Gales unearth Roman-era statue on Israel's coast

Reuters UK ^ | Wednesday, December 15, 2010 | Dan Williams

[SunkenCiv]

A Roman statue that had been buried for centuries has been unearthed by the winter gales that have raked Israel's coast.

The white-marble figure of a woman in toga and sandals was found in the remains of a cliff that crumbled under the force of winds, waves and rain at the ancient port of Ashkelon, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday.

"The sea gave us this amazing statue," said Yigal Israeli, a researcher with the authority.

He said the statue, which lacks a head and arms, is about 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall, weighs 200 kg (440 pounds) and dates back to the Roman occupation of what was western Judea, between 1,800 and 2,000 years ago. It will be put on display in museums.

Also recovered at the site were fragments of a Roman bath-house and mosaics.

But long-established Israeli archaeological sites such as the ruins of coastal Caesarea suffered serious damage in the storm, so the statue's find brought the Authority little joy.

"We don't see this discovery as such good news," said another Authority official, who declined to be named. "Better that relics remain hidden and protected, than that they be exposed and damaged."

[SunkenCiv]

A Roman statue stands on the shore of the Mediterranean sea in the southern city of Ashkelon December 14, 2010. [Credit: Reuters/Amir Cohen]

[70th Division]

Damn Mussies got to her first.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[GeronL]

bump

kind of weird

Romans weren’t too kind to jews.... maybe an omen?

[a fool in paradise]

For what it’s worth, this is a different article on the same subject. But you get the WIN.

[antiRepublicrat]

At least the Romans didn’t hate the Jews, they were just another society to be subjugated.

[American Constitutionalist]

Perhaps God through the force of these winter storms to unearth this Roman-era statue is trying to get our attention ?
The bible tells us that those things that were hidden will be brought out in the open, truth can't be hidden.....

Obama ? were is your birth certificate and the truth about your eligibility ?

[DannyTN]

"He said the statue, which lacks a head and arms,"

"I went to a museum that had all the heads and arms from all the other museums." - Commedian Steven Wright

[TexGuy]

Archeologist: “Dad-gummit, Didn’t any of you students remember to pick up the head and hands that were next to the statue?!”

[Trajan88]

Excellent.

This reminds me of something my niece said years go (she’s now 10)… she received one of those Barbie dolls meant for styling the hair. It was basically a bust of Barbie’s head and her shoulders (almost life-size)… my niece when she was 5 years old would refer to it as the “Barbie without a body” … still makes me laugh when I think about it.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

My impression also. Western civilization, headless. Bad omen.

[wildbill]

Probably an offering to the god of prostitutes looking to the sea with the inscription:

“Gonna be in town long, sailor?”

[SunkenCiv]

I guess we know what happened to the head.