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The present Mosque of Nabi Danial was built at the end of the 18th46 century and restored in 1823 by Mohammed Ali. A smaller shrine, probably the mosque of Dzoul Karnein - the Sire with the two horns - preexisted on the site47. The location is very close to the intersection of the ancient Via Canopica and the street R5. In its crypt there is a catafalque, made in the Moslem tradition. It is said to contain the remains of the scholar and venerated teacher Prophet Daniel and his companion Sidi Lokman el Hakim, a religious story-teller.
The Arab legend of the Prophet Daniel appeared during the 9th century and was told by two astronomers: Mohamed Ibn Kathir el Farghani and Abou Ma'shar48 . The story is interesting because it differs greatly from the Bible and has similarities with Alexander's story. It is mentioned that "a young Jew, Daniel, was persecuted and chased from Syria by the idolaters whom he had tried to convert. An old man appeared in a dream urging him to go to war against the infidels and promising victory over all of Asia. Daniel acquired numerous followers in Egypt, where he had sought refuge, and built Alexandria. Obeying what the old man had ordered him in his dream, he made war against the infidels. After a successful expedition, he returned to Alexandria and died of old age. His body was placed in a golden sarcophagus inlaid with precious stones, but the Jews stole it to mint coins and replaced it with a stone sarcophagus".
A Russian monk, Vassili Grigorovich Barskij49 , visited Alexandria in 1727 and 1730 and made a plan of the city. Near the Kom el Dick mound he drew a small Mohammedan shrine, among ruins, that could well be the predecessor of the Nabi Danial Mosque. I cannot refer to his written description of the city, as Barskij's work is only partially translated and only fragments have been studied.
The Danish Captain Norden visited the town in 1737, but tried in vain to find the tomb of Alexander50.
Similarly, James Bruce 30 years later in 1768 looked for the tomb of the Great Macedonian, "asking the Arabs, the Jews, the Greeks51 and others, but none were able to show him the location".
However, at the end of the 18th century, Sestrini was shown the sarcophagus in the Attarine mosque as having been Alexander's tomb.
In 1803, a Russian prelate from Kiev, the archimandrite Konstantios52 , tried without success to locate Alexander's Mausoleum, noting that he… "looked in vain for… the tomb of Alexander the Great, the tomb of the man whose life's course was above the faith of common mortals...;" he continues, saying that "until the 15th century the location was known but now even the tradition of this tomb has been lost...", adding that "beyond any doubt the remains survived under the great masses of the city's ruins".
It is interesting to note that, strangely enough Konstantios, in his writing, and Barskij53 in his plan do not mention either of the Mosques. Were they have shown one of the Mosques as being the location of Alexander's tomb, and was it because of bigotry or because of their superior knowledge of history that they do not even mention these humble Mohammedan shrines as possible remains of the famous Mausoleum?
A new impulse was given to the legend of the tomb of Alexander the Great in the middle of the 19th century. In 185054 a certain Scilitzis of the known Greek family in Alexandria, dragoman-interpreter to the Russian consulate of the town, produced a fantastic story.
It happened that, while guiding some European travellers entrusted to his care, he entered the crypt of the Nabi Danial Mosque. He "descended into a narrow and dark subterranean passage and came to a wooden worm-eaten door. Looking through the cracks of the planks he saw a body with the head slightly raised lying in a crystal coffin. On the head, there was a golden diadem. Around were scattered papyri, scrolls and books. He tried to remain longer in the vault but he was pulled away by one of the monks of the Mosque, and notwithstanding his repeated attempts to return, he was forbidden the area of the Crypt. Scilitzis apparently made a written report to the Russian Consul and to the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria55.
It is obvious that Scilitzis had read Dion Cassius and may have had access to the subterranean passage under the Mosque, but he is not telling the truth. How can we believe that in the humid climate of Alexandria, papyri and books could have survived for over two millenia?
Unlike Ambroise Scilitzis's story, which may be described as an enormous hoax56, we cannot dismiss as such the written report of Mahmoud Bey el Falaki. This learned Egyptian astronomer and engineer visited the crypts under the Nabi Danial Mosque some ten years after Scilitzis while trying to carry our the difficult task of drawing a map of the ancient town as ordered in 1865 by the Khedive Ismail57.
In Mahmoud Bey's report, he says that : "During my visit to the vaults under that building I entered a large room with an arched roof built on the ground level of the town. From this paved room inclined corridors started out in four different directions. Because of their length and their bad state I could not survey them entirely. The rich quality of the stones used in the construction and numerous other indications confirmed my belief that these subterranean passages must have led to the tomb of Alexander the Great. I therefore, contemplated returning and resuming my investigations, but unfortunately this was forbidden to me by a superior order and all the entrance ways were walled up"58.
El Falaki was not an archaeologist, so we can be skeptical about his conclusions, but I would not question his sincerity and he must be considered as a reliable witness.
His description raises some questions: Who decided and why, to force El Falaki to suspend his survey of the subterranean passages? Falaki was working for a project sponsored by the reigning Khedive. Why did he not appeal to his powerful patron? Why did he drop his investigation?
But, before the end of the 19th century, we have a story that must be taken with reservation. It concerns the alleged discovery made in 1879 by a chief mason and the Cheih of the Nabi Danial Mosque. The story goes that while doing some masonry work in the basement they supposedly entered the vault and reached an inclined subterranean passage. They both walked for some distance and could discern some monuments made of granite ending with an angular summit. The mason wanted to proceed further but the Cheih ordered him to return. The entrance was walled up and the mason was asked not to reveal that incident59.
The specific connection of Alexander with the site of Nabi Danial mosque is attested at least from the earlier part of the 19th century by Yacub Artin Pacha, who wrote to Zogheb60.
Photos: (top) The Mosque of Nabi Danial - photograph from the beginning of the 20th century; (middle) head of Alexander; (bottom) Engraving of the Alexandrian Catacombs.
Notes:
46. According to Fraser the foundation of this mosque may go back to the XVth c. P.M. Fraser op. cit., p. 38.
47. Cited by Ibn Abd-el-Hakim, who died in 871 A.D. in his account of the mosques of Alexandria. This author stipulates that "the mosque of Dzoul-Karnein was situated near the gate of the city and its exit. [p. 484 transl. Bouriant Mιm. Miss. Arch. Franη. XVII. I (1893)].
48. A. Bernard, "Alexandrie la Grande", Rev. Arch., (1956,5).E.Combe, cited by E. Breccia, "Le tombeau d'Alex. le Grand", in Le Musιe Grec-Rom. 1925-1931 (1932), pp. 37-48 and pl. XXVII-XXXI.
49. Grigorovich Barskij. Η περιήγηση του Βασιλείου Γ.Β. στους Άγιους Τόπους της Ανατολής από το 1723 ως το 1747,εκδιδομένη από την Ορθόδοξη Παλαιστινιακή Εταιρεία, με επιμέλεια του N. Barzoukov. Πετρούπολη (1885-1887).
50. F.L. Norden, Travels in Egypt and Nubia, translated from the original, p. 33. London (1757).
51. M.F. Awad [ROMM 46, (1987) 4] mentions that in the census of 1801, there were 40 Greek families in Alexandria. It should be noted that after the Arab conquest, there is no reference to the Greek community giving information about Alex.'s tomb. The reports are always Arabs.
52. Αρχαία Αλεξάνδρεια - Περιγραφή του Κιαίβου - Αικατερινο-Γραικού Μοναστητίου - Αρχιμανδρίτου Κωνσταντίου. Μόσκοβα (1803).
53. Barskij plan contains several annotations of the monuments and locations considered of importance.
54. A. Max de Zogheb, Etudes sur l'Anc. Alex., (1909).
55. Th. Moshonas of the Patriarchate of Alexandria looked for this document in the Patriarchate's archives but could not trace it. Β. Μοσχονάς, "Ο Τάφος του Μ. Αλεξάνδρου", Κρίκος, London, (Ιούνιος1957).
56. A Bernard, "Alexandrie la Grande", Rev. Arch. (1956, 1), p. 235.
57. It is worth noting that M. Dimitsas in this important work on Alexandria, based on literary sources does not mention Scilitzis story. Ιστορία της Αλεξάνδρειας. Εν Αθήνας (1885).
58. A. Max de Zogheb, Etudes sur l'anc. Alex., (1909), p. 160.
59. A. Max de Zogheb, Etudes sur l'anc. Alex., (1909), pp. 161-162.
60. "Aussi loin que se reporte ma mιmoire, je me souviens de la mosquιe Nebi Daniel, et ce souvenir est indissolublement liι dans mon esprit avec le nom d'Alex.; car il m'a toujours ιtι dit qu'elle contenait le tombeau du Macedonien, et je crois mκme que c'etait en 1850 la croyance gιnιrale ΰ Alex." quoted by Fraser p. 39.