Though ancient authors such as Strabo, Leo Africanus, and others described the tomb, its location relative to the modern city remains a mystery. Over time the city’s foundations were buried and forgotten, along with the location of Alexander’s tomb. The city survived, building over its ancient portions and ballooning to a population of more than five million. (Sea level rise still threatens Alexandria today.)Īs the sea encroached to the north, the waters of the Nile Delta on which Alexandria is situated caused the ancient part of the city to slowly sink at a rate of up to 0.25 centimeters a year-as much as 12 feet since Alexander’s time. The disaster marked the start of a long era of earthquakes and rising sea levels. In 356 A.D., a tsunami inundated the city. There, his tomb was visited and venerated like the temple of a god.īut Alexandria and its founder’s tomb were under threat-not from invading forces, but from nature. His remains did not rest easy.Īfter being argued over by his advisers, Alexander’s body was buried first in Memphis, Egypt, then in the city that bears his name. Over the next 12 years the brilliant, ambitious Alexander toppled every rival empire in his path, including Persia and Egypt, where he declared himself pharaoh. Once the world’s most powerful leader, Alexander was just 20 years old when he became king of Macedonia following the assassination of his father, Philip II, in 336 B.C.

Secrets of the lost tomb review