A RECONSTRUCTION of the hearse which was conveying Alexander's body to Aegae to rest with his ancestors in Macedonia in the autumn of 321 BC, by Candace Smith. According to a contemporary historian, it was designed as a temple, its Ionic columns adorned with golden acanthus tendrils, and on each of the four corners a Nike victory statue. A golden olive wreath on a stylised palm stood on the top of a barrel roof fashioned from golden scales, and two golden lions guarded the entrance to the interior, where the mummified Alexander lay in his gold sarcophagus. The hearse here depicted was hijacked by Ptolemy and taken to Memphis.

parent page (17 - 23 May 2007, issue #845)