Roman statues found inside ancient wine vat
Two 1,700-year-old marble statues have been discovered inside an ancient wine collection vat during excavation work in northern Israel. The rare late Roman finds were uncovered ahead of railway expansion works near Binyamina and may once have decorated a public building or elite residence connected to Caesarea.
Two well-preserved marble statues from the late Roman period have been uncovered inside an ancient wine collection vat in northern Israel.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the statues were found during an archaeological excavation carried out ahead of railway expansion works near Binyamina.
The marble busts date to around the 4th century CE and are thought to depict prominent figures from the Greco-Roman world.
One of the statues bears an inscription with the name “Lycurgus”, although researchers have not yet confirmed which historical figure it refers to.
Hidden after winepress fell out of use
The statues were discovered lying face down inside an empty Roman-Byzantine wine collection vat.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the objects appear to have been buried after the winepress went out of use.
“At this stage, it is not known why the statues were hidden here, perhaps to protect them,” the authority said.
Dr Peter Gendelman, the Israel Antiquities Authority’s expert on the history of nearby Caesarea, said the sculptures may have once belonged to a wealthy villa or public building.
“In the Roman period, statues of this kind were displayed both in public buildings and in the homes of members of the elite, who sought to associate themselves with the cultural and intellectual world of antiquity,” he said.
Link to Caesarea elite
Caesarea, located about 10 kilometres from the discovery site, served for centuries as the Roman capital of Judea, Syria Palaestina and Palaestina Prima.
Researchers said the statues may have originated in Caesarea itself or from a wealthy suburban estate associated with the port city.
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Eliran Oren, who directed the excavation with Avishag Reis, said the surrounding evidence suggests the area may have been more than a simple agricultural complex.
While the statues were found in a winepress setting, remains of a bathhouse discovered nearby point to a more luxurious estate.
“These are not statues that would have stood in a local farmhouse,” Oren said.
Once in a lifetime find
The preservation of the busts has drawn particular attention from archaeologists.
Oren said the sculptures clearly depict real people rather than generic mythological figures.
If the Lycurgus inscription refers to the founder of Sparta, researchers said the discovery would be especially significant, given that the historical figure lived centuries before the sculpture was made.
Oren and Reis described the find as “a once-in-a-lifetime discovery”.
“The most remarkable finds often appear when you least expect them, and in this case, they emerged on the final day of excavation,” they said.
Wine and Roman life
The discovery adds a striking new dimension to the archaeological record of wine culture in the Roman world.
As previously reported by the drinks business, wine occupied a central place in Roman social, religious and agricultural life, from everyday drinking to ritual worship associated with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.
Roman wine production was often linked to large agricultural estates, while elite villas used sculpture, bathhouses and dining spaces to project cultural sophistication and status..
