Scientist Defends Stance That Ancient Tunic Belonged to Alexander the Great

Researchers believe they have found a tunic that once belonged to Alexander the Great among artifacts in the royal tombs in Vergina, Greece, which has brought debate in the archeological field.

The finding, led by Antonis Bartsiokas of Greece’s Democritus University of Thrace, could provide a rare tangible connection to the legendary Macedonian king. The garment, described in the Journal of Field Archaeology, consists of a purple-dyed cotton textile with layers of whitish huntite mineral and is known as a mesoleucon sarapis.

“In archaeology, it is very rare to have the find itself, its ancient description and its picture,” Bartsiokas told Newsweek. “Here, we have all three, and the identification of Alexander’s sarapis is conclusive.”

Several features point to the tunic’s royal significance. Cotton, a material foreign to ancient Greece, was imported from Persia, and the purple dye was reserved for elite use.

The garment was discovered in Tomb II alongside a golden scepter, oak wreath and diadem of Persian origins and near depictions of Persian gazelles in the tomb’s frieze. The researchers used advanced techniques, including gas chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, to determine what the tunic was made from.

The research team has also made bold claims about the tomb’s occupants. Using various testing techniques and historical references, they suggest that Tomb I contains the remains of Philip II, Alexander’s father; Tomb II holds Philip III, Alexander’s half-brother; and Tomb III contains Alexander IV, Alexander’s teenage son.

Discovered in 1977 near the town of Vergina, the royal tombs are part of an ancient city complex that once served as the capital of Macedon, one of antiquity’s most ambitious and expansionist kingdoms. The discovery was led by Manolis Andronicos, who died in 1992 having asserted that the tomb belonged to Philip II, Alexander’s father.

However, the findings have led to a debate in the archaeological community. Stella Drougou, emeritus professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and former lead excavator at the site, dismissed the claims as “baseless” and contradictory to previous excavation data, according to Greek newspaper ProtoThema.

Addressing the controversy surrounding the findings, Bartsiokas said, “The archaeologists in charge are not biological anthropologists, and the skeletal remains are those that the identification of the tombs is based on. So physical anthropology is not something they can fully grasp.”

He added, “Another main issue they have is that they do not publish in peer review journals, so their work is not reliable, whereas all my papers on Vergina are in peer review journals. Also, their reputation is at stake.”

James Romm, a classics professor at Bard College and author of Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire, offered a more nuanced view. While suggesting Bartsiokas’ theories could be legitimate, he told The New York Times that resistance stems from “a combination of reverence for Philip II and reverence for Andronicus.”

However, Romm cautions that some aspects of Bartsiokas’ interpretation, particularly regarding the tomb’s frieze, are “harder to defend.”

The presence of Alexander’s tunic in his half-brother’s tomb remains unexplained, though researchers speculate it might relate to Philip III’s succession after Alexander’s death.

The location of Alexander the Great’s final resting place remains unknown.

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Reference

Bartsiokas, A. (n.d.). The Identification of the Sacred “Chiton” (Sarapis) of Pharaoh Alexander the Great in Tomb II at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology, 0(0), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2024.2409503