Alexander in Egypt

Alexander entered Egypt in 331 B.C.E. after his journey down the Phoenician coast. When he arrived, he was welcomed, and he ordered a city to be designed and founded in his name at the mouth of the Nile. He was inspired to choose its site by his personal interpretation of a scene from Homer's Odyssey. The city, Alexandria, would become one of the major cultural centers in the Mediterranean world in the following centuries.

While in Egypt, Alexander spontaneously decided to make the dangerous trip across the desert to visit the oracle at the temple of Zeus Ammon. On the way, he was blessed with abundant rain, and he was guided across the desert by ravens. At the temple, Alexander spoke to the oracle about matters that are unclear to most historians. Many sources, however, speculated that the priest told Alexander that he was the son of Zeus Ammon and that he was destined to rule the world.

He was then made pharaoh voluntarily by the Egyptians, who despised living under Persian rule. He exchanged letters with Darius while he was in Egypt, and the Persian offered a truce with Alexander with a gift of several western provinces of the Persian Empire, but Alexander refused to make peace unless he could have the whole empire. In the middle of 331 B.C.E., Alexander marched back to Persia to find Darius.

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