Friday, October 2, 2015
The Tomb of Amphipolis - one of the Top 10 discoveries of 2014 according to the Archaelogical Institute of America, and one that generated mounts of speculation as to its identity and contents - was commissioned and financed by Alexander the Great in honour of his beloved friend and general in his army, Hephaestion, it was revealed Wednesday September 30. 
In the course of a presentation at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, "Searching Kasta Hill in Amphipolis 2012-2014", chief archaeologist at the excavation Katerina Peristeri described the new evidence and insisted on her initial view that it is a memorial constructed at the end of the 4thCentury BC.According to Peristeri, the findings revealed that the tomb was designed by architects Dinokrates or Stesikrates and erected at the end of the 4thcentury BC by Antigonus I Monophthalmus.
The archaeological team was able to decode three inscriptions recently found in the area uncovering the mystery. Michalis Lefantzis, the architect responsible for the excavation, said that the secret of the tomb lies on the monument’s top, where a wooden pole was placed to support the Lion, with the inscriptions revealing the name 'Hephaestion' through a monogram.
