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A spectacular and rare Roman sarcophagus was uncovered in Caesarea >>> A spectacular find, and the first of its kind in Israel: In archaeological excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the initiative of Caesarea development Corp., a Roman period marble sarcophagus (coffin) was uncovered, upon which was sculpted a special scene of the drinking contest between Dionysus (or Bacchus), the god of wine, and Heracles (Hercules), the mythological hero. The discovery will be presented on Thursday, June 12, 2025 in a lecture at “The Feast” conference to be held at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, and Bar Ilan University. “It was like a scene out of a movie,” say Nohar Shahar and Shani Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists. “We began removing the soft, light sand of the dune, when suddenly the tip of a marble object popped up. The entire excavation team stood around excitedly, and as we cleared more sand, we couldn't believe what we were seeing – parts of a sarcophagus, upon which figures were carved: gods, animals, and trees. Each uncovered fragment was more impressive than the one before. In fact, in the very last hour of the excavation came the climax – an entire intact side of the sarcophagus, which was buried in the sand, was uncovered, which portrays the scene of Hercules lying on a lion skin, holding a cup in his hand.” The broken sarcophagus was handed over to the experts of the Israel Antiquities Authority's conservation team. There, conservators Solomon Gavriel, Ilya Armanovsky and Gadmo Vajpo, together with architect Ido Rosental, worked on restoring, cleaning and assembling the parts. Thanks to the restoration, the scenes have been fully revealed: In the center we see Dionysus, the god of wine, and around him a lively retinue of a host of mythological characters such as Maenads (female followers of Dionysus), satyrs, Hermes, Pan, lions and tigers. “This is the very first time we find the Dionysus and Hercules wine competition scene on a burial coffin in our region,” says Nohar Shahar.