Two subterranean Byzantine interval winepresses had been found in latest excavations at Tzippori National Park. Unearthed inside a huge five-arched water cistern about 200 meters outdoors of city, they're the one winepresses which have been documented thus far that had been constructed inside a lined water reservoir.
Tzippori was residence to a flourishing combined pagan, Christian and Jewish neighborhood in the course of the 4th-Seventh centuries CE. In the third century CE, it was the seat of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, aka Judah the Prince, the place he started compiling the Mishnah. There isn't any iconography on the wine presses and, in response to National Parks Authority archaeologist Dr. Zvika Tzuk, in such a heterogeneous society, it could be not possible to know who made the wine at these two presses.
However, he instructed Famzn News, based mostly on an obscure Jewish legislation practiced in the course of the Shmita 12 months (each seventh 12 months in the agricultural calendar when the fields are supposed to “rest”), the dimensions of the smaller wine press may very well be an indication that it was utilized by Jews of the period.
“But this is just a guess, and we cannot really know,” mentioned Tzuk.
There are different examples of roofed Byzantine-era wine presses in the nation. Last 12 months, throughout digs close to the Ramat Negev Regional Council, a group of Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists found a giant Byzantine-era construction relationship to the fourth century CE, within which was the stays of a wine press.
Ancient Byzantine-era winepress found in Zippori National Park. (Zvika Tzuk/National Parks Authority)
What is exclusive concerning the Zippori wine presses, nonetheless, is the reuse of a water cistern as its base, mentioned Tzuk.
As acknowledged by Tzuk, “This winepresses were found in the largest of two arched-reservoirs in the Zippori National Park, which are part of the impressive water system at the site, including long aqueducts that provided water to the ancient city of Zippori. The area of the large reservoir in which the winepress was found is 5 x 9 meters, its depth is 3.5 meters, and its ceiling rests on five arches.”
Tzippori’s huge water system of aqueducts and cisterns dates again to the first and 2nd centuries and was in use till the Seventh or eighth. These wine presses had been transformed in the 4th century, mentioned Tzuk, with further quarrying into the smooth chalk stone and a few building.
Ancient Byzantine-era winepress found in Zippori National Park. (Zvika Tzuk/National Parks Authority)
There was a flourishing wine commerce from the Holy Land in the course of the populous Byzantine period. Wine, quaffed by all sectors of Tzippori’s residents, was documented in one of many city’s most famous mosaics: the Mona Lisa of the Galilee. Apart from the portrait of the stunning woman from which the mosaic derives its title, there's additionally a spirited depiction of a wine-drinking contest between the Greek deity Dionysus — god of wine and theater — and the hero Heracles, his half-brother. (Spoiler: the god wins.)
The National Parks group hope that the Arches Cisterns will grow to be as visited a website because the at the moment extra well-known mosaics for which the city is thought. Located simply adjoining to the location’s entrance corridor, they're an simple first cease on a tour of the traditional city.
This discovering was found in the framework of excavations launched in 2002 for vacationer improvement and analysis in the Zippori National Park. It was led by the National Park’s Tzuk, who labored underneath the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority along with Dr. Yossi Bordowitz, Dr. Dror Ben Yosef, and Prof. Jim Parker, vice chairman of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Students from the Reali School in Haifa and the Oded School in the Yodfat space additionally participated in the excavation.
Ancient Byzantine-era winepress found in Zippori National Park. (Zvika Tzuk/National Parks Authority)
Upon completion of the excavations, the Nature and Parks Authority intends to reconstruct a part of the arches and roof and to current the location to the guests in as near its authentic state as doable.