Tunic in Royal Vergina Tomb may have Belonged to Alexander the Great
Few individuals have changed the world, and fewer still manage to do so, as Alexander the Great did, before the age of 30. Ascending to the throne of Macedonia at the tender age of 20, over the next decade he carved out one of the largest empires the world has ever seen, leading his undefeated forces across the known world from Greece and Egypt as far as India, before dying at the age of 32.
We know the man, and we know what he did, but mysteries surround his final days. He died suddenly and unexpectedly, and his final resting place is unknown.
How could such a great leader go missing like this? He would certainly be in good company: Atilla the Hun, Alaric the Visigoth and Genghis Khan are all similarly lost, waiting hidden out there for discovery. But Alexander is a little different, being part of a hereditary and long-established line of kings.
This means we know a lot about his family, his dynasty and his kingdom. We know where the tomb of his father Philip II lies, for instance, in one of the three royal tombs of Vergina, ancient Aigai in Greece. But of Philip’s famous son there is nothing.
Or at least that is what was thought. However a new study published in the Journal of Field Archaeology suggests that one of the tombs at Vergina may contain something that belonged to Alexander the Great: a sacred purple tunic.
The untouched Tomb II contained a sacred larnax, an ossuary used for holding remains. Within lies the bones of an individual, a golden wreath, and an unidentified material. When this material was analyzed it was found to be cotton, dyed a rich purple.
The color is very important: purple dye, known as “Tyrian” purple, is extremely expensive even today and was even more valuable in ancient times. Purple was reserved for the highest ranked individuals, only being worn by kings and emperors.
The purple also ties the tunic to Persia, a key battleground for Alexander where he spent a significant part of his short life. The cotton layers of the tunic are arranged with a white material between them, likely the mineral huntite, which would also match surviving descriptions of the clothes of Persian royalty.
The study persuasively argues that this fabric tunic was the famous mesoleucon sarapis, a sacred tunic described as worn by Alexander in ancient sources. This is further supported by a frieze decorating the walls of Tomb II, which depicts Alexander himself wearing the tunic on a hunting expedition.
It has become clear that many of the objects found in Tomb II are closely associated with Alexander the Great. Could the bones within the larnax be the great man himself?
Sadly, it does not seem so. Tomb II is believed to house the remains of Alexander’s half-brother Philip III of Macedon, or possibly his father Philip II after his cremation. The grave goods were included because they had their own value, so here we have Alexander’s belongings but not his body.
Nevertheless it seems that, thanks to this new research, we have found one of Alexander’s most precious possessions, a treasure from antiquity rediscovered with modern science.
Header Image: The golden larnax of Tomb II at Vergina, wherein the remains of a sacred purple tunic belonging to Alexander the Great are believed to have been found. Source: Digitalphilologist / CC BY-SA 4.0.
