AN UNPUBLISHED TERRACOTTA HEAD OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT WEARING A KAUSIA

Abstract

This article aims to publish a rare terracotta head of Alexander the Great preserved in the GrecoRoman Museum. The head depicts Alexander the Great wearing a cap called kausia. Alexander was not depicted with this cap before from Egypt despite some attempts to prove this. The study will include comparisons between our head and the previously published heads of Alexander the Great from Egypt. Also, the research spotlight on the Macedonian identity of Alexander. The kausia was a Macedonian headgear worn by the Macedonian kings after Alexander the Great, perhaps Alexander wore it after his campaign against India. Additionally, the kausia was worn by Macedonian boys and youth, as well as the Ptolemaic kings. It has been a distinctive headgear for the inhabitants of Afghanistan until now. Hence the importance of this rare head is strong and clear evidence of the correctness of what various literary sources mentioned in Alexander the Great wearing this cap, which was associated with chlamys and the krepides sandal.