Archaeologists discover rare figurine in Jerusalem

Israeli archaeologists say they have discovered a rare 1,800-year-old figurine in a Jerusalem excavation. Dating from the time of the Roman Empire, the five-centimeter marble bust depicts the head of a man with a short curly beard and almond-shaped eyes. A statement Monday from the Israel Antiquities Authority said nothing similar had been found before in the country. The archaeologists said they believed it could depict an athlete, possibly a boxer. They added that they thought it was used as a weight and might have belonged to a merchant. It was found in the ruins of a building destroyed by an earthquake in the fourth or fifth century.