Buried in a disused Roman-Byzantine winepress near Binyamina, one of the marble busts may depict Sparta's legendary founder, Lycurgus. 'There was a feeling we were about to discover something that was not supposed to be there,' an archaeologist said
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Buried in a disused Roman-Byzantine winepress near Binyamina, one of the marble busts may depict Sparta's legendary founder, Lycurgus. 'There was a feeling we were about to discover something that was not supposed to be there,' an archaeologist said
11:25 AM • June 15 2026 IDT
Two complete, rare marble statues from the late Roman period were uncovered in a salvage excavation at the entrance to Binyamina in northern Israel. One bears an inscription with the name "Lycurgus," known from the Greek-Roman world, raising questions about whether it depicts a specific historical figure from some 1,700 years ago.
The statues were carefully concealed inside a wine-collection pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress long after it had gone out of use, where they remained buried for nearly 1,700 years. "They were buried when the winepress went out of use. At this stage, it is not known why the statues were hidden here, perhaps to protect them," the Israel Antiquities Authority, which carried out the excavation, said in a statement.
The discovery, made ahead of railway works as part of a large national infrastructure project to expand the coastal rail corridor, was announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority on Monday. Officials said the busts will be shown publicly for the first time at an upcoming archaeology conference in Tel Aviv before being transferred for display at a museum.
"During the excavation of the winepress, we saw something protruding from the ground and the workers called me over," said Michael Sorotzkin, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority. "There was a feeling that we were about to discover something that was not supposed to be there. Suddenly, we realized it was not pottery, but marble. Then, slowly, the two statues were revealed. I still struggle to find the words. It was simply amazing."
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The statues were found on the final day of the salvage excavation. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery," said Eliran Oren, director of the excavation with Avishag Reiss. "It was very unexpected, but somehow, the truly great discoveries always come on the last day."
"These statues join a series of portraits of historical figures previously discovered in Caesarea. The last time a figure like this was found here was in the 1990s," said archaeologist Dr. Peter Gendelman, the Israel Antiquities Authority's expert on the Caesarea region.
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According to Gendelman, two historical figures bore the name Lycurgus: the first was the founder of Sparta, and the second was Lycurgus of Athens, a statesman and orator in the fourth century B.C.E. "It may be one of these figures, but the research is only beginning," Gendelman said.
"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 added. "Not far from the discovery site, remains of a bathhouse were previously uncovered, and the statues may have decorated a luxurious villa belonging to one of Caesarea's elite."
The statues were found in the heart of an "industrial area" that included agricultural installations dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods. According to Oren, a bathhouse had previously been discovered nearby. "We believe the statues may have come from there. Bathhouses like these were decorated with statues. Another possibility is that they came from Caesarea, about 10 kilometers away," he said. "These are not statues that would have stood in a local farmhouse. They must have come from a wealthy place."
Oren said it is clear that the statues depict real people rather than generic figures. If the statue does depict Lycurgus, the founder of Sparta, it would be an especially interesting discovery, since he was a historical figure who lived hundreds of years before the statue was produced, in a distant geographical region.
"The second figure is less clear, with a wild beard, perhaps a thinker or philosopher, but we are only at the beginning of the research," Oren said.
According to Oren, statues preserved at this level are an extremely rare find, not only in Israel but in general. Throughout history, Muslims and Christians destroyed statues of figures from the classical periods for religious reasons or to reuse the marble.
Oren believes the statues were in use for hundreds of years. "This is a valuable object that was passed down from generation to generation," he added. "At the bottom, there is a recess, probably because they were attached to some kind of base. In the end, someone buried them, perhaps out of fear of an invasion?"
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