This late 4th century BC Alexander Sarchophagus is the Istanbul Archaeological Museum's greatest treasure.
It is so named because of the relief sculpture wrapping around the sides of the sarchophagus.
It is not however, the sarchophagus of Alexander the Great, who is supposed to have died and been
interred in Alexandria, Egypt.
The Alexander Sarcophagus was discovered at a necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon in 1887.

The carvings on the sides of the piece depict Alexander fighting the Persians at the Battle of Issus.
The subject matter's imagery is possibly borrowed form a lost painting of the subject, and known from a mosaic
in the Naples Museum.

The historiated composition wraps around the sarchophagus on both ends and the opposite side.
Originally the sarchophagus was brightly painted and one can see traces of this in the image above.