[III] the Great (d. c. 323 B.C.E.) Conqueror of Egypt in 332 B.C.E. and the ruler of the known world in his era
He was the third king named Alexander in Macedonia, the son of Philip of Macedonia and Queen OLYMPIAS of Epirus. Born in Philip’s capital, Pellas, in 356 B.C.E., Alexander was tutored for three years, from the age of 13 to 16, by Aristotle. The great philosopher was at Alexander’s side when the young prince assumed the Macedonian throne in 336 B.C.E. Alexander had also been trained in military arts, in keeping with the Macedonian tradition.
Two years later, Alexander started a campaign against the Persian Empire and in November 333 B.C.E., the Macedonian king and his superbly trained army defeated the Persians under King DARIUS III Codoman at GRANICUS and ISSUS. The Persians should have won the battle of Issus, but Macedonian resolve and Alexander’s military acumen insured the victory for the Greeks. Darius III tried to make peace, but Alexander refused and went to Phoenicia, where he conquered the city of Tyre in 332. His capture of this key site ended Persia’s power on the Mediterranean coast. Alexander then conquered Palestine and entered the Nile Valley. In the fall of 332 B.C.E., Alexander entered Egypt, claiming the territory as a rich and valuable prize. The Persian satrap on the Nile resisted for a time but then surrendered Egypt to the young conqueror. Aware of the fact that the Egyptians looked upon him as just another foreign tyrant, Alexander courted them by using their own religious mechanisms. He went to the famed Oasis of SIWA in the LIBYAN DESERT, where he visited the ORACLE of AMUN. This was a shrine dedicated to the god Amun, who spoke to worshipers and gave responses to questions about religious and state affairs. Alexander was declared the true ruler of Egypt at Siwa Oasis, and word of Amun’s recognition spread quickly throughout the land.
He cemented this acclamation by going to MEMPHIS, the ancient capital, to be crowned in the traditional manner, including the seal of approval of the SOULS OF PE and the SOULS OF NEKHEN. Throughout Egypt rumors spread that Alexander was the son of NECTANEBO II, the ruler of Egypt from 360 to 343 B.C.E. Queen Olympias was depicted as having had an affair with Nectanebo II, with Alexander resulting from their love. Alexander’s Egyptian throne name was Mery-amun-Setepenre’, translated as “Beloved of Amun, Chosen by Re.”
Alexander also founded a new capital for the Land of the Two Kingdoms at the site of a small village called Rakhotis, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. This city, ALEXANDRIA, would become one of the major cultural centers of the world during the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. Alexandria was located in the western Nile Delta and was provided with an offshore causeway, connected to a small island to provide safe harbor for trading ships.
In the spring of 331 B.C.E., Alexander marched out of Egypt, leaving two Greek governors in command, Ptolemy and Cleomenes. CLEOMENES OF NAUKRATIS, a Greek resident of Egypt, soon took charge of affairs, completing Alexandria. Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, bided his time but had his own ambitions for Egypt, becoming PTOLEMY I SOTER. As they consolidated Macedonian control over Egypt, Alexander met Darius III at GAUGAMELA and defeated him once again. Darius fled but was assassinated by a former ally. Alexander conquered Babylon, Ecbatana, Persepolis, and Susa, the great Persian cities, and then marched on Medea. He took the title of Basileus, the Great King, and entered India in 326 B.C.E.
His death in Babylon in June 323 B.C.E. began a titanic struggle for control of his vast empire. Ptolemy I claimed Egypt for himself. In a bold strike, he and a picked cohort of veterans rode hard to the north to intercept the massive funeral procession of Alexander’s remains. He had been embalmed in honey and placed in a large mausoleum on wheels so that his body could be seen and publicly venerated by the people of his conquered domain as he progressed toward the royal burial ground in Macedonia. Ptolemy I and his men captured the body and set off for Alexandria, where the conqueror was put into a crystal coffin. Alexander the Great was then reportedly buried under the junction of the Canopic Way and the Street of the Soma in Alexandria.
