Alexander found Cyrus the Great's tomb robbed and the body thrown out, and tortured its hereditary guards, who named no one

Arrian, using the account of Alexander's officer Aristobulus, describes the tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae: a golden coffin holding the body, a couch with golden feet, Babylonian tapestries, purple rugs, robes, and collars, sabres and earrings of gold and jewels. A family of Magi had guarded it since the reign of Cambyses, each son succeeding his father. The king paid them a sheep and fixed amounts of flour and wine each day, and a horse each month to sacrifice to Cyrus. When Alexander came back from India he found the tomb broken into. The thieves had torn off the coffin lid, thrown out the corpse, and tried to cut the coffin down to carry it off. The inscription read, "I am Cyrus, son of Cambyses, who founded the empire of the Persians." Alexander had Aristobulus restore the tomb and seal the door with stone and plaster. He arrested the Magi and had them tortured to name the robbers; they confessed nothing and were released. In the Middle Ages the tomb was called the tomb of Solomon's mother, and the Salghurid ruler Sa'd ibn Zangi (1203-31) built a mosque around it. James Morier proposed in 1812 that it was Cyrus's tomb. Mosque remains were cleared away in 1971. No source records what became of the body.