The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great

by Andrew Chugg

In 2004 the author’s first book “The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great” was published to the accompaniment of international media attention, since it reported the first credible suggestion as to the current whereabouts of the long-vanished corpse of the illustrious conqueror. In the intervening years, direct progress on testing of the candidate remains has been thwarted by the Church authorities, yet much new information has emerged, casting the enigma in an ever more probing light. In this extensively updated and extended account, the tortuous meanderings of the evidence have been tracked with scrupulous care, thus teasing apart the tangled threads of erstwhile hidden history. In these pages the author lays bare the forgotten secrets of one of the greatest mysteries bequeathed to us by the ancient world. His new perspective will surely fascinate any reader with a sense of curiosity about the past.
It remains significantly possible that the fate of Alexander’s tomb will turn out to be the greatest archaeological story of the 21st century, for nobody has yet been able to refute the author’s novel suggestion that the body stolen from Alexandria in AD828 and now in Venice may have acquired a false identity at the time that paganism was outlawed by the Emperor of Rome in the 4th century AD.
In addition the author’s published academic articles on the subject of Alexander’s mysterious death and elusive tomb are reproduced here as a collection in Appendices to the main narrative.
This Second Edition, published May 2012, incorporates 86 illustrations, including ancient artefacts and antique maps and engravings.
See also www.alexanderstomb.com.

409 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2012

About the author

Andrew's researches and writings are largely focussed upon the career and exploits of Alexander the Great, both in life and in the context of his equally remarkable adventures in death, through the quest for his lost tomb. See also his websites at www.alexanderstomb.com and www.alexanderslovers.com for videos, photos, news and his huge collection of antique engravings and maps.

Andrew has been actively researching the history of Alexander's tomb since 1998, including visits to Alexandria and Saqqara in Egypt. He has had academic articles on the subject published in the classics journal Greece & Rome and in the American Journal of Ancient History and he is the author of The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great, published in London by Periplus in November 2004. He has also written pieces on the hunt for the tomb for Minerva, History Today and other magazines. In September 2006 he addressed the Eroi conference in the University of Padua on the subject of Alexander's tomb. Various new theories on the locations and appearances of Alexander's several tombs have emerged from his work. In particular, Andrew's novel theory that the Alexandrians might have given Alexander's corpse a new identity as the remains of St Mark the Evangelist, when the emperor Theodosius outlawed paganism in AD391, attracted international press attention in 2004.

Andrew's latest book on the history of Alexander's adventures in the afterlife, The Quest for the tomb of Alexander the Great, appeared at the end of 2007. It incorporates significant extensions of his theories, including a chapter on a section of a sculptural relief from a Macedonian tomb of royal importance dating to about the 3rd century BC and found embedded in the foundations of the main apse of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. This is a comment from an Amazon reviewer: "I just finished this book deep into last night, and it did not want to leave my hands... The book will command your full attention -- no eating cookies or watching TV while reading... Chugg makes the book read like a fascinating, grandly presented detective study... The author admits early in the work that his quest is 'to enthrall readers with fresh revelations.' He indeed does that, covering highly complex materials with confidence and ease... The author and his book will most certainly keep Alexandria and its Founder's tomb on the front page of newspapers for years to come."

Andrew has also appeared in National Geographic television documentaries on Alexander and his tomb, including Beyond the Movie: Alexander the Great in 2004 and Alexander's Lost Tomb in 2008, the latter being shot on location in Alexandria, Egypt (also broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK). More recently, Andrew appeared in the Alexander the Great episode of National Geographic's Mystery Files series, which concentrated on the enigma of Alexander's tomb.

Andrew has also extensively researched Alexander's death with an article in Minerva in September 2004 and an academic paper on The Journal of Alexander the Great in the Ancient History Bulletin. In April 2006 he published a book on Alexander's Lovers, an examination of the king's personality through the mirror of the lives of the people with whom he pursued romantic relationships. One Amazon reviewer has written: "At first glance anyone interested in Alexander the great might dismiss this book as just another cash in on the Alexander legend presented with an irrelevant modern bias; that would be a mistake, as this is the most impressive and informative book on Alexander I have read in a long time."

Andrew's most recent project is an ambitious and far-reaching attempt to reconstruct the lost text of the most influential of all the ancient accounts of Alexander's career: the History Concerning Alexander by Cleitarchus of Alexandria. Andrew's painstaking detective work has unmasked Cleitarchus as the perpetrator of the most elaborate and potent account of Alexander the Great by progressively reconst

Reviews

[Rob Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very detailed investigation into the location of the body of Alexander the Great. I will leave the conclusion to the reader, but the author puts forth an excellent argument. Aside from the archeological enquiry, there is excellent information on both Alexander himself, and early Alexandria.

[Andrew Chugg]

In 2004 the author’s first book The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great was published to the accompaniment of international media attention, since it reported the first credible suggestion as to the current whereabouts of the long-vanished corpse of the illustrious conqueror. In the intervening years, direct progress on testing of the candidate remains has been thwarted by the Church authorities, yet much new information has emerged, casting the enigma in an ever more probing light. In this extensively updated and extended account, the tortuous meanderings of the evidence have been tracked with scrupulous care, thus teasing apart the tangled threads of erstwhile hidden history. In these pages the author lays bare the forgotten secrets of one of the greatest mysteries bequeathed to us by the ancient world. His new perspective will surely fascinate any reader with a sense of curiosity about the past.
It remains significantly possible that the fate of Alexander’s tomb will turn out to be the greatest archaeological story of the 21st century, for nobody has yet been able to refute the author’s novel suggestion that the body stolen from Alexandria in AD828 and now in Venice may have acquired a false identity at the time that paganism was outlawed by the Emperor of Rome in the 4th century AD.
In addition the author’s published academic articles on the subject of Alexander’s mysterious death and elusive tomb are reproduced here as a collection in Appendices to the main narrative.
Incorporates over 80 illustrations, including ancient artefacts, antique maps and engravings.

[Matt Crotts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Chugg has a formidable passion for research into the history, archeology and ancient literature of all things pertaining to Alexander the Great, equaled only by his exemplary research standards. After searching for a year for the most exhaustive and scholarly work on Alexander's tomb, including looking into many works by major academics, I have found Chugg's work to be far and away the best collection of research on the subject in print. In fact I found more than one academic work, written by well-known Classics professors, citing this very book. Exemplary compilation of the available evidence, with a few fascinating hypotheses that are solidly grounded on his well-sourced and profound insight. I cannot recommend this book enough, for the hobbyist historian and the academic alike.

[William Blosser]

The Quest for the tomb of Alexander the Great by Andrew Chugg has proved to be the best source of information on this subject. Andrews years of hard work in this field makes him the world's leading authority on this subject and I have no doubt that any future advancements will be based on his work. I would also like to thank Andrew for his personal care and attention to my inquiries.