Skip to main content
Part of complete coverage on

Storm in Israel uncovers ancient statue

From Shira Medding, CNN
Click to play
Storm reveals ancient statue
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The statue of a woman dates back about 2,000 years
  • It fell from a cliff collapsed by a huge storm that hit Israel
  • A passerby on the coast found the statue
RELATED TOPICS

Jerusalem (CNN) -- A huge storm that collapsed part of a cliff on Israel's central coast led to the discovery of a statue dating back to the Roman period, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Tuesday.

The white marble statue of a woman wearing a toga and sandals is estimated to be 2,000 years old. It stands 1.2 meters tall, weighs about 200 kilograms and was found with no head or arms, according to a news release by the authority.

A person walking on the shore of the southern city of Ashkelon made the discovery, the authority said.

"The statue fell into the sea when the ancient maritime cliff collapsed as a result of the storm," said Yigal Israel, the Ashkelon district archaeologist. "The collapse also ruined a bath house and mosaics that had been in the cliff for many hundreds of years."

The storm, one of the strongest Israel has experienced in recent years, brought winds of more than 100 kph that sent 10-meter waves crashing into Israel's coast.