A marble statue of Hercules from the second century has been uncovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Horvat Tarbenet.
Horvat Tarbenet is located in the Jezreel Valley, three kilometers northeast of Kefar Barukh, and four kilometers northwest of Afula. Tarbenet was a Jewish settlement in the third century AD, which is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud (Megilla 4, 5).
According to Dr. Walid Atrash of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is a rare discovery. The statue, which probably stood in a niche, was part of the decoration of a bathhouse pool that was exposed during the course of the excavations. It is c. 0.5 m tall, is made of smoothed white marble and is of exceptional artistic quality."
Photo courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority
Spectacular Hercules statue found in Jezreel Valley - Shai Zamir, ynetnews.com
