I received encouraging feedback on my earlier Blog on Alexander The Great.
I want to share with you the wisdom of this great Conqueror who died at the young age of 32 years old.
On Alexander’s deathbed, he supposedly gathered his closest, top generals and told them of his three final wishes.
First – only the world’s best doctors should carry his coffin.
Second – the vast economic wealth he’d accumulated over his lifetime (gold, precious stones, ornaments) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery.
Third – his hands should hang outside of his coffin for all who gathered to view.
One of his top generals then asked for the explanation of Alexander’s requests.
The reason for the first request – he wanted the finest doctors to carry his coffin so that all who gathered at his funeral procession would see that even the greatest medicine available had no power to prevent a human from dying.
The reason for the second request – he wanted the the streets to be littered with his gold and other financial wealth so everyone in attendance would appreciate that money made on Earth remains on Earth after we die.
The reason for the third request – he wanted his hands to hang outside his coffin so that his followers would realise and never forget that we are born with nothing and we die empty-handed.
Below are my fond memories of Alexandria in 1998. When I see these photographs, I see a changed world where free-spirited travels are not the norm any more. But I guess the young wanderlusters will adopt and adapt.
Me at Fort Qaitbay in Alexandria, Egypt, 1998 (above image).
View of the Alexandria coast from my Sheraton Montazah hotel room balcony, 1998 (above image).
Be sure to read my previous “Alexander The Great” blog.
Alexander the Great in Egyptian Hieroglyphics (above image).
When I stood in front of this ancient wonder, I obviously didn’t understand any of the hieroglyphics but “it spoke to me” of it’s historical significance. Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics were the formal writing system used in ancient Egypt, combing ideographic, logographic, syllable and alphabetic elements.
On the subject of foreign currencies as in the Alexander the Great coin (above image), for me the Lesson to be learned is Travel Extensively when you are young, curious and financially-able. Treat it as more valuable than what you read and derive from good books because what you see, eat, drink, speak (refrain from being loud, it’s no longer about you), smell and interacting with the Locals is Real.
Do not put off travelling only until your Wallet is Fat but your Body-Functions are Depleted – bad knees, bad memory, short-tempered, hard to get along, close-minded, cardiac complications, deflated lungs, bad eye sight, vulnerable to tourist-scams etc.
Travelling makes you Wise and Worldly.
As I said before – In School we study, in Life we learn.
