Belevi Mausoleum

The intended occupant of the tomb may have been Antigonus Monophthalmus (r. 323-301) or Lysimachus (r. 323-281), and it may subsequently have been the burial place of the Seleucid king Antiochus II Theos (r. 261–246 BC).

[5] The name of the mausoleum derives from the modern village of Belevi where the monument is located[6] and sits on an isolated hillside.

Some posit that it was first erected as a royal tomb by Antigonos Monophthalmus or Lysimachus, two of the Diadochi or successors of Alexander the Great, who ruled western Asia Minor in the late fourth century BC.

[12][13] The tomb was finally used in 246 BC by Laodice I who buried her husband Antiochus II there after he died mysteriously while visiting her,[3][14] and various ornaments were added.

[15] Some have dated the mausoleum to 333 BC, based on the assumption that it was the tomb of the admiral Memnon of Rhodes, who in that year died in a naval encounter before Lesbos.

[1] The Belevi Mausoleum has only recently received thorough publication, though articles and discussions on individual features of the monument have been written since the 1930s.

Ten courses of large neatly cut ashlars, 69–88 cm high, which constituted the facing of the podium, made for a total height of 11.37 m.[19] A low architrave, 45 cm high, and a higher Doric frieze of triglyphs and metopes[20] ran around the top of the podium.

The south side had a deep recess that was cut into the rock core for the burial chamber, which was placed in the center and sealed from outside.

The chamber which Antiochus II was buried in was a small vestibule with a rectangular back room for his body to be put in a barrel-vault.

The panels facing north represented funeral games with the reliefs of the other sides dealt with a centauromachy.

The male figure was formerly crowned with a wreath and held a bowl in its right hand which formed together with standing statue of an oriental servant.

[10] When Antiochus II died, Laodice I added in addition architectural and sculptural elements for the monument.