Important archaeological discovery in Caesarea , Israel, where a spectacular and rare Roman sarcophagus, dating to the 3rd century AD, has been unearthed, depicting a mythological scene of a... drinking contest between Dionysus, god of wine, and the mythological hero Hercules. The impressive discovery was made during archaeological excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the initiative of the Caesarea Development Company. It is the first discovery of its kind in the country.
The discovery will be presented on Thursday, June 12, 2025 in a lecture at the conference to be held at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University and Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan.
“It looked like a scene from a movie,” recount Nohar Shahar and Shani Amit, archaeologists at the Israel Antiquities Authority. “We started cleaning up the soft, light sand of the dune, when suddenly the tip of a piece of marble appeared. The whole excavation team was standing around, excited, and as we cleaned up more sand, we could not believe what our eyes were seeing: parts of a sarcophagus, on which were carved figures: gods, animals and trees. Each fragment that was brought to light was more impressive than the last. In fact, in the very last hour of excavation, the climax came: an entire wall of the sarcophagus, which had been buried in sand, was brought to light, with the scene of Hercules, lying on a lion skin with a cup in his hand.”
The sarcophagus was entrusted to the care of conservation experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority. There, restorers Gabriel Solomon, Ilya Almanovsky and Gedo Wachepo, along with Professor Ido Rosenthal, worked on restoring, cleaning and reassembling the parts. Thanks to the restoration, the scenes have been fully revealed: at the center is Dionysus, the god of wine, surrounded by a merry retinue, including a host of mythological figures such as maenads, satyrs, Hermes, Pan, tigers and lions.
“This is the first time we find the scene of the drinking contest between the god Dionysus and Hercules on a sarcophagus in our region,” says Nohar Shahar. “While processions of the wine god Dionysus are a familiar motif in sarcophagi from the second and third centuries AD, this drinking contest scene-which is a common motif in Roman art-has so far been known to us mainly in mosaics, such as those discovered in Zippuri and Antioch. It seems that here the figures are not merely celebrating, but accompanying the deceased on his or her final journey, with drinking and dancing becoming symbols of liberation and passage to life in the afterlife. The sarcophagus offers an unusual perspective on the idea of death: not as an end, but as the beginning of a new journey.”
And who won the drinking contest? “The condition of Hercules,” says Shahar, “depicted on the sarcophagus as no longer able to stand, suggests the obvious answer: Dionysus.” The sarcophagus, the archaeologist adds, “was found within an area where archaeological remains have been found outside the walls. This means that the area leading to the sarcophagus was much larger and richer in finds than we thought.”
According to Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is an exciting discovery that reflects the picture of life and beliefs in the Roman world. The sarcophagus is undergoing a meticulous conservation process and, upon completion, will be presented to the general public as part of our efforts to make the country’s historical heritage accessible.”
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| Israel, rare Roman sarcophagus with drinking contest between Hercules and Dionysus discovered |
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