Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Egypt, the land of pyramids,

and the Valley of the Kings, grand tombs for great pharaohs.

Hundreds of royal mummies are discovered here,

but the body of one iconic ruler is missing --

Alexander the Great, conqueror of ancient Egypt.

Alexander the Great is a name who rings through history.

NARRATOR: One of the world's most successful

military commanders.

military commanders.

Worshipped as a god.

NARRATOR: Now, explorers are on a mission...

Wow.

...to find the lost tomb of Alexander.

Where is Alexander buried?

What does his tomb look like?

And how was he lost to history?

ARTO: Finding his tomb would be one of

the most incredible and earth-shattering

archeological discoveries ever.

NARRATOR: To solve these mysteries,

we unearth millennia-old tombs,

we blow apart ancient structures,

digitally reconstruct Alexander's lost tomb

and his magnificent mausoleum

to investigate one of history's most

enduring mysteries,

the hunt for the lost tomb of Alexander the Great.

Alexandria, Egypt,

founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE.

He is one of the most celebrated names in all history

and wages one of the most

successful military campaigns of all time.

He had both the charisma to command his troops

while at the same time being a master military tactician.

while at the same time being a master military tactician.

NARRATOR: By the age of 20, Alexander conquers all

of Greece.

Then he invades Egypt and becomes a pharaoh.

At 30, he is king of Persia,

ruling the largest empire in the world.

Egyptologist Arto Belekdanian

is fascinated by Alexander the Great

and his military prowess.

and his military prowess.

ARTO: This map shows the conquests of Alexander

the Great -- from his home in Macedonia in 334 BC,

he sets out on his epic struggle against

the Persians, and he defeats all in his way.

NARRATOR: But Alexander's success is short-lived.

He is cut down in his prime, aged just 32.

There are several conflicting reports, but most sources agree

that there was a long period of high fever.

that there was a long period of high fever.

NARRATOR: Alexander is one of the most

powerful men who ever lives.

He is worthy of a magnificent burial.

According to legend, when Alexander dies,

his embalmers preserve his body in honey.

They dress him in his military outfit

before encasing his corpse in a golden coffin.

before encasing his corpse in a golden coffin.

The gold is later replaced with glass.

He is sealed in a stone sarcophagus.

Where is this great conqueror's final resting place?

And what does his tomb look like?

ARTO: The location of the tomb of Alexander

ARTO: The location of the tomb of Alexander

the Great is one of archaeology's absolute

greatest mysteries.

People have been hunting for it for centuries.

NARRATOR: Alexander dies in Babylon,

the most spectacular city of the ancient world.

Priests embalm his body.

Then his generals begin the long journey to

take Alexander back to his homeland in Macedonia.

But during the journey, they run into trouble.

One of the best sources describing

One of the best sources describing

what happened comes from the Parian marble.

NARRATOR: The Parian marble is a chronological list of

ancient events.

It is carved by the ancient Greeks

around 60 years after Alexander dies.

ARTO: And it reads,

Alexander was laid to rest in Memphis,

not in Macedonia.

NARRATOR: After attending a banquet in Babylon in 323 BCE,

NARRATOR: After attending a banquet in Babylon in 323 BCE,

Alexander the Great falls ill and dies.

Two years later, his perfectly preserved body leaves Babylon

in a majestic funerary procession

to return to Macedonia.

But Alexander's closest general, Ptolemy,

diverts the convoy to Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt.

Ptolemy follows a Macedonian custom

Ptolemy follows a Macedonian custom

of burying his predecessor so that

he can assert his own right to the throne.

Arto heads to Saqqara, the necropolis

of Memphis, in search of Alexander's tomb.

Here, we have tombs dating back

to the very dawn of Egyptian history.

NARRATOR: Saqqara is where the ancient Egyptians build

NARRATOR: Saqqara is where the ancient Egyptians build

the very first pyramid,

the revolutionary step pyramid of Djoser.

This necropolis is a fitting place

for any pharaoh to be buried.

Arto starts his search in the cemetery of

the 30th Dynasty.

It is in use just before Alexander

takes control of Egypt.

This site is first excavated in 1850

by French archaeologist, Auguste Mariette.

Beneath the sand,

Mariette finds an avenue lined with statues of sphinxes

that leads to the ruins of an Egyptian temple,

one of the last to be built before Alexander conquers Egypt.

On the southern side, he discovers a chamber

just the right size for a pharaoh's sarcophagus.

Guarding the entrance of the temple,

Guarding the entrance of the temple,

an unusual semi-circle of 12 statues,

not of Egyptian gods but of Greek philosophers.

Could this be the tomb of Alexander the Great?

Wow.

Look at that.

So here are the statues, the statues of the philosophers,

the writers.

NARRATOR: The statues show signs of erosion

from long exposure to the elements.

But Arto can make out some key details.

ARTO: We can instantly tell that they're

done in the Greek classical Hellenistic tradition.

The pose, the dress, everything --

that is decidedly not Egyptian.

NARRATOR: The statues have been dated to around 300 BCE,

shortly after Alexander is laid to rest.

Arto believes the identity of the statues is

a clue that Alexander could be buried here.

a clue that Alexander could be buried here.

We've got Homer, Plato,

Pindar,

and then Demetrius,

the leading philosopher at the time of Ptolemy.

Alexander the Great definitely would have been familiar

with at least some of these people here,

and he received an excellent education.

NARRATOR: The statues of Alexander's revered

Greek philosophers is

persuasive evidence that this could be his tomb.

persuasive evidence that this could be his tomb.

But there is one discrepancy.

This tomb is distinctly Egyptian in style.

Arto turns to Auguste Marriott's photos

from his excavations to understand why,

and he finds something intriguing

ARTO: It shows a king in the company of a goddess.

We've got hieroglyphic inscriptions, including,

best of all, cartouches,

allowing us to identify who this king is.

allowing us to identify who this king is.

And it's Nectanebo II.

NARRATOR: The tomb is originally built for Nectanebo II,

the last native Egyptian pharaoh before Alexander,

but he never uses it.

There it was, a royal monument

befitting a pharaoh, just not being used.

And it is entirely possible that Ptolemy used it

for Alexander.

for Alexander.

NARRATOR: But contemporary accounts reveal that

Alexander's body doesn't stay in Memphis for long.

ARTO: Ancient sources tell us that the body

of Alexander the Great was moved from Memphis

to Alexandria.

NARRATOR: In 305 BCE, Ptolemy becomes pharaoh

and moves the capital of Egypt from Memphis to Alexandria.

His successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, removes

His successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, removes

the body of Alexander from Memphis

so that it can be buried in the new capital.

It's possible Philadelphus uses

the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II

to transport the great conqueror to Alexandria,

before laying his body to rest in

a grand Macedonian tomb at the heart of the city.

Finding his tomb would be one of

the most incredible and earth-shattering archeological

discoveries ever.

NARRATOR: Is Alexander the Great's

ultimate tomb in Alexandria?

Can a monumental structure on

the city's outskirts reveal clues?

NARRATOR: Alexandria,

the jewel of Egypt,

named after its founder, Alexander the Great,

the Macedonian warrior king who becomes pharaoh.

Arto Belekdanian

is on the hunt for Alexander's tomb in Egypt's

ancient capital.

ARTO: Ancient sources tell us that the body

ARTO: Ancient sources tell us that the body

of Alexander the Great was moved

from Memphis to Alexandria and buried somewhere

in the city.

NARRATOR: He starts his mission at a mysterious

white alabaster tomb on the edge of Alexandria.

ARTO: This tomb was excavated in 1907,

and it is believed to date to the very dawn

of the Ptolemaic Period.

So we're talking Ptolemy I, Ptolemy II, during whose reigns

is when the body of Alexander was moved from Memphis

is when the body of Alexander was moved from Memphis

to Alexandria.

NARRATOR: In its original form,

this large alabaster doorway lies under a mound of earth,

a typical feature of a Macedonian tomb.

The entrance leads to a burial

chamber for an important Macedonian figure.

Could this be Alexander's last resting place?

The burial chamber is lost to history.

So Arto starts his investigation

in the entrance chamber.

ARTO: Just looking at this monument, you can tell that this

belongs to someone immensely influential.

I mean, first of all, just the simple size of it,

and the fact that it's made

and the fact that it's made

of this beautiful alabaster and monolithic,

massive blocks of it, as well.

To get alabaster of this quality was a vast expense,

something that only royalty could afford.

NARRATOR: Arto compares the structure to

the entrance of Alexander's father's tomb ,

which is unearthed in northern Greece.

We can tell that these are done in the same tradition.

We can tell that these are done in the same tradition.

They are remarkably similar.

So we've got this doorway,

a facade, that leads into the chambers inside,

and it's all under a mound.

NARRATOR: The entrance has the same layout as Alexander's

father's tomb.

And Arto believes it looks identical on the outside, too.

This was not meant to be seen.

This would have been underground, under the tumulus,

the hill.

the hill.

NARRATOR: Arto pieces together the clues.

ARTO: What we have here is a lavish tomb

that is done in a purely Greco-Macedonian style,

and it dates to very early on in the Ptolemaic period,

so Ptolemy I, Ptolemy II.

What that means is

this is a very strong contender for

the tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria.

the tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria.

NARRATOR: But when archeologists search

for the larger burial chamber

that should connect to the entrance chamber,

they find nothing.

Instead, they discover a surprising feature.

Less than three feet from the structure,

experts unearth a well, built more

than 600 years after Alexander's death.

What does it reveal about the origin of the tomb?

ARTO: The fact that the alabaster tomb is

ARTO: The fact that the alabaster tomb is

right here above the well that is supposedly much

later in date has led some to argue that the alabaster tomb

is not sitting in its original location,

but rather that it was moved here.

NARRATOR: The evidence suggests the tomb is moved from

the city center to where it stands now.

This aligns remarkably with historical sources, which state

that Alexander's first tomb

that Alexander's first tomb

is only temporary before he is moved to something more lavish.

What this means is the alabaster tomb may very well

be the first tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria.

NARRATOR: Alexander views himself as a god

and son of the almighty Greek deity, Zeus.

His successors promote his God-King image in

His successors promote his God-King image in

a cult to legitimize their own divine rule over Egypt.

To strengthen the dynastic cult, Ptolemy IV Philopator

removes Alexander from

his tomb to place him in a new royal monument called the Soma.

This grand edifice not only contains the body of Alexander

but also the ashes of the three first Ptolemaic kings.

This was a very clever PR move.

By doing so, Ptolemy IV forged a link in

the public mind between Alexander the Great

and his dynasty,

thus having the divinity of Alexander the Great

reflect onto his own dynasty.

NARRATOR: Even in death,

Alexander wields significant power.

Ptolemy IV uses this connection

to the iconic ruler to his advantage.

to the iconic ruler to his advantage.

Where is the Soma, the final resting place of Alexander?

Could clues in an ancient map

reveal the location of Alexander's last mausoleum,

a structure so grand, it could

even rival one of the Seven Wonders?

NARRATOR: Alexander the Great is buried in two temporary tombs

before he is finally laid to rest in a grand mausoleum,

the Soma, in the center of his capital city, Alexandria.

But its location is lost from the history books.

Archaeologist Alicia Johnson joins the search.

When you're on the hunt for Alexander the Great,

When you're on the hunt for Alexander the Great,

you have to think like a detective, you have to dig

through the pitfalls.

But in the end, it's exciting, because

we are in the search of a legend.

NARRATOR: Alicia believes that the lavish

Soma lies somewhere beneath modern Alexandria.

She begins her search at Qaitbay Citadel,

a 15th century CE fort located by Alexandria's

great harbor.

It gives her a spectacular view across the ancient city.

It gives her a spectacular view across the ancient city.

Alexandria is the largest city in antiquity.

Ancient texts describe the great monuments

spread across the capital,

temples dedicated to Greek and Egyptian gods,

vast palaces, a famed library.

and a majestic lighthouse over the harbor.

and a majestic lighthouse over the harbor.

Ptolemy IV reburies Alexander in

a grand mausoleum somewhere in the city,

but the ancient city is all buried beneath

modern Alexandria.

Where is Alexander buried?

The first clue comes from Roman

poet Lucan, who describes the Soma.

"Though you preserve Alexander in the consecrated grotto,

"and the ashes of the kings rest beneath a loftily

"and the ashes of the kings rest beneath a loftily

"constructed edifice,

"though the dead Ptolemies and their unworthy

"dynasty are covered by indignant pyramids

and mausoleums..."

NARRATOR: This could mean Alexander's mausoleum has

a triangular or pyramid-shaped roof.

And the clue ties in with an intriguing

inscription left behind by a Roman trader,

Julius Philosyrius.

As a trader, he more than most likely

would have visited Alexandria,

would have visited Alexandria,

and on his sarcophagus,

there's quite an interesting inscription

in regards to the possible location of

Alexander the Great.

NARRATOR: The sarcophagus shows a harbor scene

with a lighthouse on the right -- on the left,

a structure that resembles the royal palace,

and in between the two, a tall building with

a triangular-shaped roof, just as the Soma is described

by Lucan.

Alicia wants to narrow down the tomb's location

Alicia wants to narrow down the tomb's location

by comparing the inscription on the sarcophagus to the known

location of ancient landmarks.

We are at the modern day Qaitbay Citadel, which is

the location for where the ancient lighthouse of

Alexandria was constructed.

NARRATOR: The lighthouse of Alexandria is

a marvel of engineering,

one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

It stands up to 360 feet and dominates the skyline

It stands up to 360 feet and dominates the skyline

of Alexandria.

Alicia has identified the first clue.

The Soma must lie between here and the royal palace.

She examines further written references.

ALICIA: A final clue comes from the ancient Greek

author, Zenobius.

He claimed that the Soma was in

the center of the heart of Alexandria.

And while it's not exactly very specific,

And while it's not exactly very specific,

we can refer back to ancient maps to maybe be able to

consider where might Alexander have been buried?

NARRATOR: The clues lead Alicia to one of

the oldest roads that runs through modern Alexandria.

ALICIA: We're right near El Horreya, which is an ancient

road that has followed its way for thousands of years.

NARRATOR: El Horreya is the principal road of

the ancient city, running east to west through the center.

And it's really useful for me, because it allows me to be

able to orientate myself when evaluating and researching

ancient maps of the city.

NARRATOR: Alicia investigates a map drawn by Egyptian

cartographer, Mahmud Bey, in the late 1800s.

It's one of the most accurate maps we have

of ancient Alexandria.

Maps such as these help

us to be able to consider where might ancient sites be

found in modern day locations.

NARRATOR: Mahmud marks the junction of El Horreya

and a second unnamed road as the center of the ancient city.

The ancient crossroads must be somewhere along the El Horreya,

the main road that still runs through the heart of the city.

Legends say Alexander designs his city

by marking out the boundaries using barley flour.

Thousands of birds flock down to eat the flour.

Thousands of birds flock down to eat the flour.

But Alexander's prophet takes this as a good omen

that the city will provide for its people.

The city borders are said to take

the shape of a Macedonian military cloak, and inside,

the planners lay out streets in a series of grids.

At its heart, the two main roads intersect to

form the most prestigious crossroad of Alexandria.

Further up El Horreya,

Alicia stops at a large crossroads.

ALICIA: The crossroads at the heart of the city of Alexandria.

Logically speaking, this might be

where Alexander the Great is buried.

NARRATOR: Today, very little of the ancient city survives.

But all the clues suggest Alexander's grand

But all the clues suggest Alexander's grand

mausoleum lies right here beneath this modern crossroads.

The Roman texts described the famous Soma

towering over the city for over 600 years.

But by 390 CE, this iconic monument

is never mentioned again.

It is wiped from history.

ALICIA: What happens to him is a mystery.

ALICIA: What happens to him is a mystery.

Where had Alexander the Great gone?

NARRATOR: What happens to Alexander's grand mausoleum?

Could the discovery of 2,000-year-old ruins

reveal what it looks like?

NARRATOR: Alexander the Great, one of history's most

enigmatic figures.

He builds one of the greatest empires the world has

ever seen,

and at the age of just 32, he dies.

He is buried in a grand mausoleum in Alexandria,

where his tomb,

the Soma, vanishes from history.

What it looks like has been a mystery

for thousands of years.

Investigator Andrew Chugg

is at the British Museum in search

of clues to the design of Alexander's mausoleum.

He begins his investigation at statues found at

the ruins of one of the wonders

of the ancient world,

the mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

ANDREW: Here's a horse from a tomb at Halicarnassus.

ANDREW: Here's a horse from a tomb at Halicarnassus.

To give you an idea of the scale of this tomb,

this is one of four horses that stood

at the apex of its stepped pyramidal roof.

NARRATOR: Andrew believes there is a connection

between the mausoleum and Alexander's own tomb.

The clue again comes from the Roman poet, Lucan.

ANDREW: The interesting point here is that the poet Lucan,

in describing Alexander's tomb in Alexandria, also calls it

specifically a mausoleum.

specifically a mausoleum.

So he's drawing a link between Alexander's tomb

in Alexandria and the spectacular tomb

of Mausolus in Halicarnassus.

NARRATOR: The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus is a towering

monument, built just 25 years before Alexander dies,

built for King Mausolus the Greek Kingdom, Caria,

whose name gives us the word

mausoleum to describe a monumental tomb.

Can this monument unlock what Alexander's tomb looks like?

ANDREW: Here is a statue of King Mausolus

taken from his tomb,

the tomb that we call the Mausoleum.

It was indeed the very first mausoleum,

named after this king.

NARRATOR: Philip IV, the Greek pharaoh who

builds Alexander's tomb calls it a mausoleum.

The deliberate use of the specific new word

The deliberate use of the specific new word

suggests that the buildings look alike.

So Alexander's tomb is a grand, columned building,

which stands on top of

a great pedestal with a pyramidal-shaped roof.

ANDREW: Ptolemy Philopator

was building a mausoleum, not just for Alexander,

but also for his own ancestors.

He wanted to build a quintessentially

Greek monument

in Alexandria to celebrate them as Greek kings.

in Alexandria to celebrate them as Greek kings.

So that's probably why he chose to use the mausoleum

at Halicarnassus as his model.

NARRATOR: And there is strong evidence

Alexander saw the mausoleum at Halicarnassus for himself.

In 367 BCE,

King Mausolus rules part of

the eastern Mediterranean from his palace in Halicarnassus.

After a 24-year reign, Mausolus dies,

leaving his wife, Artemisia, heartbroken.

[sobbing noises]

Inspired by nearby monuments,

she builds her husband a grand tomb

that, over time, takes on his name,

the Mausoleum.

Seventeen years later, Alexander the Great

captures Halicarnassus.

The retreating Persians set fire to the city,

The retreating Persians set fire to the city,

but the great Mausoleum is spared.

Halicarnassus is destroyed in a series of earthquakes

in the Middle Ages.

But historical records talk of its spectacular height.

Ancient sources indicate that the mausoleum at Halicarnassus,

the original Mausoleum, was about 45 meters high.

We don't have a specific record of the height of

Alexander's tomb,

but I think we can imagine it must have been at least on

but I think we can imagine it must have been at least on

the same scale.

NARRATOR: Only the statues remain of

the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

But remarkably, the tomb that inspired it

is itself in the British Museum.

It is called the Nereid Monument.

It is extraordinarily well preserved,

so Andrew can examine its features close up.

ANDREW: It has bands of sculpture around its podium.

It has a roof supported on an array of columns.

It has a roof supported on an array of columns.

This is giving you a good idea of the kind of

style that you would expect to see in Alexander's tomb

in Alexandria.

NARRATOR: Piecing together the clues,

it is now possible to reconstruct

what Alexander's mausoleum may look like.

For centuries, Alexander the Great

lies in his glass coffin,

set within the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II

set within the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II

and is placed inside a giant mausoleum of Greek design,

the Soma.

According to ancient texts,

this monument stands at the heart of a sacred burial

ground for Ptolemaic kings

in the royal quarter of Alexandria,

a fitting final resting place for the great warrior king.

a fitting final resting place for the great warrior king.

ANDREW: This man had become a god.

Alexander's tomb would have been an absolutely

spectacular monument, probably greater

even than one of the Seven Wonders,

the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

NARRATOR: Alexander's mausoleum is one of the most spectacular

buildings in the ancient world

and becomes a place of holy pilgrimage for some of the most

important names in history.

ANDREW: A succession of notable Romans -- Julius Caesar,

Augustus Caesar, Hadrian.

Coming to worship at this shrine is the only place that

you could see a tomb of

an actual God in the Roman Empire.

NARRATOR: Alexander's tomb rivals the Seven Wonders

of the ancient world,

but it vanishes from history.

Could clues at an ancient temple in Alexandria

reveal its fate?

NARRATOR: Alicia Johnson is searching for clues

to why no trace of Alexander the Great's mausoleum,

the Soma, remains in modern Alexandria.

She heads to the ruins of the Serapeum,

an ancient temple in the center of the city.

ALICIA: While it might not look like

much right now, during the Ptolemaic time,

this was a fascinating and fabulous temple complex.

this was a fascinating and fabulous temple complex.

NARRATOR: In the west of the city, on a hill,

stands the most magnificent temple of Alexandria,

the Serapeum.

Inside, a statue of the Greek Egyptian hybrid god, Serapis,

promoted by Ptolemy I to unify his two peoples.

The cult of Serapis grows even stronger in the Roman era

The cult of Serapis grows even stronger in the Roman era

but comes to a violent end

when this temple is destroyed in 391 CE.

What can this lost temple

reveal about Alexander's missing tomb?

Alicia thinks the sphinxes at

the temple's entrance hold the answer.

They were created with love and attention to detail,

because these monuments weren't just statues.

because these monuments weren't just statues.

They were deities, they had power.

However, as you can see, a part of the sphinx is missing.

The nose was cut off in an attempt to remove the power

that was held within these monuments.

NARRATOR: Ancient Egyptians believe that the nose

is the source of the sculpture's power.

Cutting it off would cause the spirit inside to

stop breathing.

So to remove the power of one of these sphinxes by

So to remove the power of one of these sphinxes by

cutting off their nose was an attack on the ancient

Egyptian religion.

It was a deliberate act of vandalism.

NARRATOR: Alicia unearths evidence

of the identity of the vandal,

the man who could also be responsible for the ultimate

fate of Alexander.

ALICIA: So what we have here is

a manuscript that dates back to the fifth century.

But the figure that's featured in

the manuscript is a man named Theophilus.

Theophilus is the Christian patriarch of Alexandria

at the end of the 4th century CE.

at the end of the 4th century CE.

ALICIA: What we see here in this image

is the Theophilus standing on top

of a building that we can recognize as the Serapeum --

in his hand, holding the Christian Bible,

and stomping on the building.

It represents the complete destruction of the pagan

religion that pre-existed the incoming Christian ideology.

This image tells me that the Serapeum

was deliberately destroyed by competing religious forces.

was deliberately destroyed by competing religious forces.

NARRATOR: In 391 CE, Theophilus

orders Christians to mock pagan objects

in a parade through Alexandria.

A fight breaks out, but the Christians outnumber

the pagans and force them to seek refuge in the Serapeum.

Theophilus receives orders from Rome to pardon

the pagans and remove them from their hideout.

the pagans and remove them from their hideout.

Then, his soldiers and some monks destroy the Serapeum

and other pagan buildings.

This was an incredibly significant moment in

world history, the destruction of the Serapeum,

and it starts to mark the descent of

the pagan religion in the transition into the new

Christian religion.

Considering Alexander the Great was likely deified,

Considering Alexander the Great was likely deified,

it is not surprising that we can consider

the concept that maybe Alexander the Great's mausoleum

was destroyed

in addition to other pagan monuments.

NARRATOR: The triumph of Christianity

in the Roman Empire is devastating for pagan religions

across the ancient world.

The magnificent mausoleum of Alexander the Great

The magnificent mausoleum of Alexander the Great

and his tomb and mummified body are unlikely to

have survived the catastrophe.

Alexander's holy tomb may have

been destroyed by the Christians,

but clues suggest his body might have survived.

Can startling new evidence prove that

his body is swapped for someone else?

NARRATOR: Alexander the Great, one of

history's most celebrated military commanders.

He dies at the age of just 32

and is buried in a grand mausoleum,

which vanishes from history.

It's thought his body is lost with his tomb.

But historian Andrew Chugg has another theory.

It involves a surprising name from history,

It involves a surprising name from history,

Saint Mark.

ANDREW: Saint Mark is the author of the gospel

according to Saint Mark in the New Testament.

He then goes to Egypt, where he becomes the first patriarch

in Egypt, the founder of Christianity in Egypt.

NARRATOR: Conservator Ferdinando Forlati

excavates Saint Mark's tomb in Venice in the 1960s.

He did a series of excavations, and in the course of

He did a series of excavations, and in the course of

those excavations,

he discovers a huge block of what he initially thought was

Roman sculpture.

NARRATOR: The beautifully carved block depicts a lance

and a large shield with a star emblem in the center.

ANDREW: That's the emblem of Alexander's family.

We see that emblem on the funeral casket

of his father, Philip.

It's very much the emblem that we would expect to see on

It's very much the emblem that we would expect to see on

the shield of Alexander the Great.

NARRATOR: It's a clue that makes Andrew suspect the tomb

of Saint Mark could contain the lost body of Alexander.

And he has more evidence for this startling theory.

Saint Mark dies in Alexandria in 68 CE,

but his tomb is not mentioned in

ancient literature until centuries after his death.

This is around the same time

This is around the same time

Alexander disappears from the historical record.

And this coincidence extends to

the location of the tomb of Saint Mark.

ANDREW: There's a medieval map, which says that the body of

Saint Mark was discovered just inside the eastern gate of

the medieval city.

That's a highly significant location, because it

appears to have been the central crossroads.

NARRATOR: The central crossroads is where Alexander's

famous mausoleum is said to have been.

That means there's a coincidence in place

as well as the coincidence in time.

NARRATOR: The chance discovery of Saint Mark in

the location of Alexander's mausoleum happens at

a suspicious time.

it's just when the worship of non-Christian gods

is banned in Egypt and across the Roman Empire.

Andrew believes the body of Alexander

Andrew believes the body of Alexander

the Great is purposefully re-identified.

There are probably a couple of strong reasons

for relabeling the body of Alexander as Saint Mark.

The first of them is that he was a god

of the Greco-Roman pantheon,

and that was embarrassing when paganism had

just been made illegal.

The Christians also needed a great icon to be a focus for

the worship of Christianity in Alexandria,

and it seems they didn't have the body of Saint Mark,

and it seems they didn't have the body of Saint Mark,

because it had reputedly been burnt in the 1st century AD.

NARRATOR: Andrew suspects Alexander lies in

the tomb of Saint Mark for 300 years,

until he is taken to Venice in 828 CE,

and the Basilica di San Marco, where he lies to this day.

Experts still search for the lost tomb

of Alexander the Great.

It is one of history's most enduring mysteries.

He is buried first in Memphis before his body

is moved to the capital city of his empire, Alexandria.

He is later reburied in the Soma,

a mausoleum comparable in size and grandeur

to the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

to the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

Though his tomb vanishes from history,

his body may survive.