The story around Alexander’s copy of the Iliad

Throughout history, it transpires that Alexander liked to present himself as the new Achilles. His Companions jokingly said it was because he slept with Homer's Iliad under his pillow. 

Page from the Iliad found in Egypt, 
APM Amsterdam

This statement may be far-fetched, but Plutarch confirms that Alexander kept his copy of the Iliad in a jeweled casket. It was the king’s proud possession since the precious scrolls were given to him by his earlier teacher, Aristotle, who had commented on the script. 

Ironically, the luxurious box may have belonged to the Persian King Darius. After the Macedonians were victorious at the Battle of Issus, it fell into Alexander's hands, who considered it worthy to hold the scrolls of his beloved Iliad. 

What history does not provide is a detailed description of the box and what King Darius kept inside. 

It is everyone’s guess if the casket was made of wood and inlaid with precious stones, or perhaps made of gold with intricate decorations. 

As to its contents, it may well have held the translation of the ancient Persian Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrian belief written originally in Avestan, an old eastern Iranian language that dates back to 1400 BC. Zoroaster was the first to teach humanity the doctrines of Heaven and Hell, the Resurrection of the body, the Last Judgment, and Eternal Life. These principles spread among mankind to be picked up eventually by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Avesta must have been key to Darius’ ideology, and these ancient texts were his most prized possession. 

Zoroastrian Temple of Fire, Yazd, Iran

Nothing more is heard about Darius’ Avesta. I find it hard to believe that Alexander would have discarded these texts. The wrath of the gods was something to reckon with. Besides, he always respected people’s beliefs, and there is no reason to simply dispose of the Avesta. There were enough men in his entourage who understood and spoke Persian to recognize the content. Our history mentions Leonnatus by name when he visits the Persian Queen Mother in Issus to reassure her that her son, King Darius, was still alive, although not victorious. Alexander may well have given the Avesta texts to Queen Sisygambis, why not? 

However, some tales take a life of their own. In the first centuries of the Abbasid Empire in Persia (750-1258), it was believed that Alexander had stolen all the Persian books, which had to be translated back from Greek into Arabic to make them available to the Persians once again, who by now had adopted the Arabic script.

While in the West, the ancient world collapsed with the Fall of Rome in 476 AD, the knowledge of antiquity survived in the Eastern Roman Empire. The Abbasid Caliphs largely contributed to preserving the knowledge of the ancient Greeks.  Their work, except poetry and history, was translated initially into Syriac and later into Arabic as spoken at their court. As a result, the well-known works on geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and most of Aristotle’s oeuvre were saved.  Without the arduous efforts of their skilled translators, not even the Renaissance could have saved our Greek heritage. 

The Abbasid and Persian angle of perception of the facts was obviously different from ours, and led them to believe that Alexander had simply stolen the Persian books. Other sources argued that they were burned in Persepolis when Alexander set the Palace ablaze.