Alexander sarcophagus
Alexander sarcophagus is a modern name for a man around 325 BC. Chr. Made, well-preserved, magnificent marble sarcophagus. It was found in 1887 by the Turkish archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey in the largest and youngest of the seven burial chambers of the royal necropolis of Sidon in Lebanon and restored by the sculptor Osgan Efendi . Today it is in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul . It got its name because a mounted warrior with a lion helmet depicted on one of his relief pictures, who takes part in a battle against the Persians (probably the battle of Issus ), is mostly identified with Alexander the great . The sarcophagus, which may have been commissioned by Abdalonymus appointed King of Sidon by Alexander , was made in an Attic workshop, possibly that of Praxiteles .
The sarcophagus is decorated with relief images on all four sides and on the gables. On one long side they show the aforementioned battle between Macedonians and Persians and on the opposite long side a lion and deer hunt carried out by Macedonians and with these now reconciled Persians. The relationship between the historical authenticity of the scenes depicted and the general portrayal of rulers is controversial. The polychromy , which has been preserved in traces to this day, is distinctive for this sarcophagus. At the time of discovery, it was almost completely preserved due to the protected circumstances in the burial chamber, since then the colors have noticeably faded. In 1912 the reliefs were documented on color watercolors. The grave was disturbed by grave robbers in ancient times. A coin that was probably lost by the grave robbers and found on the floor of the chamber provides information about this. It dates from the 3rd century BC. The grave robbers damaged the sarcophagus in some places. They also apparently removed small silver weapons that the figures were holding in their hands. A small silver ax was found that can no longer be classified in the overall context of the relief frieze. It is easy to see, however, that the figures were apparently holding weapons in their hands that are missing today.
literature
- Franz Winter : The Alexander sarcophagus from Sidon. Strasbourg 1912.
- Karl Schefold , Max Seidel: The Alexander sarcophagus. Berlin 1968.
- Volkmar von Graeve : The Alexander sarcophagus and its workshop . Berlin 1970.
- Richard Neudecker : Alexander sarcophagus . In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , column 462.
- Alexander Demandt : Alexander the Great. Life and legend . CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-59085-6 , pp. 152-153.
