A few years ago I read this book about how Alexander the Great& #39;s body got misidentified as St Mark& #39;s when it was smuggled out of Alexandria by two well-meaning Copts during the 7th c Islamic conquests, and is still in Vienna today. 1/

Later I visited Vienna (unrelated trip) and checked out a small museum of artifacts from Mark& #39;s crypt dated to the cathedral& #39;s founding.

This relief of a Macedonian shield and sarissa (dated to 4th c BCE by an Hellenic expert) was found in the tomb adjacent to the sarcophagus.

Basically the idea is that the shrine of Alexander& #39;s tomb fell into disrepair and was eventually forgotten in Coptic Christian Alexandria.

A 4th c Bishop referrered to Alexander& #39;s grave as lost in a sermon illustration, to emphasize how all human glory fades.

Around the 4th century, however, Mark& #39;s tomb (Mark is thought to have been martyred in Alexandria) became a source of serious Coptic pride, and a major pilgrimage destination.

Mark& #39;s body is said to have been embalmed - just like Alexander& #39;s.

The story goes that, soon after Alexander& #39;s city fell to & #39;Amr& #39;s conquering seige forces, two Copts took Mark& #39;s body from the shrine and hid it in a merchant vessel& #39;s shipment of pork. Muslim inspectors left the haram shipment alone, and the copts sailed to Byzantine Venice.

And St Mark& #39;s tomb has been the centerpoint of Venice& #39;s Bascillica ever since.

The guy who put this theory together has asked the Venetian bishopric and the Italian govt to evaluate St Mark& #39;s body - to no avail, of course.

Anyway that& #39;s the story as I& #39;ve heard it. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✌" title="Victory hand" aria-label="Emoji: Victory hand">