A one-of-a-kind bronze mask of the god "Pan" was discovered in the excavations of the University of Haifa in Susita National Park

This is the first find of its kind in the world * Even the curators of the largest museums in the world have never seen a bronze mask of this type. "More than once the worship of the gods of the pastures and fields took place outside the city and included drinking ceremonies, sacrifices and sometimes ecstatic ceremonies that included nudity and sex," said Dr. Michael Isenberg from the University of Haifa, who heads the excavation*

A bronze mask, the first and only one of its kind in the world, of the god "Pan" was found as part of the excavations of the University of Haifa in Susita National Park. According to Dr. Michael Isenberg, bronze masks of this size - larger than a human head - are extremely rare and do not depict Pan or any other figures from Greek and Roman mythology. "Most of the known bronze masks from the Greek and Roman period are tiny. "Even the curators of the world's largest museums, whom I contacted, answered that they don't know about a bronze mask of the type we found in Susita," he said.

It seems that in recent years, the mysteries of Susita are revealing their secret in an unusual way: two years ago, researchers found a basalt tombstone on top of which was a sculpture of the head and bust of the deceased, and the winter rains of 2011 were responsible for the accidental exposure of a sculpture in the image of Hercules. But all this seems nothing compared to the latest surprise: the first and only find of its kind in the world of a ritual mask in the form of the god Pan/Faunus, of an unnatural size.

The peak of the excavations in Susita are conducted during the summer, but this time a one-day excavation was conducted a few weeks ago to examine a series of intriguing buildings on the edge of the city, close to where the main road passed. The excavation focused on a basalt structure that the researchers hypothesized was a type of protected "hangar" for the city's launch machines.

When the researchers found a ball from Lystra made of chalk, in contrast to the basalt balls that were used in Sosita, they realized that it was an enemy ball - a ball fired by the enemy that attacked the city. In light of the interesting find, the researchers decided to look for coins in the building, so that they could help date it. After a few minutes, there was a stubborn beeping of the metal detector, which was operated by the faithful hands of Dr. Alexander Yarmulin, director of the conservation laboratory at the Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa, and the researchers did not yet know what awaited them. "After many minutes we pulled a large, brown lump from the ground and then we realized that it was a huge mask. We cleaned it lightly from the soil and began to take in the details: small horns on the top of the mask, slightly hidden among the hair crystals, were the first clues to the mask's identity," said Dr. Isenberg.

The horns immediately pointed to the "immediate suspect" - the god Pan, the god of the shepherds, who is half man and half goat and who also represents music and entertainment. After a more thorough cleaning in the laboratory, it was also possible to clearly see the goat's hair, the long pointed ears and other characteristics that led Dr. Isenberg to identify the mask as the image of Pan. "The first thought that crossed my mind was 'Why here, outside the city?' After all, the mask is so heavy and it couldn't just roll off her like that. Adjacent to the place where we discovered the mask, the remains of a basalt structure were visible on the surface. The thickness of the walls, the construction method and the chiselling and its quality, all these hinted at a larger building from the Roman period. The thought of a Pan altar right here on the main road into town, but outside of it, certainly beckons. After all, they sacrificed to Pan not only in the temples of the city but mainly in the caves and in nature. In the ancient city of Panias north of Susita there was one of the most famous cult complexes for God Pan inside a cave. More than once the worship of the gods of the pastures and the fields, especially the god Dionysus, took place outside the city because it included drinking ceremonies, sacrifices and ecstatic worship that sometimes included nudity and sex. Perhaps this is one of the reasons they preferred that the participants hold the ceremony outside the city walls," he said.

Now the researchers have begun to uncover the building, hoping to get a clue as to its purpose. It is already clear to them that this is a large defensive structure that was integrated together with the moat located above it. "Perhaps in a later period, when the city's fortifications were no longer required during the 'Roman peace', the purpose of the building was changed and it became a ritual site for the god of shepherds, and perhaps before us is the head of a magnificent fountain or a burial offering," speculates Dr. Isenberg.

As mentioned, researchers do not know of a similar bronze mask from the Roman or Greek period - not of Pan, similar Styrian figures, nor of any other figure. According to them, in the best museums in the world there are magnificent marble and bronze sculptures from the Roman period depicting Pan and Steyrs, which stylistically resemble the Pan from Susita, but nothing similar to the mask has yet been found. "Most of the masks resemble theater masks and are made of stone or material and have ritual, symbolic and decorative meaning. Most of the bronze masks known from the world are tiny and pan and stere decorations appear more than once as part of furniture decoration, but all of these are small in size. The curators of the largest museums in the world that I contacted also answered that they did not know of a bronze mask of the type we found in Susita. Susita cannot compete in its wealth with the centers of the ancient Roman culture, therefore a find of this kind here, is amazing," concluded Dr. Isenberg.

Susita is located about 2 km east of the Kinneret within the Susita National Park of the Nature and Parks Authority. The excavation is being conducted under the leadership of Dr. Michael Isenberg on behalf of the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa in collaboration with researchers from Israel and the world and students from the Department of Archeology at the University of Haifa.