ALEXANDER THE FAKE?

The purported discovery of Alexander the Great's tomb in Egypt has blown into a full-fledged archaeologocal controversy just a day after Greek excavators announced the find. "We are sure," Liana Souvaltzi, head of the Greek team, said today, indicating three limestone tablets describing how the ancient world's greatest conquerer came to rest at the tomb, in the western Oasis of Siwa. Her team also found carved oak leaves worn in the crowns of Macedonian kings and an engraved eight-pointed star -- Alexander's own symbol. But several Egyptian and U.S. experts tell TIME the tomb could be anything from a later Roman construction to a mere pointer to where Alexander is really buried, to a showcase for tablets that might have been transported from elsewhere. Doubts will remain until the tomb is excavated and its contents extensively tested, says TIME science reporter Lawrence Mondi, who notes that other historical evidence indicates that Alexander's body was displayed hundreds of miles away in Alexandria for centuries after his death in 323 B.C.