Archaeologists in Israel recently uncovered 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). The statues, which date back around 1,700 years, depict two unknown figures from the ancient Greco-Roman world.

Discovery Details

One of the statues bears a Greek inscription with the name ‘Lycurgus,’ according to officials. The statues were found in the wine collection pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress, the IAA said. Archaeologists were digging ahead of construction of a coastal high-speed railway when they found the two marble statues.

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.’ 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.

Significance of the Discovery

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. ‘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.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.