Memphis, Egypt
On its way back to Macedonia, the funerary cart with Alexander's body was met in Syria by one of Alexander's generals, the future ruler Ptolemy I Soter. In late 322 or early 321 BC Ptolemy diverted the body to Egypt where it was interred in Memphis, Egypt. In the late 4th or early 3rd century BC Alexander's body was transferred from the Memphis tomb to Alexandria for reburial (by Ptolemy Philadelphus in c. 280 BC, according to Pausanias). Later Ptolemy Philopator placed Alexander's body in Alexandria's communal mausoleum. Shortly after the death of Cleopatra, Alexander's resting place was visited by Augustus, who is said to have placed flowers on the tomb and a golden diadem upon Alexander's head. By the 4th century AD the resting place of Alexander was no longer known; later authors, such as Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, Al-Masudi and Leo the African, report having seen Alexander's tomb. Leo the African in 1491 and George Sandys in 1611 reportedly saw the tomb in Alexandria. According to one legend, the body lies in a crypt beneath an early Christian church.