Hephaestion's tomb in Ecbatana

[Cyrus]

http://www.livius.org/ea-eh/ecbatana/ecbatana.htmlWhat do you know about it?

[susan]

It's not his tomb - he was cremated in Babylon; a tomb for his ashes would probably have been built there by alexander if he had lived.I think that Alexander erected statues of lions to fallen companions, and this was one such. I believe that there is a Lion statue at Chaeronea, and that lions were erected at Granicus, although I have not checked the sources.
Robin Lane Fox says that the ladies of Hamadan, in recent years, smeared jam on the nose of the lion, in the hopes of easy childbirth - so maybe Hephaestion has achieved an unlikely semi-divine status after all.There's been some speculation that the lion symbol of the Mauryan empire of Chandragupta & Asoka derives from Alexander's lion memorials.Susan

[ruthaki]

The Lion of Chaeronia was erected for the dead in that famous battle. The Lion of Amphipolis is believed to be a funeral monument for one of Alexander's soldiers (but not certain). It was ereced about 319 BC. I believe the one at Ecbatana was also just symbolic, not the tomb, because the cremation and burial of Hephaestion was at Babylons (Alexander tore down one of the walls to erect it.) And I believe there was also a temple-tomb in Heph's honour built in Alexandrea.