Ancient marble head depicting the Greek god Dionysus discovered in Rome

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Ancient marble head depicting the Greek god Dionysus discovered in Rome

Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered an ancient marble head that likely represents the Greek god Dionysus.

Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered an ancient marble head that likely represents the Greek god Dionysus.

“Extracted from the earth, it has revealed itself in all its beauty: the face, with soft and smooth surfaces, is slightly tilted; the mouth is ajar; the eyes sunken,” explains the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo, in a Facebook post, translated from Italian. “Overall, the appearance is benevolent and refined; the characters are those of a young and feminine face and everything suggests that it may be the god Dionysus.”

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Once part of a statue, the head was found in the Parco Archeologico’s via Alessandrina when archaeologists were excavating a late-Medieval era wall. The head, they explained, was likely used as a building material for the wall.

The head was once part of a statue. (Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali)

Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and fertility. His Roman equivalent was the god Bacchus.

Archaeologists are now working to restore the head.

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Ancient Rome continues to reveal its secrets. Researchers, for example, recently discovered an ancient fast-food joint in the ruins of Pompeii near Naples.

The head was found when archaeologists were excavating a late-Medieval era wall. (Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali)

The Roman city of Pompeii was devastated following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Pompeii was quickly buried by volcanic ash, killing about 2,000 of the city’s residents, according to History.com.

Last year, experts uncovered a scrawled piece of text on a wall in Pompeii that is rewriting the history of the famous ancient eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

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The charcoal inscription suggests that the eruption occurred in October of 79 A.D., two months later than previously thought.

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The marble head depicts the Greek god Dionysus. (Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali)

Also in 2018, images of a man’s skeleton, apparently crushed by a rock during the ancient eruption of Mount Vesuvius, went viral after their discovery.

Fox News’ Chris Ciaccia contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers