According to a recent study, Alexander the Great, renowned for his military prowess, was believed to have been buried alive. The study suggests that he fell victim to a rare illness that rendered him paralyzed for six days, gradually stripping him of his motor functions, speech, and ability to breathe. Remarkably, it’s theorized that Alexander was still alive when his devoted soldiers began the burial preparations in 323 BC.
The lack of immediate signs of decomposition on Alexander’s body could be attributed to the fact that he was not yet deceased. As his condition deteriorated, it was speculated that his soldiers, unaware of the severity of his illness, proceeded with the funeral rites, potentially sealing his fate prematurely. This revelation sheds new light on the final moments of one of history’s most legendary figures, offering a glimpse into the circumstances surrounding his untimely demise.
During his illness, Alexander the Great experienced a form of paralysis known as “progressive, symmetrical, ascending paralysis.” Despite his severe illness, he maintained full control of his mental faculties until shortly before his passing.
Experts suggest that Alexander’s symptoms align closely with those of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder affecting the nervous system. GBS occurs when one’s immune system without knowledge attacks healthy nerve cells, leading to paralysis. Hall hypothesizes that Alexander may have contracted GBS from an infection of Campylobacter pylori, a common bacterium, during his time.
Alexander likely developed a variant of GBS that caused paralysis without inducing confusion or unconsciousness. This explanation provides a plausible account of the king’s symptoms, offering new insights into his mysterious circumstances in his final days.
Today, a scientific explanation sheds light on Alexander the Great’s death and the peculiar circumstances surrounding his burial. Dr. Katherine Hall, a lecturer at Dunedin School of Medicine in New Zealand, proposed in 2018 that Alexander suffered from Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an acute autoimmune disorder causing muscle paralysis.
Alexander’s symptoms align closely with those of GBS, which could have led to his paralysis. This suggests that Alexander may have been alive when physicians declared him dead, as his shallow breathing during a coma might have been mistaken for no breathing at all. If this scenario is accurate, it raises the unsettling possibility that Alexander was inadvertently killed during the embalming process, during which he would have been disemboweled.
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