内容摘要：Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — Two nearly 2,000-year-old tombs with magnificent wall paintings will be open to the public for the first time in southern Israel after a painstaking conservation process, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday.British archaeologists first discovered the sand-filled tombs in the 1930s, awed by the colorful paintings on the wall depicting vibrant grape vines twining their way around birds, animals, and mythological characters.

But for nearly a century, the site was dormant and closed to the public to protect the paintings. As new apartment buildings sprouted around the area, the city decided to turn the site into an educational park and renovate the tombs to allow public visits.“This tomb has wonderful paintings that were preserved remarkably well, and that’s surprising considering that the time that has passed and the location next to the sea, the humidity, the sand, the winds, everything affects the plaster and the paintings,” said Anat Rasiuk, an archaeologist with the Antiquities Authority.The tombs, located a few hundred meters from the beach, were likely the burial place for aristocratic Romans some 1,700 years ago, when Ashkelon was a Roman city, according to archaeologists.

The vibrant paintings, which stretch across the vaulted ceiling and include intricate designs across the walls, show nymphs with lotus plant wreaths, birds, deer, children picking bunches of grapes, a figure playing Pan’s flute, and figures from Greek mythology such as Demeter, the goddess of the earth and grain, and the head of Medusa, with her hair made of snakes, that were also adopted by Roman mythology.During the conservation process, experts removed some of the plaster paintings from the wall for off-site restoration. Others were cleaned or enhanced with pigments that mimic the ancient paint.

Another similar 2nd-century tomb, also featuring colorful wall paintings, was relocated to the new park from another location in Ashkelon to preserve it. The second tomb was discovered in the 1990s. Both will be open to the public inside the new park during the upcoming Sukkot holiday in October.

The park includes several archaeological discoveries from across the city, including ancient sarcophaguses, wine presses and olive presses, surrounded by soaring new apartment buildings.Another Syrian Shiite shrine visitor said she’s been feeling on edge. She spoke on condition she only be identified as Umm Ahmed, or mother of Ahmed, as is traditional, for fear of reprisals against her or her family.

She said, speaking shortly after the coastal violence in March, that she’s thought of leaving the country, but added that there isn’t enough money and she worries that her home would be stolen if she did. Still, “one’s life is the most precious,” she said.She hopes it won’t come to that.

“Our hope in God is big,” she said. “God is the one protecting this area, protecting the shrine and protecting us.”A soldier from the Syrian government army reads the Quran, the Muslim holy book, at a checkpoint near the Sayyida Zeinab Shrine, where many Shiite Muslims believe Zeinab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, is buried, in Sayyida Zeinab, south of Damascus, Syria, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)