A lot of the time, great discoveries happen by a complete accident. At least, that was the case in Bulgaria last week when a crew of archaeologists unexpectedly unearthed a centuries-old artifact during a dig at the site of an ancient city called Heraclea Sintica, Reuters reported. The relic in question is actually a life-size marble sculpture of the Greek god Hermes that has been hidden away in a sewer for thousands of years.
“Its head is preserved. [It’s in a] very good condition. There are a few fractures on the hands,” Lyudmil Vagalinski, who led the team of archaeologists, explained to Reuters.
Now known as the village of Rupite, Heraclea Sintica has a history that spans centuries. King Philip II of Macedon founded the city in southwestern Bulgaria between 356 B.C.
and 339 B.C. The metropolis was then destroyed by an earthquake in 388 A.
D. and subsequently abandoned around 500 A.D.
In what the archaeologists believe was a deliberate attempt to preserve the sculpture over time, the statue was covered in dirt and placed into the sewer where it sat for approximately 2,000 years. According to the experts, the statue is actually a Roman reconstruction of the ancient Greek original. “Everything pagan was forbidden, and they have joined the new ideology, but apparently they took care of their old deities,” Vagalinski added.
Bulgarian archaeologists discovered a well-preserved marble statue of the Greek god Hermes. The 6.8-foot (2-meter) tall statue was found during ex.
