Death of Alexander the Great The death of Alexander the Great and subsequent related events have been the subjects of debates . According to a Babylonian astronomical diary , Alexander died between the evening of June 10 and the evening of June 11 , 323 BC . This happened in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon . Macedonians and local residents wept at the news of the death , while Achaemenid subjects shaved their heads . Sisygambis , having learned of Alexander ' s death , refused sustenance and died a few days later . Historians vary in their assessments of primary sources about Alexander ' s death , which results in different views . Background . In February 324 BC , Alexander ordered his armies to prepare for the march to Babylon . According to Arrian , after crossing the Tigris Alexander was met by Chaldea ns , who advised him not to enter the city because their deity Bel had warned them that to do so at that time would be fatal for Alexander . The Chaldeans also warned Alexander against marching westwards as he would then look to the setting sun , a symbol of decline . It was suggested that he enter Babylon via the Royal Gate , in the western wall , where he would face to the east . Alexander followed this advice , but the route turned to be unfavorable because of swampy terrain . According to Jona Lendering , " it seems that in May 323 " the Babylonian astrologers tried to avert the misfortune by substituting Alexander with an ordinary person on the Babylonian throne , who would take the brunt of the omen . The Greeks , however , did not understand that ritual . Prophecy of Calanus . Calanus was likely to be Hindu Naga sadhu , whom Greeks called gymnosophists . He had accompanied the Greek army back from Punjab , upon request by Alexander . He was seventy - three years of age at that time . However , when Persian weather and travel fatigue weakened him , he informed Alexander that he would rather die than live disabled . He decided to take away his life by self - immolation . Although , Alexander tried to desist him from doing so but upon the insistence of Calanus , Alexander relented and the job of building a pyre was entrusted to Ptolemy . The place where this incident took place was Susa in the year 323 B . C . Calanus is mentioned also by Alexander ' s admiral , Nearchus and Chares of Mytilene . He did not flinch as he burnt to the astonishment of those who watched . Before , immolating himself alive on pyre , his last words to Alexander were " We shall meet in Babylon " . Thus he is said to have prophesied death of Alexander in Babylon . At the time of death of Calanus , Alexander , however , did not have any plan to go to Babylon . No one understood the meaning of his words " We shall meet in Babylon " . It was only after Alexander fell sick and died in Babylon , Greeks came to realize what Calanus intended to convey . Causes . Proposed causes of Alexander ' s death included alcoholic liver disease and strychnine poisoning , but little data support either version . According to the University of Maryland School of Medicine report of 1998 , Alexander probably died of typhoid fever ( which , along with malaria , was common in ancient Babylon ) . In the week before Alexander ' s death , historical accounts mention chills , sweats , exhaustion and high fever , typical symptom s of infectious diseases , including typhoid fever . According to David W . Oldach from the University of Maryland Medical Center , Alexander also had " severe abdominal pain , causing him to cry out in agony " . The associated account , however , comes from unreliable Alexander romance . Previous most popular theories hold that Alexander either died of malaria or was poisoned . Other retrodiagnoses include noninfectious diseases as well . According to author Andrew Chugg , there is evidence Alexander died of malaria , having contracted it two weeks before his death while sailing in the marshes to inspect flood defences . Chugg based his argument on " Ephemerides " by otherwise unknown Diodotus of Erythrae , although the authenticity of this source has been questioned . It was also noted that the absence of the signature fever curve of " Plasmodium falciparum " ( the expected parasite , given Alexander ' s travel history ) diminishes the possibility of malaria . The malaria version was nonetheless supported by Paul Cartledge . In " Alexander the Great : The Death of a God " , Paul C . Doherty claimed that Alexander was poisoned with arsenic by his possibly illegitimate half - brother Ptolemy I Soter . Throughout the centuries suspicions of possible poisoning have fallen on a number of alleged perpetrators , including one of Alexander ' s wives , his generals , his illegitimate half - brother or the royal cup - bearer . The poisoning version is featured particularly in politically motivated " Liber de Morte Testamentoque Alexandri " ( " The Book On the Death and Testament of Alexander " ) , which tries to discredit the family of Antipater . It was argued that the book was compiled in Polyperchon ' s circle , not before ca . 317 BC . Epidemiologist John Marr and Charles Calisher put forward the West Nile fever as possible cause of Alexander ' s death . This version was deemed as " fairly compelling " by the University of Rhode Island epidemiologist Thomas Mather , who nonetheless noted that the West Nile virus tends to kill the elders or those with weakened immune systems . The version of Marr and Calisher was also criticized by Burke A . Cunha from Winthrop University Hospital . According to analysis of other authors in response to Marr and Calisher , the West Nile virus could not have infected humans before the 8th century AD . Other causes that have been put forward include acute pancreatitis provoked by " heavy alcohol consumption and a very rich meal " , acute endocarditis , schistosomiasis brought on by " Schistosoma haematobium " , and porphyria . Fritz Schachermeyr proposed leukemia and malaria . When Alexander ' s symptoms were entered to the Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network , influenza gained the highest probability ( 41 . 2 % ) on the list of differential diagnoses . However , according to Cunha , the symptoms and time course of Alexander ' s disease are inconsistent with influenza , as well as with malaria , schistosomiasis and poisoning in particular . Other theories include poisoning of Alexander ' s drinks in small doses by Callistenes , his royal historian and advisor . Body preservation . One ancient account reports that the planning and construction of an appropriate funerary cart to convey the body out from Babylon took two years from the time of Alexander ' s death . It is not known exactly how the body was preserved for about two years before it was moved from Babylon . In 1889 E . A . Wallis Budge suggested that the body was submerged in a vat of honey , while Plutarch reported treatment by Egyptian embalmers . Egyptian and Chaldea n embalmers who arrived on June 16 are said to have attested to Alexander ' s lifelike appearance . This was interpreted as a complication of typhoid fever , known as ascending paralysis , which causes a person to appear dead prior to death . Resting place . 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 in 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 .