Wine and Olives

So! I was thinking of the story of Gideon in Judges 6:11. It says that Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress so he could hide it from his enemies who were oppressing his people. Now this particular winepress [Jezreel] was built a millenium after Gideon, but you can see the general idea. It was quite a mess but we cleaned it up just enough for a photo. If you enlarge the picture you can make out the Byzantine pottery on the left on the side of the wall, the mosaic floor, and the round depression to collect the wine. So you can see how someone could work there and not be easily detected. Not exactly the best place to thresh wheat, but if you are trying to hide, it works.

This olive press was found in excavations under the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. So today, when you go in and out the Damascus Gate, you are about 25 meters above the ancient Roman Street from the first century. From what I understand, the best olive oil comes from the seeds so they have to be squished by a heavy object.  If you use the same thing on grapes, the seeds make the wine bitter. So the rule of thumb is...feet for grapes, stones for olives. This particular olive press dates to the time of Hadrian. He's the guy who kicked all the Jews out of Jerusalem in AD 135 and rebuilt Jerusalem into a Roman city: Aelia Capitolina.


Here's a pic of the Roman Street under the Damascus Gate.  Lots of excavation done underground in Jerusalem for obvious reasons.