Prompt Cast
The Mystery of Alexander the Great's Disappearing Tomb
TLDR After Alexander the Great's death, his body was intercepted by one of his generals, Ptolemy, who took it to Egypt and established the Ptolemaic dynasty. The tomb of Alexander the Great has remained a mystery for centuries, with conflicting reports about its location, including a theory that his remains may be in Venice.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
This episode explores the disappearance of Alexander the Great's body and tomb after his death.
02:12
Alexander the Great died at the age of 32 without a clear plan for succession, leaving his empire in a state of uncertainty.
03:59
The body of Alexander the Great was embalmed and placed in a gold sarcophagus, but instead of being buried in Macedonia as he requested, it was intercepted by one of his generals, Ptolemy, who intended to take Egypt and saw possessing the body as a power move.
05:46
Ptolemy took Alexander's body and his gold sarcophagus to the city of Memphis in Egypt, where he established the Ptolemaic dynasty and eventually moved the body to Alexandria, where a special mausoleum was built for Alexander and became the center of the cult of Alexander and the entire Ptolemaic dynasty.
07:25
The gold sarcophagus containing Alexander's body was melted down for coins and replaced with a glass sarcophagus, which was highly valued during that time period; the tomb of Alexander the Great became a popular destination for various historical figures, including Julius Caesar and Augustus, and there are conflicting reports about its disappearance in later centuries.
09:14
The tomb of Alexander the Great has been a mystery for centuries, with over 140 possible locations identified in Alexandria and conflicting claims that it may be in Macedonia or Egypt, but historical reports of people seeing and touching his physical corpse in Alexandria suggest otherwise.
11:04
The theory that the tomb of Alexander the Great is in Venice, Italy suggests that his remains may be one of the two bodies found in St. Mark's Cathedral, but no scientific testing has been done to confirm this.
