Two 1,700-Year-Old Marble Portraits Unearthed in Binyamina

Archaeologists in Binyamina uncovered two nearly intact marble busts, about 1,700 years old, depicting figures from the Greco-Roman world. One of the sculptures bears a Greek inscription with the name “Lycurgus.” The portraits, which were likely the tops of columns decorating a building, were found hidden inside a wine-collection pit at a Roman-Byzantine winepress.

The excavation is being run by the Israel Antiquities Authority as part of a Transport Ministry and Israel Railways project to double the coastal railway line, known as TATL 65, within the “Fast Track” scheme of the “Connecting Israel” vision. Excavation directors Eliran Oren and Avishag Reis said the statues were not found in place, but were laid neatly face down in the pit after the winepress went out of use. They said it is still unclear why they were concealed, and suggested they may have been hidden for safekeeping.

Archaeologist Michael Surotzkin said workers first noticed something protruding from the soil during the winepress dig, and he realized it was marble, not pottery. “I am still struggling to find the words. Simply amazing,” he said. Oren and Reis called it “a once-in-a-lifetime discovery,” adding that major finds often come on the last day of an excavation.

Dr. Peter Gendelman, the Caesarea area specialist for the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the busts join other historical portraits previously found in Caesarea, with the last similar discovery there made in the 1990s. He said the Greek inscription could refer either to Lycurgus, the founder of Sparta, or to Lycurgus of Athens, a 4th-century BCE statesman and orator, though research is only beginning. Gendelman added that such statues often stood in public buildings or elite homes, and the nearby remains of a bathhouse suggest they may have decorated a luxurious villa.

The busts will now undergo cleaning, conservation, and further study to identify the figures and their original setting. Museum of Eretz Israel, Tel Aviv CEO Gil Omer said the museum is proud to be the first place the public will see them, and plans to display them in its ceramics pavilion. They will be shown first at the free archaeological conference “In the Center VII” on June 18, this year focused on the theme of the home, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, and Muza.