Mystery Egypt sarcophagus found not to
house Alexander the Great's remains
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[July 20, 2018]
By Ahmed Salem
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian
archaeologists on Thursday dashed local hopes that a newly discovered
ancient sarcophagus might contain the remains of Alexander the Great,
finding instead the mummies of what appeared to be a family of three.
Workmen inadvertently unearthed the approximately 2,000-year-old black
granite sealed sarcophagus this month during the construction of an
apartment building in the historic Mediterranean port city of
Alexandria.
The 30-ton coffin is the largest yet found in Alexandria, prompting a
swirl of theories in local and international media that it may be the
resting place of the ancient Greek ruler who in 331 BC founded the city
that still bears his name.
Egypt's antiquities ministry had vigorously dismissed the chances of
finding Alexander's remains inside the 30-tonne sarcophagus and on
Thursday its scepticism was vindicated.
"We found the bones of three people, in what looks like a family
burial... Unfortunately the mummies inside were not in the best
condition and only the bones remain," Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general
of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters at the site.
Waziri said some of the remains had disintegrated because sewage water
from a nearby building had leaked into the sarcophagus through a small
crack in one of the sides.
The location of the remains of Alexander the Great, who died in 323 BC
in Babylon, remains a mystery.
The sarcophagus in Alexandria is the latest of a series of interesting
archaeological finds this year in Egypt that include a 4,400-year-old
tomb in Giza and an ancient necropolis in Minya, south of Cairo.
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Mostafa Wazir,
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, inspects
the site of the newly discovered giant black sarcophagus in Sidi
Gaber district of Alexandria, Egypt July 19, 2017 in this handout
picture courtesy of the Ministry of Antiquities. The Ministry of
Antiquities/Handout via Reuters
The unmarked tomb in Alexandria did not likely belong to any other
notable ruler in the Ptolemaic period (332 BC-30 BC) associated with
Alexander the Great, or the subsequent Roman era, Waziri said.
The prospect of opening the long-sealed sarcophagus had stirred
fears in Egyptian media that it could unleash a 1,000-year curse.
"We've opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into
darkness, said Waziri.
"I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus... and
here I stand before you ... I am fine."
(Reporting by Ahmed Salem; Writing by Nadine Awadalla and Eric
Knecht; Editing by Gareth Jones
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