Alexander the Great’s Tomb

Nourhan Tarek

900113300

Spring 12’

RHET 201-27

Professor Michael Gibson

i-Search Paper

This is actually the final draft of my portfolio, thus by the end its format might change.

However I know that I want to put my paper in first place followed by the journals and the

Annotated Bibliography . And then the slideshow presentation it is a visual incarnation of the

information in the paper . then I will add any extra videos, papers, images I used. The course

201 was very interesting it wasn’t like I expected to be an other rhetoric class with rules to

memorize. It was rather an experience in discovering your own research mode and to evaluate it

as efficient or not .

Introduction :

It all started on our first class on a Wednesday,unless my memory tricks me. I thought to

myself “oh this must be another traditional rhetoric class” . But actually it wasn’t; Professor

Gibson introduced us to a new way of researching. A method that doesn’t rely on the result as

much as it does on the approach. I found that really interesting and a great opportunity for me to

investigate something I have always been intrigued about.

Furthermore, ever since I was 10 years old and I have been fascinated by history and

mysteries. Thus I grew up with a passion and interest towards one of archaeology’s greatest

mysteries : The location of Alexander the Great’s tomb. This topic has always allured me but I

never had the chance to really work upon it . Thus I found it to be a great opportunity to do my I

search paper about it. Especially that the approach used to find archaeological monuments is

always as vital as the result, which is similar to the paper’s purpose. I have to be realistic the

purpose of this paper isn’t to exactly find the tomb because I do not possess the experience nor

the professionalism to find the tomb literally. But I’d rather be able to collect enough data and

use my knowledge to be able to determine the country of the tomb.

Moreover, according to some speculations the tomb is believed to be in several countries.

However the strongest argument is that it is located in Egypt. Thus I chose the theory evolving

Egypt to be the center point of my research question for two reasons. Firstly, because I am

Egyptian and being in the country where my topic of interest is believed to be helps me

understand all the data I will found easier and be more critical of them as I know the place well.

Secondly, because of my previous knowledge about the tomb I am among the believers that it is

located in Egypt. However my paper will be very objective upon the results I will find on my

way.

The story of my search:

In the beginning, I went to the library and looked up some books. As a result I found my

primary source a book called Alexander's tomb : the two thousand year obsession to find the lost

conqueror by Nicholas J. Saunders. This book would later on help me find a lot of information in

a very easy and narrative way.

I had already some information in mind about Alexander’s tomb and his death. I knew he

died in Babylon and at some point was brought to Egypt. However I was completely clueless

about how the tomb got lost over the years. Thus it became very important to work on the

weakness in my knowledge that is the story of tomb itself. In order to do so I had in mind a

vague plan. My plan was to read my main resource the book by Nicholas Saunders and to search

for other researches made by archaeologists; in addition to get old maps of Egypt to help me

understand the geographical status back then. I would also filter my results and confirm them

with an interview with a professor from the history or Egyptology department.

So as the weeks went by I was on my plan, I was reading several books and articles and

surfing some websites. As I have expected this controversial topic had several information that

are different from one another. Thus I had to find a way to filter them and to make them valuable

to give me one sole answer. I thought about several ways like putting them all together, and

democratically choose the one idea that is supported by the most. However that had a flaw that is

some of the writers aren’t real archeologists. Consequently I decided I will first filter the

resources by the most valid authors and then I will compare the information of these latters in

order to get the facts most of them agree about. Thereby I made a plan for checking if the source

is bias or not.

Furthermore, I faced a problem that slowed down my research and forced me to repeat

my journals three times, my laptop got fried. To overcome such problem I had to balance my

work I started using my sister’s laptop and re-doing the journals as soon as possible so that I

wouldn’t forget what I have already written. I also took it as a chance to increase my reading of

Alexander’s tomb book. Thus I managed to move faster in the book that is the most important

resource for me.

Another problem I have faced was the interview. I firstly went to the history department

and asked if there are any professors who are interested in antiquity history. But unfortunately

there wasn’t any according to the lady there so I went on next to the Egyptology department. I

asked there about professors who would be interested in Ptolemaic times and Alexander the

Great. I was guided to a female professor whom I cant remember the name. I asked her for an

appointment and 5 days later I visited her. My visit wasn’t very prominent, she didn’t have any

information about the tomb and even thought I am doing a hopeless research about an illusion

that eluded many archaeologists for years. (it wasn’t motivational at all , however she told me

about another professor who would help me, the head of the department). So I went to the head

of the department and ironically she told me she doesn’t know much about the tomb and

consequently cant help me. However for my luck, the woman sitting next to her told me that

there is a certain professor called Professor Swanson who is interested in the tomb and might

help me , but I will have to wait till after the spring break as he was travelling abroad. I must

admit I was excited I finally found someone who won’t think I’m crazy and daydreaming. Ergo,

I waited till my break was over then I visited the professor in his office and took an appointment.

However, everything started crumbling and I got caught up in several midterms and I had to

manage my time with the professor, but unfortunately it didn’t work out and I couldn’t manage

to interview the professor. As a consequence I lost a vital resource I was counting on and I had to

find a substitute for I was going to use the interview as a validation to my information.

Thus my list of sources was :

Websites:

1- Bianchi , Robert. “ Hunting Alexander’s tomb”. Archaeology. The archeological institute of America. November 11 2004. Web . Accessed on the 10th of February 2012

2- Chugg , Andrew Michael “Alexander’s Tomb”,n.p ; 2005-2012. Web .The 10th of February 2012

3- Kosmetatou, Elizabeth “ in search of Alexander’s Tomb”. Greece. Hellenic Electronic Center, 1998. Web. The 10th of February 2012.

Books:

1- Saunders ,Nicholas J, Alexander's tomb : the two thousand year obsession to find the lost conqueror. American university in Cairo Press, 2006. Book.

2- Clarke , Edward Daniel. The tomb of Alexander: a dissertation on the sarcophagus brought from Alexandria and now in the British museum. Cambridge. 1805. Dissertation.

Documentaries:

1- Michael Wood in the footsteps of Alexander the Great. Dir: David Wallace. Perf: Michael Wood. BBC. 1998. Electronic Documentary.

What I found :

To begin with I have found a lot of information about Alexander’s death. So I had to

filter my results in order to get the one common thing they all say about his death. What I have

found is that all sources agree that he died in Babylon around the 10th of June 323 B.C.E.

However no resource could tell for sure the cause of death, the assumptions are Malaria, West

Nile Fever, Typhoid or that he was poisoned. Then all sources agree that from 323- 321 B.C

Alexander’s body was mummified and lay in state in Babylon while his Hearse was being

prepared. Only one resource was mostly helpful about the last previous statement and that is the

book Alexander’s tomb. As Saunders explained the story behind this year and the political

situation back then and the fight between Ptolemy and Perdiccas over the tomb. As having the

latter will legitimatize their reign on whichever part they took of the kingdom.

Annotated Bibliography and Journals:

Annotated Bibliography

Bianchi , Robert. “ Hunting Alexander’s tomb”. Archaeology. The

Archeological institute of America. November 11 2004. Web . Accessed on the

10th of February 2012

Robert Bianchi’s article presents several examples of individuals trying to find the tomb. The composition generally presents each research and states its consequences. The arguments represented believe that the tomb is in Egypt. The author doesn’t discuss any other possible countries in which the tomb might be found. This article is helpful as it gives a general idea about some excavations for the tomb, however its bias as it discusses only the tomb to be in Egypt. Furthermore, it has some negativities such as its lack of details about Alexander’s death. It is also the only source that says that Alexander want his body to be thrown in the river. I believe that it’s a good source to start my research with as it’s general image will guide me when discussing the matter of the tomb being in Egypt. It is also helpful because it has information about recent excavations and people hunting for the tomb. In addition it guided me to have further researches on some data it represented as my paper generally discusses the tomb’s existence in Egypt.

Chugg , Andrew Michael “Alexander’s Tomb”,n.p ; 2005-2012. Web .The 10 th

of February 2012

This website contains several information about Alexander’s life and his tomb. The author Andrew Micheal Chugg has written several books about Alexander and researched his tomb and even wrote about his journals. The website represents in a quasi general way some facts about the tomb. In addition, the website contains the most recent information about anything related to Alexander. Like for example: the possibility of discovering his son’s tomb in 2009.

This source is very helpful as it contains recent discoveries and it’s updated frequently. However the author doesn’t have a degree in archaeology or history which makes his words not very reliable because he isn’t a professional. Moreover this source confirms some facts I have already found about the tomb’s excavations and that’s good for my research as it proves the information from several sources.

Clarke , Edward Daniel. The tomb of Alexander: a dissertation on the

sarcophagus brought from Alexandria and now in the British museum.

Cambridge. 1805. Dissertation.

This dissertation discusses Edward Clarke’s discovery of the sarcophagus in Alexandria. The author and the whole world believed in early 1800s that this was Alexander’s tomb. However after the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs the sacraphagus belongs to king NecataneboII.

I used this source in a different way than the normal. To explain , this dissertation is about a tomb that belongs to another king however I have used the information in it to be able to draw a picture of Alexandria at that time so that in my own research I can have a better image of the city in the past before any urbanization that might have destroyed evidences about the tomb. It also helps me draw a general timeline of the several quests of the tomb.

Kosmetatou, Elizabeth “ In search of Alexander’s Tomb”. Greece. Hellenic

Electronic Center, 1998. Web. The 10th of February 2012.

This website discusses the assumptions and facts about the tomb to be located in the oasis of Siwa in Egypt. The professor Elizabeth Kosmetatou is a history teacher who have been interested in Alexander and the Hellenic studies. Her detailed quest for the tomb in Siwa is one of the most recent researches for the tomb.

This source is very helpful for me as it explains in details the quest for the tomb in Siwa. In addition that it is one of the most recent researches for the tomb thus the author is updated with all the past discoveries. It is also very interesting for my paper as I discuss the existence of the tomb in Egypt.

Michael Wood in the footsteps of Alexander the Great. Dir: David Wallace. Perf:

Michael Wood. BBC. 1998. Electronic Documentary.

This documentary explores the route taken by Alexander in his conquers and life. It is very useful as it draws an image of Alexander’s life thus helping me to understand how his life was and the people around him who later on took his body. This source is the only visual one I am using in my research and this diversity is very motivational and inspirational. Because it doesn’t simply represent the information differently but also helps me imagine the life of Alexander. It is also reliable as it’s author is a famous archaeologist.

Saunders ,Nicholas J, Alexander's tomb : the two thousand year obsession to

find the lost conqueror. American university in Cairo Press, 2006. Print.

This book discusses the mystery of the tomb in the past two thousand years in a very scientifically way. Nicholas Saunders introduces in his book several attempts and quests to find the tomb in addition to a detailed chapter about Alexander’s death. The author discusses the existence of the tomb in several countries. Thus increasing the possibilities of whereabouts of the tomb. The author is a famous archaeologist thus the source is very reliable.

This book is perfect for my paper I consider it to be my main source. Because it has enough information about several attempts to find the tomb in addition of being written by a professional.

Annexes :