Maintenence work in the Ramat Negev regional council led to the accidental discovery of a spacious stone wine press from the early Byzantine period.
The discovery was made as part of a salvage operation led by Yoram Haimi, the archeologist in charge of the South-Negev region, together with Yeshiva students from 'Belevav Shalem' in Yerhuam.
Together, they unearthed a 40 x 40 meters wine press (131 x 131 feet) complete with a stone pressing floor, a separation pit and a fermentation pool that could contain six and half cubic meters (6,500 Liters) of wine.
Haimi, who is in charge of an ongoing dig in Poland aimed to unearth the history of the Sobibor extermination camp, took a moment to speak to the Post while supervising the ancient wine press is kept hidden until the local council will decide what to do with it.
'Wine making at the time was done using human labor', he said, 'the workers would step on the grapes, then the pulp would be delivered to a basin where the clear liquid would surface and the dregs sink. This clear liquid is the Tirush' unfermented wine most Israelis associate with childhood Seder meals in which they were given the sweet, non-alcoholic Tirush, to drink the traditional four cups of wine.
"The tirush would be moved to fermentation pots. Negev wines were held at a very high esteem at the time, like the boutique wines of today,' said Haimi.
Wine production in the region went smoothly until a plague in the sixth century led to the decline of wine making in Southern Israel. The wine industry came to halt with the Arab conquest of the Levant and the end of the Byzantine period.
Anat Rasyuk from the Negev chapter of the Israeli Antiquity Authority said in a phone interview to the Jerusalem Post that the employment of students is a part of a larger educational effort meant to educate young Israelis about archeology.
'In some cases the students visit an active dig and help out', she explains, 'but in other cases this is a regular summer job. Students who happen to live next to an ongoing dig can apply to work there and be paid directly as they would in any other place. But when entire classes work they usually do so to support their schools.'
For example, she points out, 'some classes work to help ensure that all of their classmates have the funds to attend the educational tours in Poland. Their wages go to the school to fund the traveling expenses of students who would not otherwise be able to attend the program.'
The site had been covered to ensure it is protected until its future is decided upon. 'Ideally, it would be open to the pubic', said Rasyuk.
