Ancient Sarcophagus Unearthed in Israel Portrays an Epic Drinking Contest Between the God Dionysus and the Mythical Hero Hercules
Archaeologists say the marble coffin is the first of its kind found in the region. The story it depicts is more often seen in mosaics
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Archaeologists in Caesarea, an ancient port city located on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Israel, have discovered a 1,700-year-old Roman sarcophagus depicting a drinking contest between Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, and the mythical hero Hercules.
“This is the very first time [we’ve found] the Dionysus and Hercules wine competition scene on a burial coffin in our region,” says Nohar Shahar, an archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in a statement. A common subject in Roman art, the story is primarily represented in the Middle East by mosaics, like those uncovered in Zippori and Antioch.
The excavation team was removing sand at the dig site when someone suddenly saw the tip of a marble object. “[We] 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,” say Shahar and Shani Amit, a fellow IAA archaeologist, in the statement. “Each uncovered fragment was more impressive than the one before.”
During the last hour of the excavation, the researchers uncovered a fully intact side of the sarcophagus, which featured a carving of Hercules reclining on a lion skin with a cup in his hand.
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After the dig, the IAA’s conservation team restored, cleaned and reassembled the other fragments of the sarcophagus, revealing its central image: Dionysus, surrounded by his female followers, known as maenads, and half-man, half-goat satyrs. Lions and tigers, as well as the gods Hermes and Pan, appear in the scene, too.
The carvings make it clear that the wine god won his showdown with the demigod. “Hercules’ condition, depicted on the sarcophagus as someone who is no longer able to stand, points to the obvious answer,” Shahar says in the statement.
Processions led by Dionysus are a familiar motif on sarcophagi from the second and third centuries C.E. But this lesser-seen drinking contest is unique. “It seems that the figures are not only celebrating—they are in fact accompanying the dead on his last journey, when drinking and dancing are transformed into a symbol of liberation and transition to life in the next world,” Shahar says in the statement. “This sarcophagus offers an unusual perspective of the idea of death—not as an end, but as the beginning of a new path.”
The marble coffin was likely commissioned by one of the wealthiest families in Caesarea, Shahar tells the Times of Israel’s Rossella Tercatin. Given the sarcophagus’ theme and the notable diversity of ancient Caesarea, which was home to Jews and Christians alike, the family was probably pagan.
“There was no local production of marble in ancient Israel,” Shahar explains to the Times of Israel. “This sarcophagus was imported, likely from northwestern Turkey, where several prominent marble workshops operated. Most of the carving was probably done there, with the final touches completed here.”
The team found the sarcophagus in an area outside the walls of Caesarea, suggesting the “space leading into the city was actually much wider and thus richer in finds” than previously believed, says Shahar in the statement.
Interestingly, this part of the dig site is associated with a later point in Caesarea’s history, after the Byzantines took control of the city in the fourth century. The sarcophagus’ discovery there indicates that the Byzantines continued using structures left behind by their Roman predecessors, Shahar tells Haaretz’s Ruth Schuster.
By the sixth century C.E., the site was mainly used as a dumping ground.
“It was covered by … pottery sherds and trash brought from the city, but underneath that, we did have several findings, including the sarcophagus and other structures,” Sahar tells the Times of Israel.
The sarcophagus is now undergoing conservation before being presented to the public.
