The statues were unearthed during an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeological excavation prior to the construction of the coastal high-speed railway by the Ministry of Transportation and Israel Railways High-Speed ​​Coastal Railway Project. “They may have decorated the villa of one of Caesarea’s wealthiest people,” say the researchers. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.” The findings will be presented to the public for the first time at  at an archaeological conference this week at Tel Aviv’s MUZA – Eretz Israel Museum.

The two marble statues (busts) are approximately 1,700 years old, depicting historical figures from the Greco-Roman world. They were found buried in a pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress. A Greek inscription bearing the name “Lycurgus” was preserved on one of the statues.

“The statues date back to the Roman period, and interestingly, they were not discovered in situ where they once stood! 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. At present, it is not known why the statues were hidden here – perhaps to preserve them,” say Eliran Oren and Avishag Reiss, excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“While digging at the winepress, something was sticking out of the ground, and the workers called me,” says Michael Sorotskin, archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority. “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! Then, gradually, the two statues were revealed.”