Alexander the Great was crowned a pharaoh.
After taking control of the Levant in 332 BC, Alexander the Great marched his army into Egypt where local population greeted him with great joy and honor. The Egyptians saw invading Greeks as liberators from the oppressive rule of the Persians, who had exploited their land and suppressed their religious freedoms.
Arriving at the holy city of Memphis, Alexander took part in a festival in his name and showed great respect to the Egyptian gods with sacrificial offerings. The priests responded with placing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt on his head and furnishing him with the scepter and flail, symbols of kingly majesty and authority. The young king of Macedonia was now the pharaoh of Egypt, recognized as a living god, son of Ra and beloved of Amun.
Alexander later proceeded to Siwa, a holy oasis in the Libyan desert, where he hoped to expand his knowledge of own divine origin, ingrained by his mother. Olympias claimed that Alexander had been fathered by Zeus and was a descendant of Achilles. The newly crowned pharaoh was honored by the chief priest and let inside the temple. He emerged profoundly affected by what he had heard. Numerous ancient authors speculated on the details of this encounter but Alexander would not share them. Whatever he had heard, certainly reaffirmed his conviction that he was invincible and destined to rule the world.
