The Glory of Kings

In addressing the king, [the god] says: "I am your father. Your limbs original: "members" were created as are those of the gods. I took the form of the Ram, the Lord of Tet original: "Ṭeṭ"; the city of Mendes, and I was intimate with your noble mother."

Four lines of Egyptian hieroglyphs representing the text quoted above. The characters include various phonetic and ideographic signs such as a seated deity, a ram, a seated woman, birds, and jars.

A thousand years later, a story emerged in Egypt claiming that Alexander the Great was the son of the Egyptian god Amen. Alexander’s advisors quickly used this story to advance their leader's interests. They argued that if Alexander is the son of Amen, then he is the rightful king of Egypt, and the Egyptians must recognize him as such.

However, for their plan to work, it was necessary for Amen himself to acknowledge Alexander as his son. Therefore, they took him to the Siwah original: "Sîwah" Oasis in the Libyan Desert and presented him to the god Amen of Libya. The god confirmed that Alexander was his son, and the priesthood of Amen accepted this divine declaration. The Egyptians believed that the holy blood of Amen flowed through Alexander’s veins. As a result, he became the "King of the South and the North" and "Governor of the Domain of Horus" These are traditional titles for the Pharaoh, signifying rule over all of Egypt without having to fight a single battle.

Local writers and storytellers—such as the author known as the Pseudo-Callisthenes A collection of legends and fictionalized accounts of Alexander the Great's life—claimed that when Nectanebus II, the last native king of Egypt, fled the country, he went to Macedonia original: "Macedon". There, he established himself as a magician. While there, he became acquainted with Queen Olympias, who wanted to find out from him if...

¹ Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology original: "Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.", volume 7, plate facing page 119, lines 3 and 4 (edited by Naville).