A large and advanced 1,400-year-old wine press has been discovered in southern Israel.
The wine press was unearthed during an excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority in a region southwest of Kibbutz Hafetz Haim, the Nahal Soreq Regional Council announced Feb. 15. The land is being cleared to be farmland for evacuees from Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The press was used to produce wine during the Late Byzantine period, or sixth and seventh centuries CE, according to Uzi Ad, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The wine press included a central treading floor with a mosaic pavement where the grapes would be stepped on. — jta