Two ancient stone coffins, known as sarcophagi, were discovered last week during construction work at Ramat Gan Safari Park.
Workers discovered them as they built a new building next to the park’s wildlife hospital. The new building, designed to provide advanced veterinary services for birds and mammals, includes a specialist theater and a large bird nursery that provides quiet, heated housing for the frequent meals. required during the chick raising seasons.
Former safari workers present at the time said the coffins were found years ago in the safari parking lot area.
At the time, the sarcophagi were moved to a location near the veterinary clinic and African savanna zone, but they were forgotten over the years and buried under sand and thick vegetation.
When work began on the new wildlife hospital a few days earlier, the contractor began working in the area digging and, suddenly, Rami Tam, the head of an African savanna zone, noticed the two chests sticking out. out of the soil.
He quickly named the animal health and control director Shmulik Yedvab, who came to look for the find and argued for Alon Klein and Uzi Rothstein at the Anti-Theft Prevention Unit of the Israeli Archaeological Authority.
Hardly believing their eyes, it was a surprise for explorers to see a sarcophagi of this kind at Safari Park. After careful examination, they interestingly determined the age of the particular find.
Based on the stones and their ornate decoration, the sarcophagi were intended for people of high status who were apparently buried near Safari Park.
According to archaeologists of the Antiquarian Authority of Israel, the sarcophagi are about 1,800 years old and date back to Roman times.
They are decorated with symbolic discs – to protect the soul and accompany it on its way to the afterlife – and flower garlands, often used to decorate sarcophagi in the Hellenistic period as well. Between the garlands are oval gaps, which archaeologists believe were originally intended to be filled with a standard grape cluster motif, but for some unknown reason, the work was still unfinished.
The sarcophagi, made of local stone – possibly from the Judean Mountains or Samaria – are local images of the famous sarcophagi made with Proconnesian marble from the Turkish island of Marmara.
Found together, the two sarcophagi are similarly decorated and may have been made for a husband and wife, or for members of the same family.
The exact origin of the sarcophagi is unknown, but they are apparently buried near Safari Park, in the Messubim district – the site of the ancient Bnei Brak in Roman times, known to us since the Haggadah Passover.
The wealthy owners of the sarcophagi, buried with their personal grave goods, had no idea that the coffins would be given a place of honor along with giraffes, elephants and a bird nursery.
The sarcophagi were moved Tuesday to their rightful place in Israeli National Treasury stores.