Dramatis Personae and Prologue

1

1.

Introduction: Entombment and Apotheosis (click here to view PDF)

9

2.

Death in Babylon XE "Babylon"

12

3.

Funeral Games

39

4.

The Capital of Memory

69

5.

The Shrine of the Caesars

90

6.

Vanished from History

110

7.

The Mysteries of the Mosques

129

8.

The Astronomer’s Chart

151

9.

Alexander’s City

168

10.

Famous Alexandrian Mummies

188

11.

The Sword in the Stone

206

12.

Exequies

219

Appendix A: The Journal of Alexander the Great

225

Appendix B: The Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great?

246

Appendix C: A Candidate for the First Tomb of Alexander

258

Appendix D: The Tomb of Alexander in Alexandria

271

Bibliography

289

Acknowledgements

301

Index

302

Alexander the Great Would Love This Book, March 5, 2009

As faculty emeritus at an American university several miles from Yale University, I have long had a keen interest in Alexander the Great. I purchased Chugg's Quest for the Tomb after seeing his highly impressive appearance on a nationally televised show in Fall 2008. I just finished this book deep into last night, and it did not want to leave my hands. The chief mystery in my mind? Why no major publisher like Oxford University Press or Penguin has jealously grabbed at acquiring this book. Chugg's work here is a highly clever, impressive performance that I loved. It must have taken the author a century to research his book; yet, he looked so boyish on television. The book will command your full attention -- no eating cookies or watching TV while reading. It is very well researched and documented. There are hundreds of footnotes along the bottoms of the pages, a 16-page index, and a 300-item bibliography. Yet in spite of his high scholarship, Chugg makes the book read like a fascinating, grandly presented detective study. Even St. Mark becomes a central part of the plot. I was going to just skim the book to fit in with what I already knew. Then why was I suddenly reading every word? Then why was I even reading all the footnotes? I am convinced that, in one of his previous incarnations, Chugg was standing next to Alexander's death-bed, and tenderly nudging Alexander's funeral carriage along to Egypt. 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. To the factual mix, Chugg adds 80 illustrations, some of them drawn by the author himself. Chugg does pen-and-ink beautifully, and, if there is some international award for Best Illustrations by an Author, he should get it. One of his goals is "to demonstrate that a detailed knowledge of Alexander's afterlife is integral to a proper appreciation of his impact on history." He does this with style and grace. Chugg's conclusions are important, because they dismiss experts that say there is no point looking for Alexander's tomb in these times. 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.