The marble head of Alexander the Great [1], dated to the 2nd century BC, was discovered in Autumn 1900, during excavations at the Lower Agora of the Pergamon Acropolis, and is thought to have been made in the city.

The head is now one of the most popular attractions in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. There are are also plaster casts in the Bergama Museum and the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

Alexandros III of Macedonia (Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, Alexandros o Megas, Alexander the Great, 356-323 BC), son of Philip II of Macedonia (382-336 BC).

Alexander is said to have studied Xenophon's book Anabasis (which includes the earliest known historical mention of Pergamon, see History of Pergamon) as a field guide to Anatolia before embarking on his campaign against the Persian king Darius III. In 334 BC Alexander defeated Darius on the River Granicus (near modern Çanakkele). As he marched through western Anatolia, Pergamon surrendered to him, and he appointed Barsine, the widow of the Persian commander, as administrator.

After Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC, his generals and relations (the Diadochi, or successors) waged war on each other for control of parts of his empire. Eventually, in 301 BC Lysimachus (360-281 BC), king of Thrace, took control of western Anatolia, including Pergamon. With the great riches he had accumulated as the spoils of war, he began rebuilding ancient cities such as Ephesus, and several new cities appeared in Anatolia.

Alexander is said to have taken great care in choosing artists to portray him and deciding how he should be represented. Apart from the type of portrait above, the original of which is thought to be by his personal sculptor Lysippos, he was also shown in sculpture and coins in the guise of a god such as Herakles, Ammon or Pan to ascert his claims to divine descent. See images on Pella gallery, page 5, in the My Favourite Planet guide to Pella, Macedonia Greece.

1. Head of Alexander the Great from Pergamon

Marble. Height 42 cm.
Hellenistic period, first half of the 2nd century BC.
Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
Inv. No. 1138 T. Cat. Mendel 538.

See: Gustave Mendel (1873-1938), Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines, Tome Second, pages 254-255. Musée Impérial, Constantinople (Istanbul), 1914.

This sculpture and many of the other exhibits in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums were described in a large three-volume catalogue in French, compiled between 1912 and 1914 by Gustave Mendel (1873-1938) who was the curator of the museum, then known as Müze-i Hümayun (the Imperial Museum).

Mendel's Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines, usually abbreviated to "Cat. Mendel", remains an important work for scholars, and its numbering sequence for museum objects is still used for reference.

2. Statue of Alexander the Great from Manisa

See more photos of this statue on the Alexander the Great page in the MFP People section.

Mid 3rd century BC. White marble. Height 190 cm.
Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 709. Cat. Mendel 536.

An over life-size marble statue of Alexander the Great, wearing a himation (cloak) around his
left shoulder and lower body, and with his left hand holding the handle of his sheathed sword.

Excavated in 1895 by K. Buresch at the sanctuary of Meter Sipylene (Kybele), on the slopes of Mount Syplos, Magnesia ad Sipylum, Lydia (Manisa, western Turkey). Found with a marble base inscribed with a dedication to Meter Sipylene, the local mother goddess, and the signature of Menas of Pergamon:

Μηνᾶς Αἴαντος Περγαμηνὸς ἐποίησεν

(Menas Aiantos Pergamenos epoisen)

Menas of Pergamon, son of Aias, made [it]

Inscribed marble base, also in Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
Inv. No. 744 T. Cat. Mendel 537.
Inscription: Tituli Asiae Minoris, TAM V 2, 1358.

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