How Alexander the Great’s Tomb Was Stolen
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- čas přidán 14. 05. 2023
- It remains one of the most successful and significant thefts in history. In late 321 BC, a carefully-constructed plot was put into operation that would spark years of bloody conflict between rival warlords.
The target of the operation was Alexander the Great’s elaborate funeral carriage, designed as a miniature and gold-adorned mobile temple, and the conqueror’s talismanic corpse housed within.
Ptolemy and Perdiccas were at loggerheads. The former was the new governor of Egypt. The latter was the all-powerful regent of Alexander’s empire, whose authority theoretically stretched from Afghanistan to the Aegean.Both knew that war between them was all-but-inevitable. Rather than wait, Ptolemy aimed to provoke it on his terms - a pre-emptive strike. It was a huge risk, but one the governor believed he had to take if he would have any chance of victory.
At the end of 321 BC, Alexander the Great’s funeral carriage was heading west from Babylon to the Mediterranean. Perdiccas, who was then stationed in Pisidi, central Anatolia, with the royal army, wanted to take the body back to Macedonia. Returning with the dead king’s body to his homeland, and with the royal army in tow, was a key part of his grand plan to seize the throne.
But Ptolemy had other ideas. He wanted the body to come to Egypt, and he had prepared for this in advance. Colluding with Arrhidaeus, the general in command of the cortege’s escort, and Archon, the governor of Babylonia, they arranged to hijack the body and fatally damage Perdiccas’ grand imperial plans.
In late 321 BC they put the plan in motion. Upon arriving in Syria, Arrhidaeus and the funeral cart turned south towards Egypt. The theft was on. The thieves had a head start, but speed was not a luxury afforded to them. Even with the best suspension the ancients could create, the progress of the great carriage was painfully slow.
It was not long before Perdiccas received word of the cart’s new course and sent a special light-armed task force in pursuit. Its purpose: to retrieve the carriage and its precious cargo - by force if necessary. The chase was on.
In this documentary, Dr Chris Naunton and Tristan Hughes discuss the events of this great heist in antiquity.
Film directed by Mark Bowsher.
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#historyhit #alexanderthegreat #heist
I was only going to watch 5 mins of this, but ended up watching the entire thing. What an amazing story I knew nothing about!
me too
I ❤ only Allah and my very rich family. Rich in health.
Don't take at least minute 3:34/3:35 for granted. There's no mention of Alexander's best friend Hephaestion to be his lover or that they were in a relationship. It is true that Alexander loved him, but unlike English, there were many definitions of love with different words. Alexander was always mentioned engaging in heterosexuel acts
Women ☕
In the Old Testament, Kings 1 or 2, King David mentions that he and Saul's son Jonathan shared a love that "exceeded the love of women". This can only be understood by men who have been in combat or life threatening situations. It's not Gay in the least bit.
The tomb of Alexander really is the Holy Grail of archaeology. The search will never be abandoned.
I feel it will emerge.
I feel that there has to be a record of the location. The Romans would have secured one, and one surely was held in the "Library of Alexandria", and that may actually be in the Vatican. It could well be archived without their having awareness of it, that basement is loaded with items and they find pieces of History routinely.
bTW: They aren't the evil hoarders they are made out to be, about 80% of the subjects they don't realize they have.
Biblical Texts and Ancient Texts are another subject, they control those for the value of the Catholic Position on Religion.
Pope Francis is the most flexible and forward thinking Pope we've had.
He would love to enlighten the world, but he has an army of Bishops, Cardinals, Priests, the Lay Religious Staff, and Monarchs that act as a barrier to the protection of the Church, and he has to satisfy all these people.
I still hope to see him make a major disclosure and set the World on a more Authentic road of Spiritual, aka *"What Yeshua/Jesus really taught."*
Beth
Sociologist/Behavioralist
and Historian
Alexander is a mythical figure like King Arthur and Jesus Christ.
@@thomasreaves588 the Greeks made sure Arvanites hero to stay a myth😂
I guess that makes the Holy Grail the Alexander's Tomb of archeology.
thats how dum you are the holy grail according to alexander was the egyptian labyrith, and every other greek in history
I wonder if artifacts from the lost tombs of Ghengis Khan, Cleopatra, and Alexander are currently in collections of museums or private individuals
Certainly of cleopatra because she wasn’t nearly IN ANY WAY as important as history makes her out to be. Alexander’s and genghis’ tho were godlike figure geaves; surely they are hidden or gone forever
Always wondered if there were any artifscts in the Vatican. We know the Romans idolised him, it wouldn't hard to believe they were taken to Rome at some point.
I also wondered myself
The Vatican is certainly a mysterious world, fully known only, to a few therein. None can know the truth until the last day.
The grave of Ghengish Khan is protected since his burial by one family who will kill everyone who put a spade in the ground.
Always a spectacular story telling by Dr. Chris Naunton and Tristan Hughes. Love that they’re so passionate about what they do. They pull you in. Stunning photography and drone footage. Thanks HH. ❤this.
Absolutely stunning video! Thank you for this incredibly well documented story.
As usual Tristan Hughes kills it. I would also like to point out that Tristan did a video for the history, CZcams channel kings and generals on Alexander’s tomb topic.
If they could find the tomb and body of Alexander the Great. It could be the most remarkable archaeological find in history.
This was one of the greatest documentaries I’ve ever watched. Keep up the good work history hits !!
It's the weirdest thing to me that there are places that everyone knew of their existence, and many people would have known exactly where they were-literally for centuries, only to be lost entirely. How does that happen? That would be like the Lincoln Memorial or Nelson's column being totally unknown and unfindable in a few hundred years.
it's one of the magic of Time and people's knowledge, it all goes down in fables
Empires rising and falling, destroying previously known sites, Religion rising and falling (I doubt there were as few religions as we have now compared to back then) destroying previously known sites.
And time. Even natural disasters.
It's because he was only 6 inches tall and the tomb is really small. 😅
@@Torgo-and-the-Lucifer-Cat His Penis was 6 inches off the ground you mean & his balls the size of Bowling balls!
His Tomb was Huge, it was called the Soma & many Romans came to visit & pay their respects to ALEX 🇬🇷👍🏻
@@Torgo-and-the-Lucifer-Cat That's exactly what it is. Alexander the Diminutive, they just got the translations wrong over the years.
This is the best doc I've seen in a long time. So interesting.
Super video. More of this please !
Alexander’s war horse Bucephalus, which he kept with the army, also had died. There are horses, and there is The Horse. When my wonderful Arabian horse passed on at only 22, it toke me several years to speak of him without tears.
His horse was killed in the same battle in Multan ( today in Pakistan) at the time a Hindu country, where Alexander himself received the wound from the poisoned arrow. This proved fatal after some time.
@@crusoerob8550 - yep, hindus kill you slowly 😂
AND WHEN YOU HAVE SUCH A RELATIONSHIP WITH A HORSE FEW UNDERSTAND THAT RELATIONSHIP. I BONDED WITH MY ARAB FILLY WHEN HER MUM DIED FROM A SNAKE BITE MY FOAL WAS 12 WEEKS OLD,
It's amazing how you've managed to turn this into a discussion about yourself. Nobody cares.
Simply perfect narration
Excellent story telling! Thanks!
history
This was so well done!
there was no such thing as Turkey in Anatolia back then.
Yes, we all know that. And you would not have any knowledge if the Arabs hadn't saved it for you.
@@Shaggy-8392 That's what the false narrative teaches. The truth is that the Greeks never lost their ancient knowledge. When Constantinople fell to the ottomans, it was the Greek scholars who saved most of the manuscripts, who teached Greek to the West and who kickstarted the Renaissance. I love our Arab friends and hold nothing against them. But the enlightenment they experienced during the Mut'azila period did not last and was crushed with violence by the sunny Muslims. The "Golden age" died and obscurantism prevailed.
Loved this video! Thanks so much for providing yet more amazing content on our history! Keep it up!
Alexander the Great’s Tomb is the Holy Grail of Archaeology! 🇬🇷👍🏻
I ❤ holes.
Γειά σου SpartanLeonidas. Χαίρομαι κάθε φορά που βλέπω σχόλια σου εδώ, είτε για την Κλεοπάτρα, είτε για τον Αλέξανδρο, είτε για τη Μακεδονία μας. Κι εγώ προσπαθώ γιατί δυστυχώς επίσημα δεν γίνεται καμία προσπάθεια ( κεκαλυμμενα τα λόγια μου για να μη δίνουμε δικαιώματα) . Εμείς όμως-και άλλοι σαν κι εμας- είμαστε εδώ να επεμβαινουμε και να βάζουμε τα πράγματα στη θέση τους ! Καλημερες!
@@lemartimful Thank You my friend! Lets go!!!! ✊🏻🇬🇷
@Roman Pontian Why is he disappointed? Im sure more archaeologist consider Alex’s Grave to be more important. No debate really..👍🏻
@@SpartanLeonidas1821 I diagree Genghis khans tomb is more treasured. No one comes close to the aura and influence of Genghis khan
Very cool history right there. Thank you H H .
Thanks for watching!
Excellent video!
Mary Renault's Funeral Games was so good.
I kinda like how his Tomb hasn't been discovered it's as if he's more of a mythical figure than a mortal leader without his remains.
The Greeks don't want anyone to find out that Aleksander the Great was Greek Arvanites that's why they destroyed his tomb so they won't find out that everything is only Greek mythology 😂
@@ginaibisi777 Cope harder
@@casualyoutubeviewer9198 cope or not it is well known we were Pelasgians, Illyrians and Dardanians 😄
@@ginaibisi777 Keep coping nationalistic revisionist
@@casualyoutubeviewer9198 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 take a break 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Love watching documentaries like this.💯💯👏👏
Marvellous ! Subscribed 🙏👌🌹
Fascinating
Thanks 👍🏻
The life of alexander and the diadochi are endlessly fascinating i would love to see a tv series based on that
I love it! Great video!
Another top video guys, very educational. The politics, the adversarial conflicts and ensuing battles are fascinating. As for the location of Alexander's body it remains a mystery. One for Lara Croft maybe? Jokes aside many thanks for sharing.
A great book about this is 'Ghost on the Throne' by James S. Romm. Definitely a historian's book with many details, but explains what happens after Alexander's death.
@Roman Pontian I have the hardcover version, and the audiobook. I own many digital books, but I much prefer real books to anything read on a screen.
Wow!! The image is very good 👌
Fascinating!! Knew nothing about this.
This era has always captured my imagination. Thank you for the content.
In my opinion , the tomb has to be in Vergina Greece. In the ancient Greece, the tombs of kings were at the place were born, with the tombs of their family. For sure for security reasons nobody knows where it is. But in Vergina Greece they found the tomb of his father and two gold crowns and other things .Also his Wife Roxani and his son went to live in Macedonia after his death. Looks like his tomb is there close to his father tomb.
Amazing discussion. I read a book about an englishman who was in the british army, he was sent to india. He deserted and went on a journey searching for a city built by Alexander in Afghanistan.
Vergina
I wish i had the funds to fund an archeological expedition to uncover Alexanders body
Hundreds of people have, it’s like looking for Jesus or King Arthur
Funds to fund a find? Fun! 😂
I will send you a few bucks, let me know how it works out😊.
That just throwing money away
Absolutely fascinating story.
Alexander had an transcendental experience at an Egyptian temple on the Nile. Some unknown entheogen. He very much respected Egyptian mysticism.
Dyu mean Siwa?he went out to that oasis for some reason, I remember getting the bus out to it and worrying about the bus breaking down, back then it must have been a risky journey to take, and they nearly didn't make it, makes you wonder why he wanted to get there so much
good work
An exceptional piece of history.. One thing needs to be elaborated that why there was a need to shift dead bodies around in ancient times. What was their thought process on having to steel bodies and shift it from one place to another.
Poor creatures that had to haul that Great load ❤ God rest their souls
Interesting story!
This story would make an epic tv series
very good documentary
The break up of the Macedonian Empire being analogous to The Game of Thrones, what a relatable and interesting way to explain it
I'm sure when he was bearing down on your city he did not seem so heroic, but can you imagine any current European leader being talked about millenia from now? Life was more precarious than today and often downright terrifying, but how much more people must have savoured every day that went well. We live in an era devoid of great men and women, under the thumb of corrupt, spineless middle managers with no grand vision.
You win the day, Sir. Incredible comment.
💯 👊🏻
My dude, there are no great man or women, just people who were in the right place at the right time
@alexj7440 I would say the right people were at the right place at the time.
Wrong on many levels.
@@PrincipledUncertaintymeritocracy is a lie. They were in the right place with access to the right people. Accessibility is the path to greatness. Millions of others with just as much potential died unknown and unnamed.
I really do not like it when they say unverifiable things like "Alexander's lover" as though that's a 100% certified fact when in reality that's just the modern fashionable interpretation.
The homosexual type casting that Alexander has been painted with has been by those who hate him. Then and now. He was a terror to wicked leaders.
It’s his lover PERIOD
He's in the Vatican Secret Library/Archives.........still perfectly preserved in honey.
If they ever find it it could be under some street in Alexandria. Ever since they found Richard III I would never say it's impossible. I have been fascinated by Alexander since I read my Nana's Mary Renault novels about him as a child.
Great video, thank you
I only wish to be alive and mentally sound when they find Alexander The Great's tomb and Cleopatra's tomb. Those will be astounding moments in history.
Just imagining the artifacts and the history buried with them gets me excited for those moments.
And imagine the archeologist/historian/person who discovers one or even both tombs, they'll truly go down in history as a god in the archaeological world.
A half good documentary.Esp.when talking about Perdicus and that immediate time after Alexanders death.Skipping past this rather quickely to be a GREAT doc.
It's testament to how fearsome that those Nile crocodiles must've been to immediately spur the soldiers to kill Perdiccas for making them go through this.
If you had more content on Alexander then I'd subscribe.
Too much time has gone by to ever know… but this was very interesting
Delicious, thank you 😊
Just imagine it sitting under modern Alexandria somewhere just waiting to be found.
I remember watching a documentary that talked about Rome taking his body after they concurred. That was how his body was lost. I think they said Caligula used to wear his armor.
I wonder if Alexander The Great had any offspring?. I watched a film about him, when it ended I burst into tears for no reason. I can't understand this waft of emotion that made me break down crying feeling as if it was a close family member had died .😢
Hello To The Makers Of This Video My name is Amanda and I reside in Australia. I'm into anything and everything about Alexander the great. My question to you is have you been to Europe particularly on the Alexander The Great Highway which takes you to Thessaloniki in Greece? If you have what did you feel travelling on this particular Highway? I've personally travelled from Romania all the way to Thesaloniki which is Approximately 650 kilometres and I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful road trip because it takes you into different countries. For me it also felt like I was retracing his travels. I have also subscribed to this channel and I've watched a number of your videos on other Historical stories as well. Congratulations and keep up your wonderful work Amanda T. From Melbourne Victoria Australia.. 7:17
a ready made movie script!! love the shots from the waterfront of Thessaloniki..
The legend says he is immersed in honey in a quartz sarcophagus 🤷
Man, even after death Alex the Bombastic was up to shenanigans fantastic.
I named my son, Alexander Royce, after Alexander The Great.
Royce means Kingley. Thank you for this wonderfully historic Video.
Jim Morrison of the Doors, had his hair cut just like Alexander's is depicted.
Seriously 😂😂😂
Well, that's a true oxymoron, Alexander The Great and Jim Morrison. Polar Opposites.
Ha! Well done! Enjoyed that! Hail Alexander for he was truly Great!
Dr. Chris Naunton 🤩! I loved his episodes in the Ancients!
I think we place a lot of faith in the idea that Alexander was embalmed in the Egyptian tradition and that his tomb is out there somewhere. A harsh truth to consider is that he may have, at any point after his death, been given the more traditional Macedonian treatment of cremation. Archaeologists will never stop searching for Alexander's tomb, would be quite a shame if his body was burned and this was never recorded in any surviving document of history. They may be searching forever.
Alexanders best friend 3:34 Hephaestion wasn't his lover. There's no mention of them engaging in any relationship, they were bros. There's only mentions of Alexander engaging in heterosexual acts
@@xunqianbaidu6917 Okay and? I have shared rooms with friends, does that make me homosexual or Bisexual all the sudden? Not to mention that Ancient Greece was one of the most homophōbic times in history. Accept the fact that there's no damn mention of Alexander taking part of any homosexual acts
@@xunqianbaidu6917 It's History, where people try to falsify to push their agenda, I responded to those false claims so people do not get misinformed, as well by a kiddo with his memes, like the subject was about some memes you damn baboon. And learn how to read, I wrote "one of the most", not definitely the most homophōbic place in history
@@xunqianbaidu6917 I am not, it is factual that the Greek city states didn't accept homosexuality as a good thing. Plato writes a comment about homosexual acts as being "unnatural": "When male unites with female for procreation the pleasure experience is held to be due to nature, but contrary to nature when male mates with male or female with female, and that those first guilty of such enormities were impelled by their slavery to pleasure" Platos laws 1.63
Not to mention that the people referred in Ancient Greeks as "Κίναιδος" which could translate as "someone who likes to suck", they were the lowest of the social class in Greece and were treated horribly and their citizenship would always be taken away when they got caught. That's a homophōbic society. I am stating those facts but someone like you "who got their feelings hurt" are trying to dismiss it by stating "You're pushing your agenda".
@@InAeternumRomaMater you re true on your knowledge don't know why those fucking british and Americans want to portrait him as homo while there is no document of engaging in any homosexual acts. CLEARLY IT IS DOCUMENTED THAT HE LIKED WOMEN!
Alexander was bi dude. Ancient times had no taboo against homosexuality. That came after
I am always annoyed by the speculation that He had this lover. That is certainly not proven and I’m sick and tired of people speculating that two men are gay just because they are close. Plenty of men are close to each other as brothers in arms. Does it mean they are buggering each other?
You are correct. Only men who have shared the hazards of combat or life threatening situations can understand this. Merchants, historians, civilians will never understand.
Also, King David mentions that the love he and Saul's son Jonathan, shared a love that "surpassed the love of women". Pretty sure they weren't riding the hobby horse together.
Here before netflix black washes another historical figure 🤌🏼
Another wonderful and informative video about last days of Alexandre agreat how his previous glory of Alexandre exploited for covering legitimate ssacssation by both Perdicus or by Tolomy
If his tomb is still intact, he is probably insanely well preserved, considering the fact that there are many mummy's way older that remained remarkably intact.
Unfortunately most well preserved mummies comes from outh arid climate. Alexander was buried in Delta where climate was humid. For whole for centuries his body was intact, but in moment when it was deprived of human care, it could be affected by nature... so would be mummies of Ptolemies. I hope it didn't happened, but I think if they will ever be found, there would be little more than bones, if they are still in Delta.
I remember a video here on yt where the announcement was made by French archaeologists and some government officials (Jordan?) that Alexander's grave had been found, including some pictures. But after that: crickets.
Need to travel back in time.
If you type the description of the funeral carriage in the text prompt of an AI Image Generator like Leonardo or Playground, what do you get?
I have never heard this story of Alexander's death. I had only ever heard that he had chased a group into the desert of The Step, had drank some bad water out of desperation and died shortly after getting back to Babylon. He was said to have died of a disease picked up from the bad water.
Why is Sage Northcutt in your thumbnail?
next is a ‘bridgertoned’ Alexander ‘docu-drama’
Seem to recall there are references to both Ceasar and Augustus visiting the tomb in Alexandria but I cant say how accurate thouse sources are...
They met King Arthur too...
@@ahippy8972 are you doubting the existence of Alexander the Great?
@@ahippy8972 King Arthur lives 500-Years after Caesar and Cleopatra, and 800 Years after Alexander. I’ll assume you’re sarcastic.
Yes, Augustus had the tomb opened and he stared at Alexander’s corpse. I believe he also put on Alexander’s breast plate, or took it.
@@matthewcarey3148 I seem to remember reading that Augustus accidentally broke Alexander’s nose off
Lidar! It would be great to remove the buildings layer of Alexandria to expose the ground underneath.
And more than likely any treasure would have been melted down long ago and all the original stone used elsewhere. Probably not even a mound of dirt left.
nice
Great video although, there is no evidence that Hephastean was his "lover" only his childhood best and most trusted friend. He also didn't conquer Greece but conquered the Athenian hegemony to unite Greece under Macedonian leadership in his quest to free Ionian Greeks from Persian rule. It was common for dominance over the rest of Greece to be under different Greek states at different times.
How can you rob something that no one knows were it is
I'm sure many people have wondered, and mourned, what would he have accomplised if he hadn't died so young.
They will never be anyone ever who will create so much interest.😉
*A most interesting, and dramatic story, yet what are the Resource References that support it for a History Value?*
Beth Bartlett
Sociologist/Behavioralist
and Historian
It's a pity to know that one of the histor's greatest military commandershave no say in his own burial
Wow..this is amazing and horrible all in one.
This is why we can’t have nice things 😢
Alexander the great was reincarnated as Elvis Presley.
Oxymoron!
Brainless.
A woman is very close to finding Cleopatra's tomb...
Raiders of the lost Tomb.
Carbon date the Venetian body?
The body of Alexander, we have. Alexander was NOT buried in Memphis, but He was buried in his own founded city, Alexandria. For the understanding of this, we should know, when Sain Mark"s body (evangelist and bishop of Alexandria) was stolen by the Venetians, the largest Mausoleum was broken into. However, there are several sources proved: St.Mark"s body was incinerated. Very, very likely, that the criminals of Venice, broke into the Alexander Mausoleum and now, Alexander rests in the Cattedrale di San Marco in Venice (Venezia).
Internally interesting & deeply buried... somewhere?.... 🤔
Lydar comes to mind.
The technology is there, the techniques they used on the great pyramid for example - found a hidden room apparently. I think if there was a starting point they COULD find Alexander someday sooner than later! I can't begin to tell you how it works, but i know it does.
That particular technique measures particles travelling through an object. It worked on the great pyramid because they could measure from all sides and it allowed them to find a massive room. That isn't a feasible option for this project because you can't measure the particles from below and you're not looking for a massive hole inside a small pyramid-shaped mountain. There are other great technologies that could do a much better job, all you need to do is strip the asphalt.
The tomb of Alexander the Great is one of the most famous and sought-after archaeological sites, but it has not been reported missing or stolen.
It's worth noting that there have been various theories and debates about the exact location of Alexander the Great's tomb. Historically, it was believed to be located in Alexandria, Egypt, but its precise whereabouts remain uncertain. Despite extensive searches and excavations, the tomb has not been conclusively discovered.
I agree Alexander's tomb is at the same level of Genghis khan.
@@dhimankalita1690It’s above that lol
Can Lidar help in the search?
It’s too bad these ancient cities like Babylon or even Constantinople have all had their names changed and their histories lost.