Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon, known as Alexander the Great, entered Egypt in 332 BC during his campaign to overthrow the Achaemenid Persian Empire. After defeating Darius III at Issus and capturing the eastern Mediterranean coast, Alexander encountered little resistance in Egypt and was accepted as pharaoh. He visited Memphis and traveled to the oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis, an episode that became important in later accounts of his divine legitimacy. Most consequentially, he founded Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast, a city that would become the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and one of the greatest intellectual and commercial centers of the ancient world. Alexander left Egypt in 331 BC and never returned, continuing eastward until his empire stretched deep into Asia. He died unexpectedly at Babylon in 323 BC without leaving an adult heir, setting off the Wars of the Successors. In biblical interpretation, Alexander is commonly associated with the Greek kingdom represented in Daniel's visions, especially the conspicuous horn of Daniel 8, but the text does not name him directly.

Alexander's conquest ended Persian rule in Egypt and permanently redirected the country's political and cultural orientation toward the Hellenistic Mediterranean. The founding of Alexandria transformed Egypt's role in Jewish, Greek, and later Christian history. For biblical studies, Alexander's rapid conquest and the subsequent division of his empire provide the historical setting traditionally associated with Daniel 8:5–8, 20–22 and 11:3–4, although Alexander himself is not named in those passages.

• Conquered Egypt from the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 332 BC.
• Was accepted as pharaoh and participated in traditional Egyptian royal and religious observances.
• Visited the oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis.
• Founded Alexandria on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
• Left Egypt in 331 BC to continue his campaign against Darius III.
• Defeated the Persian Empire and created a vast Macedonian empire extending into Asia.
• Died at Babylon in 323 BC without an adult successor.
• Is traditionally associated with the Greek conqueror and divided kingdom depicted in Daniel's visions, though he is not named directly.

Alexander's greatest physical legacy in Egypt was the foundation of Alexandria in 331 BC. He also ordered or sponsored work at Egyptian temples, including additions associated with his kingship at Luxor and Karnak. Much of the monumental development of Alexandria itself occurred under the Ptolemies after his death.

Alexander died at Babylon in 323 BC at the age of thirty-two after a sudden illness. The precise cause of death remains uncertain and has generated many ancient and modern theories. His body was eventually taken to Egypt by Ptolemy I and placed in a royal tomb at Alexandria, where it became a famous monument visited by later rulers. The location of Alexander's tomb was subsequently lost and remains one of archaeology's enduring mysteries.

Alexander the Great is not named directly in the canonical Hebrew Bible, but he is widely identified in historical interpretation with the Greek conqueror symbolized in Daniel's visions. Daniel 8 describes a male goat from the west whose conspicuous horn defeats the ram representing the kings of Media and Persia; the interpreting angel identifies the goat with Greece and says that the great horn is its first king. After the horn is broken at the height of its power, four kingdoms arise from his nation. This closely corresponds to Alexander's rapid conquest of the Persian Empire, his death in 323 BC, and the subsequent division of his empire among successor dynasties. Daniel 11 likewise describes a mighty king whose kingdom is broken and divided after he arises. Alexander's conquest of Egypt in 332 BC and foundation of Alexandria also profoundly shaped subsequent Jewish history, especially the development of the large Greek-speaking Jewish community in Egypt.