NEW YORK – A marble statue of the ancient Greek messenger god Hermes was found in an ancient Roman sewer currently being excavated by archaeologists in southwestern Bulgaria, Popular Mechanics reported, adding that the “6-foot-8 statue, a Roman copy of an ancient Greek original, is reportedly in ‘very good condition.’”

“I suppose the town’s former inhabitants put it in the dirt of this site after the great 4th century earthquake to better preserve one of their old deities during a period when Christianity was already the official religion,” Lyudmil Vagalinski, head of excavations, posted on Archaeologia Bulgaria’s Facebook page.

“The mix of dirt and, well, other organic matter, evidently provided conditions that kept the statue exceptionally preserved,” Popular Mechanics reported, noting that “the excavation team found the statue by accident, according to the New York Times.”

“It was amazing. A whole statue appeared in front of us,” Vagalinski told the Times.

“The archaeologists unearthed the statue tipped on its side and facing the sewer wall, indicating it was purposefully placed there before being covered with dirt,” Popular Mechanics reported, adding that “the tall piece of stone, carved from a single piece of marble, was found during excavation of the ancient city Heraclea Sintica, which Macedonian king Philip II founded in the mid-300s BC, according to CNN.”

“The southwestern Bulgarian city, located near the border with Greece, fell into disrepair following a pair of earthquakes, one in 388 AD and another in 425 AD, Smithsonian Magazine reports, and it was basically abandoned around 500 AD, leaving its sewers to tell the story of the city’s history,” Popular Mechanics reported.

“Vagalinski believes residents may have purposefully placed the statue in the sewer following the first earthquake to help preserve the pagan artifact in a time when the Roman Empire was cracking down against non-Christian religions,”  Popular Mechanics reported, noting that “the statue, almost identical to the Atalante Hermes statue from Greece, hasn’t been fully excavated yet, with the left side – including the portion with the cloak covering the shoulder – still tucked into the dirt.”

“We still have a lot of work to do, and I do not want to rush to conclusions, but from now on I can say that this ancient statue is not only the best preserved among those discovered here, but also on the territory of Bulgaria in general,” Vagalinski said in the Facebook post.

“The statue’s head is in good condition and the hands show only a few fractures,” Popular Mechanics reported, adding that “the next step involves retrieving the statue.”

“The History Blog reports that pulling the marble to the surface will require a custom-built structure to hold the statue while a crane hauls it to the surface,” Popular Mechanics reported, noting that “once successfully removed from the ancient sewer, the statue will make its way to the History Museum in Petrich for restoration (and hopefully some sanitizing).”