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Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was king of the Macedonians and one of the greatest generals in history. He conquered the persian Empire, which stretched from the Medirterranean Sea to India and formed much of what was then considered the civilized world. Alexander's conquests furthered the spread of Greek ideas and customs in western Asia and Egypt.

Alexander was born in Pella the capital of the Macedonian kingdom. His father was Philip II, the shrewd king and general who conquered Greece. His mother was Olympias, princess from Epirus in western Greece.

In 343 or 342 BC, Philip hired the great philosopher Aristotle to tutor Alexander. Aristole may have encouraged Alexander's interest in other countries and peoples, as well as his curiosity about plants and animals.

At the age of 16, his father called him, away for duties in the government. And at the age of 20, Alexander became king of the Macedonians.

When he entered Egypt, the Egyptians welcomed him as a liberator from Persian rule, and they crowned him pharaoh. On the western edge of the Nile Delta, Alexander founded a city in 332 BC and named it Alexandria after himself.

From Alexandria, the Macedonian king made a long, difficult trek through the Libyan Desert, a part of the Saharah, to the oasis of Siwah. He consulted the oracle of the god Ammon, and according to the legend, the oracle pronounced Alexander the son of the god.

In the spring of 323 BC, Alexander became seriously ill with a fever at Babylon. He also suffered from exhaustion and the effects of several battle wounds. He died at the age of 32 on June 10, 323 BC His body was placed in a glass coffin in a special tomb in Alexandria.

Until now we don't know the place of his tomb.