Greek.
The inscription on the main plate reads: “Alexander, Amon-Ra. In the name of venerable Alexander I make these sacrifices as directed by God and I bring here a body that is as light as the smallest shield, while I am the lord of Egypt. It was i the bearer of his secrets and the executor of his orders, I was honest by attitude to him and to all people. And since I’m the last one else survived, here I declare that I performed everything aforementioned for his sake. “This inscription dates approximately 290 BC, and the author of the text is Alexander’s closest associate Macedonian Ptolemy Lag, whom the great Macedonian bequeathed transfer your remains to Siwa.
The inscription on the second plate says: “The first and unique among all who drank poison, not doubting for a moment. ” Macedonians, as we recall, was a custom: when a person reached peaks and wanted to leave his name to contemporaries and descendants in zenith of glory, he took poison.
The inscription on the third reads: “400 thousand live in this area people, 100 thousand of them serve in the army, and 30 thousand soldiers guard the tomb. “So many guards speak of the significance of the person buried in Siwa.
Then, however, it turned out that the translation was not entirely accurate. IN in any case, the mummy of Alexander and the golden sarcophagus were not found, and, according to Liana, “only further excavations will give an answer to exciting question: did Alexander’s mummy remain in one of the closed premises? “. But the Egyptian officials for some reason expressed incomprehensible dissatisfaction and tore the contract. The mystery remained unsolved.
The next version is Babylonian, based on Persian traditions. According to her, Alexander was buried in Babylon, and the sarcophagus with with skillful fake they brought to Alexandria. She basically has the right to exist. On the one hand, from political considerations the tomb was needed in Alexandria, and on the other hand, Ptolemy could not break the oath given to the king to bury him in Siwa. It can be assumed that in thirty years a copy was made sarcophagus of Alexander, and there was placed a dummy of the mummy of the king. This copy was left in Alexandria, and the original sarcophagus along with genuine remains was brought to Siwa and buried there in according to the order of the king. Thus, Ptolemy allowed this, a seemingly insoluble problem, about which he himself says: “I was honest with him (to Alexander – OB) and to all people, and since I am the last who is still alive (i.e. none of personally knowing the king could not blame him, that in Alexandria lies dummy – O.B.), here I declare that I performed all of the above (that is, he replaced the body with a fake – OB) for his sake. ”
Most likely, the last two versions appeared due to the fact that the commander Perdika wanted to take the king’s body to Macedonia and even rushed in pursuit of the sarcophagus, but Ptolemy prevented him, then whether capturing the real body of the king in Damascus, or carrying in the sarcophagus a fake, and the body from Babylon secretly transported to Memphis, and then already in To Alexandria.
Upon careful consideration of versions regarding Siwa and Alexandria shows that they are in apparent contradiction. With one hand, the tomb of Alexander was in Alexandria in 30 BC AD, which is confirmed by Suetonius, and on the other hand, the inscription on the main plate in Siwa (290 BC) indicates that Ptolemy complied with the king’s order to bury his remains in Siwa. Something is wrong here! How can these two versions be combined?
There is, however, also the Macedonian version. According to the Macedonian legend, the Macedonians somehow stole the remains of Alexander (from where they stole it – not specified), replaced them with a Greek corpse a mercenary from Sparta, and the coffin was taken to Aigi, the ancient capital Macedonia, and according to custom, they burned the body at a large fire. It turns out that there’s neither a tomb, nor a grave at all. Agree that version some wretched.
However, there were researchers who examined it under another – a very unexpected – angle. Perhaps later in the board descendants of Ptolemy Lag, due to the increased threat of the capture of Egypt the Romans, the coffin with the remains of Alexander was actually moved from Egypt to Macedonia and there is secretly buried. What is this based on? assumption? To the message of Krasimira Stoyanova, niece Bulgarian clairvoyant Vanga. In The Truth About Wang, she writes: “Once a man came to my mother in Rulit and asked me to persuade Wang take it. He showed mom a crumpled piece of paper with written, or rather, very clumsily rewritten in ten rows characters similar to hieroglyphs. On top of the sheet were scribbles, as if a child had crossed them out. The man said it was old map. Our uninvited guest decided that only Vanga will be able to decipher map and indicate where a huge treasure is buried. Mom explained to the guest that I studied hieroglyphs and maybe I can decipher the mysterious letters. … I looked at the crumpled piece of paper that he told me filed. Where exactly! How do I decipher the text if my knowledge of Arabic and old Turkish hieroglyphic writing are rather scarce? Not no for me this is a gibberish letter, I thought. Although many signs were like Arabic letters, but among them there were quite incomprehensible, reminiscent of small geometric shapes. The guest is gone and my mother and I went shopping in Petrich. When we returned Vanga called me … and said she heard what we talked about treasure hunter. She was silent for a while, being in thoughtfulness, and suddenly she spoke confidently and loudly: “After all, far from stupidity. This is an important document, but not on Senka hat – this text is too tough, no one can read it Today. Both the text and the map have been copied more than once: from generation to For generations, people are trying to discover the secret of the text. But decrypt it no one can. But this document is not about secret treasures, but about ancient writing, still unknown to the world. The same hieroglyphs are inscribed on the inside of the stone coffin, hidden deep in the earth thousands of years ago. And even if by chance find the sarcophagus, they will not be able to read the letters. There are so many interesting – it tells the story of the world, as it was for thousands of years back how it will be in two thousand years. This sarcophagus hidden in our land by people who came from Egypt. It was like this: walking a caravan of camels, it was accompanied by warriors and their higher commanders, in addition, many slaves followed with them. Reaching our lands they stopped for a long rest, and one night the slaves began to dig deep hole. A mysterious load – a sarcophagus, and a pit was lowered into the pit quickly covered with earth. Those who performed the work were killed, all until one. Streams of innocent blood sprinkled this mystery, the mystery awaits of your time to be revealed, unraveled by people, a message millennia ago is priceless, it belongs to humanity. ”
After some time, Wanga and I again started talking about the map and hidden “treasure”. I got the impression that she herself surprised at the words he pronounces: “Today, the most learned of scientists and professors from professors will not decrypt the map and will not find sarcophagus. No time has come. I see mountains, this place is in the mountains … ”
Vanga lived in Rulit near Petrich, which is only a hundred kilometers from Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. Therefore the third the version has good reasons: the proposed transfer sarcophagus of Alexander from Egypt both in time (two thousand years), so and locally coincides with the events described by Wang. So that’s it it’s up to archaeologists. But, unfortunately, modern science is rarely hears the words of clairvoyants, even those respected as Wang, the more so said not personally by her with witnesses, but transmitted through second hands, albeit related.
There is also an Indian version. Last century in the diaries of English travelers of the beginning of the XIX century. Indian traditions were discovered, relating to the campaign of Alexander the Great (used them in his book “Razor Blade” writer Ivan Efremov). In one the legend says that the Indian priests of a certain temple offered Alexander pass the test. If he passes the test, his recognize the ruler of the world. Alexander needed to put on head crown, the top of which was decorated with a large transparent a gem placed right at the crown of the head. At noon on a stone falls a ray of sunshine, it concentrates, passes through stone, penetrates the brain and reaches the pineal gland (third eye, as it is sometimes called). If a simple man puts on a crown, do not of divine origin, no one guarantees the result: in at best, loss of memory; at worst, death. If the crown puts on a person with an origin like Alexander’s, then he’s several superpowers appear at once: insight, clairvoyance, the ability to get in touch with deities, etc.
Alexander naturally agreed, but during the test immediately I felt a sharp pain in my head and went blind for several minutes. At he had a fever, and the commander died within the walls of the temple. The embalmed body of Alexander was secretly sent to the foothills Pamir. In the cave, his body was placed in a sarcophagus, the entrance to it was closed thick sheets of copper and painted the color of stones, there it is still then rests. And another person, similar to Alexandra.
There are many dubious moments in this legend. Roman historians drew attention to the fact that on the return trip from India to Babylon Alexander lost consciousness for a whole day, suffered from physical impotence and loss of voice. On a stretcher when he was driven to Babylon, he tried to pronounce lines from the Iliad, which used to know by heart, but now got confused, fell into heavy oblivion. It is impossible for no one to guess that the wrong one is being taken from India Alexandra, but the real one is buried somewhere.
However, in Tajikistan in the Pamirs there are many places associated with Alexander: Sagdian rock and Iskander-Kul Lake 300 km from Nurek. This is not surprising, because departing from Egypt, the army of Macedon fell into impassable Sagdian mountains.
Another thing is surprising: according to the Tajik legend, Alexander left his army in the gorge of the Great Sphinx, and he left for some reason, to speak with the gods underground, into the kingdom of the dead. What gods did you mean? Are not the mysterious inhabitants of Shambhala which today excite the imagination of mystics and travelers? Maybe the priests in Siwa gave him precise instructions on this subject, and Did he know what he was looking for? Alexander returned completely different by: according to legend, he climbed from the bottom of Iskander-Kul Lake a large transparent ball, and since then the lake bears his name.
The Great Sphinx Gorge is also not fiction, it is destroyed most recently, after the construction of the Nurek hydroelectric station. Scientist with the world named, hydraulic engineer K.Yu. Sevenard recalled that in childhood he saw a giant image of the sphinx knocked out on one of the rocks near foot of the mountain “Fifth step”. In length, the image was about 200 m, and about 70 m high. At the front legs of the Sphinx, the entrance to the cave.
Sevenard’s father was the head of construction at that time Nurek hydroelectric station and sent a group of climbers to explore the sphinx and the cave. They unequivocally concluded that both the cave and the drawing Sphinx of artificial origin. The cave was a the beginning of a hundred-meter smooth tunnel, which ended with a wall, made of a material other than the wall. Near the entrance to the cave the sacred cinar grove began. Reported upstairs. In the end finally, at the highest state level it was accepted the decision to continue construction, and the Sphinx and the mysterious tunnel went under reservoir water. Could this tunnel have been looking for an end? indian legend?
And for an appetizer, so to speak, is the Azerbaijani version. In the poem Nizami Ganjavi “Iskandarname” tells a very interesting philosophical legend. Before his death, Alexander allegedly bequeathed, so that his body is carried on his hands in an open coffin until his fingers will not be compressed, and buried where they are compressed. And so acted: people walked with his body for days, but the king’s fingers didn’t compressed. Once the soldiers met an old man who became interested: who is deceased and why they don’t bury him. Learning about the will of Alexander, the old man took a handful of earth and laid Alexander in the open palm. IN that moment the deceased clenched his fingers. In this place he was buried. On the the question is why Alexander until then did not want to squeeze his fingers, old man answered that despite all his great conquests, he was not fed land … It remains only to understand where this happened …
The article was prepared according to the data of Kirill Butusov, Nikolai Nepomnyashchy and Olga Sudnikovich.
Vanga Water Time Egypt India Stones Mummies Caves Sarcophagi
