Scope: Alexander the Great began 300 years of Greek control of Egypt. We will trace his career so that we can better understand these final 300 years of Egyptian civilization. We examine three major stages in Alexander’s career: (1) Alexander as a young general, (2) Alexander as pharaoh, and (3) Alexander the Great, the legend.
Outline
I. Myth has it that Nectanebo II, the last native-born ruler of Egypt, may have been Alexander’s father. But Alexander was clearly Macedonian—a Greek. Alexander began his legacy as a general.
A. Philip II, Alexander’s father, was assassinated (336 BC), and Alexander took control of the Macedonian army. He was loved by the soldiers, who would follow him anywhere.
B. Twenty-year-old Alexander continued his father’s fight against the Persians and defeated Darius III at Issus (333 BC).
C. With the Persians defeated, Alexander entered Egypt as a liberator. Napoleon would later follow in his footsteps.
II. Alexander, who admired Egyptian culture, as did all Greeks, entered the country with different motives than most foreigners. He wanted to become the pharaoh, a “god.”
A. He undertook the dangerous journey to the distant Siwa Oasis, near the Libyan border, to consult the oracle of the temple of Amun.
1. Oracles in the ancient world were taken very seriously, and Alexander needed the oracle’s approval to become king. The priest of the temple was said to be clairvoyant.
2. Alexander asked the oracle one question: “Who was my father?” The answer: “The sun.” Thus, the oracle obligingly told Alexander that he was the “son of the sun.”
3. According to tradition, Alexander and his men became lost in the desert on the way to Siwa. Legend has it that the dying men were led to the oasis by crows.
4. The temple of the oracle was high on a hill. We don’t know what he saw there when he posed his question, but he probably wasn’t permitted to enter the holy inner sanctum.
B. Alexander was crowned as pharaoh at Memphis and built a temple at Luxor.
C. He founded Alexandria with Dinocrates as the architect. Tradition says that they laid out the city streets on a grid to take advantage of Mediterranean breezes.
III. Alexander became Alexander the Great when he left Egypt soon thereafter, bent on further conquest.
A. The logistics of the Macedonian army were incredible.
1. Supplying food and water for 50,000 men dictated where and when they went.
2. When one left with Alexander, it was for a ten-year campaign!
B. Alexander went from Babylon to Susa to India and was never defeated. After his men refused to go on in India, the army began the long return. He sent back various specimens from his travels to his teacher, Aristotle.
IV. The death of Alexander (323 BC) led to turmoil.
A. He died of fever in Babylon while returning from India.
B. “To whom does the empire go?” was the question his men had asked of Alexander. His reply: “To the fittest.”
C. The kingdom was divided among generals; Ptolemy, later Ptolemy I, got Egypt.
D. Alexander’s body was preserved in spices for a year in Babylon while a gold catafalque was prepared.
E. The procession to Macedonia was led by mules with gold bells pulling the body, which had been preserved in white honey.
F. The body was hijacked in Syria by Ptolemy and brought to Egypt, where it remained in Memphis for years while the soma (tomb) was being prepared. For years, the body lay in state.
G. Finally Alexander was buried in Alexandria—and the search for his tomb goes on.
Essential Reading:
Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great.
Supplementary Reading:
Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander the Great.
Questions to Consider:
1. How was Alexander viewed by the Egyptians?
2. Why did Alexander go to the Siwa Oasis?