Lost to History

After centuries as a tourist attraction for Roman emperors, Alexander's tomb simply vanished. The last confirmed visit was by Emperor Caracalla in 215 AD. After that, the trail goes cold — no later source records anyone seeing the body again.

Part of the problem is that Alexandria itself changed. Earthquakes, war, and centuries of rebuilding buried the ancient city under the modern one, and the old royal quarter where the tomb stood was lost in the process. Some researchers even argue the body was never in Alexandria's center at all, pointing instead to a tomb in the Siwa Oasis, the remote desert sanctuary Alexander visited to be hailed as a son of the god Amun.