The Sidon Sarcophagi

What it is

This is a report of a lecture by Canon C. G. Curtis, given in 1894 to the British Institute in Constantinople. It was reprinted from the Levant Herald in the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement. The lecture discusses sarcophagi, stone coffins, found in a sepulchre at Sidon, and one of them is called the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. The record notes that this name is a traditional label, given in quotation marks as 'so-called'.

Why it matters

The Sidon sarcophagi were found in the late 1880s and placed in a room built for them in the Museum of Antiquities at Constantinople. Their director, Hamdy Bey, was preparing a publication about them. The lecture shows how scholars in the 1890s debated whether a fine stone coffin really belonged to the king, a question that still matters to historians of Alexander.

Look closer

• Why does the lecturer say 'so-called' before naming the sarcophagus of Alexander, and what does that word suggest about the evidence?
• Who reported this lecture, and where was it first published, and how might that affect what we trust?
• What questions about the object does this report leave unanswered?