Israeli archeologists unearth rare Roman-era frescoes

Israeli archeologists discovered wall paintings from the Roman period of the second century in the northern Israeli Galilee area, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said Wednesday.

The rare frescoes were discovered during excavations in the Zippori National Park in Galilee this summer by a team from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, led by Prof. Zeev Weiss from the university's Institute of Archaeology, the university said in a statement.

The statement said the findings, which include hundreds of fragments of frescoes, are virtually unknown at other Israeli sites from the same period.

The fragments contain "figurative images, floral patterns and geometric motifs," and shed light on Roman art in Israel, said the statement.

Some of the pieces depict figures, including the head of a lion, a horned animal, a bird, and a tiger. Another fragment contains a depiction of a man bearing a club.

Researchers believe the frescoes decorated a monumental or some important building dating back to the early second century.

The Zippori national park, known as Sepphoris at the time, was an important urban center of Galilee Jews during the Roman period in Palestine, the university added.

The researchers said they have yet to determine who was responsible for the decoration, but they believe the frescoes "reflect the multi-cultural climate that characterized Zippori in the years under Roman rule." Endit