Occupying an area of 3500 square meters, the Hellenistic Cemetery of Shatby is situated at the heart of modern Alexandria (district of Shatby). In antiquity, this area was just a few hundred meters outside the east walls of Hellenistic Alexandria (close to present-day Suez Canal street). The use of the cemetery began in late 4th century BCE, about a couple of decades following the foundation of the city by Alexander of Macedon ("the Great"), and continued for the following three centuries. Several Alexandrians of Shatby were first generation immigrants from areas of the Greek World including Macedon, Thessaly, Crete, Asia Minor and the Cyrenaica.
