Two marble statues depicting Greco-Roman figures were unearthed recently in Binyamina-Giv'at Ada, located near Haifa, as part of the Transportation Ministry and Israel Railways “Connecting Israel” project meant to double Israel’s coastal rail lines.
The two statues, also known as protomes, depict only the figures’ heads and upper torsos and were found buried in a wine-collection pit at a Roman-Byzantine winepress.
Their discovery was announced on Monday by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the MUZA – Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv.
“The statues date back to the Roman period, and interestingly, they were not discovered in situ where they once stood!” explained IAA Excavation Directors Eliran Oren and Avishag Reiss. “Mysteriously, they were found neatly laid, face down, inside a wine-collection pit of a Roman-Byzantine period winepress; meaning they were buried when it went out of use.”
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery,” added Oren and Reiss. “It was very unexpected, but somehow, the really big discoveries always turn up on the excavation’s very last day.”
“There was a feeling that we were about to discover something that really shouldn't be there. Suddenly, we saw that this was not the usual pottery – it was marble!” said IAA archaeologist Michael Sorotskin. “Then, slowly, slowly, the two statues were revealed. I'm still struggling to find the right words. It is simply wondrous.”
Dr. Peter Gendelman, an IAA Caesarea region expert, noted that the last time such a statue was found in Israel was in the 1990s.
He added that one of the protomes bears a Greek inscription naming Lycurgus.
“Two significant people with this name are known from Greek history,” explained Gendelman. “Lycurgus of Sparta, its founder, and Lycurgus of Athens, a famed 4th century BCE statesman and orator. Possibly this statue may prove to be of one of these two historical figures, but our research is just beginning.”
Statues of this kind were commonly displayed during the Roman period in public buildings and homes belonging to the elite, who "sought to connect themselves to the cultural and spiritual world of antiquity," Gendelman said.
“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.”
MUZA Ceramics Pavilion Curator Yelena Elgart-Sharon said that the protomes offer the public a rare opportunity in the process of “revealing the past almost in real time.”
Statues to go on display during MUZA's annual archaeology conference
The protomes are slated to go on display for the first time during the Center VII -The Domestic House” annual archaeological conference, scheduled for Thursday at MUZA, in collaboration with the IAA, Tel Aviv University’s Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, and Bar-Ilan University’s Institute of Archaeology of the Martin (Szusz) Land of Israel Studies Department.
The statues will be on public display at the museum throughout the summer months.
After their initial public display, the statues will undergo cleaning, conservation, and further research, hoping to identify who they depict and the exact ancient context in which they were originally placed.
Discovery shows 'public power of archaeology,' says heritage minister
“It is not every day that 1,700-year-old marble statues are uncovered in such an impressive state of preservation,” said MUZA Director-General Gil Omer. “We are proud to be the place where the public will be able to encounter this extraordinary discovery for the first time, and to continue seeing it after the conference as well.”
“Presenting the statues in MUZA’s Ceramics Pavilion is a rare opportunity to introduce visitors to an exceptional archaeological find shortly after its discovery, and to connect them with a fascinating story.”
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu added that the discovery demonstrates the “public power of archaeology.”
“One moment we are working on a modern infrastructure project,” he said, “and the next moment a window opens into the lives and cultural world of those who lived right here many hundreds of years ago.
Israel’s role, he added, is to preserve and make accessible archaeological finds belonging to all cultures, so that “everyone can encounter and form their own close-up impressions of our country’s rich and broad past.”