BINYAMINA, ISRAEL, June 28 (World Daily Times) — Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered two intact marble busts from the Roman era, including one marked with a Greek inscription reading “Lycurgus,” during an excavation near Binyamina on the country’s coast, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
The figures, which date to about 1,700 years ago, were found face down in a pit connected to an ancient Roman-Byzantine winepress rather than in the places where they originally stood. The authority said the discovery came during work ahead of a railway construction project.
Researchers said the “Lycurgus” name could point either to the Spartan lawgiver or to a later Athenian orator, but the identification remains unresolved. The second bust, which has a long beard and no obvious identifying features, has been tentatively described as a philosopher or other leading thinker.
The busts are expected to go on public display at the Eretz Israel Museum, also known as MUZA Eretz Israel Museum, in Tel Aviv before conservation and further study.
