Violent storm reveals ancient art on the coast of Israel - Polidicks

[img]http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-101214-statue-9a.photoblog900.jpg[/img] [release]This week's storm in the Middle East wreaked havoc with scores of archaeological sites along Israel's coast — but it also uncovered a treasure: a headless, armless statue of a woman in a toga and sandals, made of white marble. The figure was found half-buried in the sand by a resident walking near the shore in the southern city of Ashkelon. In addition to the statue, experts identified pieces of a mosaic floor from what's thought to have been a Roman bathhouse. The artifacts are part of a cliffside archaeological site that collapsed when high winds and waves hit the shore. "The sea gave us this amazing statue," Yigal Israel, an archaeologist with the Israeli Antiquities Authority, told Reuters. The statue stands about 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and weighs about 440 pounds (200 kilograms). It's thought to date back to the Roman occupation of what was western Judea, between 1,700 and 2,000 years ago. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted Israel as saying the statue "was apparently imported from Italy, Greece or Asia Minor, and may have represented the goddess Aphrodite." The statue, which is to be placed on museum display, brought little joy to Israeli archaeologists. They say the storm washed away other artifacts from the site, and did serious damage to the ruins of coastal Caesarea. "We don't see this discovery as such good news," one of Israel's colleagues at the antiquities authority told Reuters. "Better than relics remain hidden and protected than that they be exposed and damaged."[/release] [url=http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/14/5648784-violent-storm-reveals-ancient-art-on-the-coast-of-israel-]MSNBC[/url]

Diana? Athena? Persephone?

[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;26721377]Nero? Augustus? Julius? Pontius Pilate?[/QUOTE] [quote]armless statue of a [b]woman[/b] in a toga and sandals, made of white marble.[/quote] edit: Might be Minerva if it was in a bathhouse, or Mary if its post-Constantine.

weird, it looks like a mini figurine scaled up

-snip'd due to edited quoted edited posted edited edited quotes-

Cool, might be alot more stuff in the area

[QUOTE=Falineir;26721444]edit: Might be Minerva if it was in a bathhouse, or Mary if its post-Constantine.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Article] "was apparently imported from Italy, Greece or Asia Minor, may have represented the [b]goddess Aphrodite.[/b]"[/QUOTE]

Fucking. Awesome.

I came

the fuck its near perfectly preserved

[QUOTE=SteeleCratos;26722840]the fuck its near perfectly preserved[/QUOTE] Except for the head. Almost perfect otherwise.

Why is it always the head that is lopped off in ancient discovered statues.

[QUOTE=Orkel;26723340]Why is it always the head that is lopped off in ancient discovered statues.[/QUOTE] One of the easiest things to break off. Also, if you're going to quickly steal something, you can just break off the head and put it in your house and call it a bust.

[QUOTE=Orkel;26723340]Why is it always the head that is lopped off in ancient discovered statues.[/QUOTE] Iconoclasts.

That's something you don't hear every day.

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;26724115]Iconoclasts.[/QUOTE] No. That was for Christian religious images. This predates that.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;26724166]No. That was for Christian religious images. This predates that.[/QUOTE] Iconoclasts are anyone who breaks monuments, just the most famous ones are in Europe, specifically Germany and France.

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;26724230]Iconoclasts are anyone who breaks monuments, just the most famous ones are in Europe, specifically Germany and France.[/QUOTE] In terms of history, it's more specific to the Byzantine Empire for Christian images. Given that it was a Romanesque statue in a Roman bathhouse, I assumed you meant it in regards to the Byzantines.

Don't lose your head over it.

It's a statue of Marie Antoinette.

[QUOTE=Orkel;26723340]Why is it always the head that is lopped off in ancient discovered statues.[/QUOTE] Because the neck is relatively thing compared to the two weights at each end. It's easy to knock the head off with enough force as there's not much holding it to the main body. Same for the arms.

[QUOTE=not_Morph53;26724385]It's a statue of Marie Antoinette.[/QUOTE] libo manducent [editline]7:58PM[/editline] I haven't taken a Latin class in a year, so I think that's right.

Looks like an oversized condom on Earth's dick.

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;26723357]One of the easiest things to break off. Also, if you're going to quickly steal something, you can just break off the head and put it in your house and call it a bust.[/QUOTE] Then what about the arm.

It might be on the other side of the statue where we can't see it. Or it may have broken off.

The Romans broke parts off statues and disfigured art that they though was offensive or displeasing. They might not have liked the look on her face.

It's just a tranny, not a female, don't be deceived.

[QUOTE=johan_sm;26725243]It's just a tranny, not a female, don't be deceived.[/QUOTE] Makes sense, everything else was lopped off.

[QUOTE=Falineir;26721444]edit: Might be Minerva if it was in a bathhouse, or Mary if its post-Constantine.[/QUOTE] I'd say Minerva because of the mosaic.

[img]http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/ap/mideast%20israel%20archaeology%20-1631610129_v2.grid-6x2.jpg[/img] whoa how small were people back then [editline]15th December 2010[/editline] [img]http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?id=155243[/img] [editline]15th December 2010[/editline] [img]http://www.artinfo.com/media/image/229905/900x.jpg[/img] whelp that answers the hand question