Archaeologists in Israel uncover 1,700-year-old Roman-era statues buried face down

An archaeological excavation in Israel recently revealed ancient faces that haven't been seen in centuries.

Two statues were discovered near Binyamina, Israel, according to a June 15 press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Archaeologists were digging ahead of construction of a coastal high-speed railway when they found two marble statues in the wine collection pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress, the IAA said.

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The statues, which date back around 1,700 years, depict two unknown figures from the ancient Greco-Roman world.

One of the statues bears a Greek inscription with the name "Lycurgus," according to officials.

Michael Sorotskin, an IAA archaeologist who helped find the statues, called the discovery "simply wondrous."

"While digging the winepress, something was sticking out of the ground, and the workers called me," said Sorotskin in the release. "There was a feeling that we were about to discover something that really shouldn't be there."

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"Suddenly, we saw that this was not the usual pottery – it was marble," he added. "Then, slowly, slowly, the two statues were revealed. I'm still struggling to find the right words."

Eliran Oren and Avishag Reiss, the excavation directors for the project, said the statues were found "neatly laid, face down." It appeared they had been intentionally buried when the winepress went out of use.

"At present, it is not known why the statues were hidden here – perhaps to preserve them," Oren and Reiss said in a joint statement.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery."

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"It was very unexpected, but somehow, the really big discoveries always turn up on the excavation’s very last day," they added.

Peter Gendelman, a Caesarea region expert from the IAA, said the discovery was the first of its kind in roughly three decades.

The "Lycurgus" statue could depict two different men, one named Lycurgus of Sparta and another named Lycurgus of Athens, Gendelman said.

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"Possibly this statue may prove to be one of these two historical figures, but our research is just beginning," he said.

The statues were likely displayed in public buildings or the homes of wealthy residents during the Roman period as a way to "connect themselves to the cultural and spiritual world of antiquity," the expert noted.

"Not far from the discovery site, remains of a bathhouse were previously uncovered, and it is possible that the statues decorated a luxurious villa of a Caesarea resident," he said.

Researchers are currently cleaning and conserving the statues before analyzing them further, in hopes of determining exactly whom they depict.

The discovery is the latest in a series of notable archaeological finds announced by Israeli researchers this year.

Earlier this May, IAA officials said a child's chance discovery in the Negev Desert led to the identification of a 1,700-year-old Roman-era statuette fragment.

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At around the same time, archaeologists uncovered a "mysterious and impressive" ancient tunnel near Jerusalem, not far from sites associated with the biblical Kingdom of Judah.