[All Africa] Hopes of finding the remains of Ancient Greek ruler Alexander the Great were lost on Thursday, when archaeologists opened a sarcophagus in Alexandria, Egypt. The coffin had been the largest ever found in the Mediterranean city, which had prompted theories and speculation about whether it might be his final resting place.The 2,000-year-old black granite sealed sarcophagus had been found this month by workers on an apartment building construction site. The large coffin weighed 30 metric tons.
Alexander the Great died in 323 BC in Babylon and his remains have never been found.
Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities had previously dismissed the notion that Alexander's remains inside the sarcophagus.
Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, attended the coffin opening. "We found the bones of three people, in what looks like a family burial... Unfortunately, the mummies inside were not in the best condition and only the bones remain," he said.
Waziri added that some of the remains had disintegrated, due to sewage water from a nearby building that had leaked in through a small crack in one of the sides of the tomb.
The opening of the long-sealed sarcophagus left many in Egypt fearful of the possibility that the act could unleash a 1,000-year curse. But Waziri was undeterred. "We've opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness," the Antiquities minister said.
"I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus... and here I stand before you ... I am fine," he added.