A Roman-era marble sarcophagus was unearthed during excavations in the ruins of an ancient port city on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday morning.

The find is the first of its kind in Israel, the IAA said.

In archaeological excavations conducted in the ruins of the ancient port city of Caesarea by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the initiative of Caesarea development Corp., a Roman period marble sarcophagus was uncovered.

The sarcophagus was sculpted a special scene of the drinking contest between Dionysus (or Bacchus), the god of wine, and Heracles (Hercules), the mythological hero.

“It was like a scene out of a movie,” say Nohar Shahar and Shani Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists.

Following the restoration, the scenes portrayed on the sarcophagus 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.

“In this case, i 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. This sarcophagus offers an unusual perspective of the idea of death – not as an end, but as the beginning of a new path.”

And who won the drinking contest? “Hercules’ condition, depicted on the sarcophagus as someone who is no longer able to stand, points to the obvious answer: Dionysus,” says Shahar.

Image - WIN/Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority