2,500-year-old figurine — depicting a Greek god riding a dolphin — discovered in Italy

A trove of ancient artifacts, including a figurine of a god riding a dolphin, was recently unearthed in Italy, archaeologists said.

The relics were found inside the remains of a small temple, which dates to the 5th century B.C., in the ancient Greek city of Paestum, located about 180 miles south of Rome, according to a statement from the country’s culture ministry.

The temple was first discovered in 2019 on the periphery of the city, but excavations were delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

Measuring about 50 feet long, the temple was built in Doric style with four columns supporting its entrance.

It’s not clear which deity the sanctuary was associated with, though it appears to have fallen into disuse around 273 B.C., when the Romans took over the city, officials said. The Romans changed the city’s name from Poseidonia to Paestum.

Inside the building’s remains, a statuette depicting the Greek god Eros riding a dolphin was found, officials said.

Eros was the god of love who was believed to shoot arrows into people’s hearts to make them fall in love, according to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. He was often portrayed as a winged child.

The presence of the dolphin on the statuette, in addition to the temple’s proximity to the ocean, indicates it may have been affiliated with the god Poseidon, whom the city was originally named after, but further research is needed.

Also found were seven expertly crafted terracotta bull’s heads, which may have been used in rituals, officials said.

Additionally, a stone altar complete with a groove used to collect the liquids of sacrifices was also discovered, officials said.

The artifacts will be restored, studied and subjected to laboratory analyses to paint a fuller picture of their use and significance.

Several other ancient Greek temples are in Paestum, including one thought to be dedicated to the goddess Athena, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Geosciences.

Google Translate was used to translate a statement from Italy’s culture ministry.