The Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a 5,000-year-old rock-cut winepress near Tel Megiddo, providing direct evidence of Early Bronze Age winemaking and settlement expansion beyond the tell. Excavations also revealed Late Bronze Age II ritual deposits — including a miniature shrine, imported Cypriot jugs and a ram-shaped libation vessel — positioned in view of Megiddo's main temple. The finds illuminate both daily life and popular Canaanite religious practices. The collection will be exhibited next week at the Schottenstein National Campus in Jerusalem.
5,000-Year-Old Rock-Cut Winepress and Ram-Shaped Libation Vessel Discovered Near Tel Megiddo
The Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a 5,000-year-old rock-cut winepress near Tel Megiddo, providing direct evidence of Early Bronze Age winemaking and settlement expansion beyond the tell. Excavations also revealed Late Bronze Age II ritual deposits — including a miniature shrine, imported Cypriot jugs and a ram-shaped libation vessel — positioned in view of Megiddo's main temple. The finds illuminate both daily life and popular Canaanite religious practices. The collection will be exhibited next week at the Schottenstein National Campus in Jerusalem.
04:11, 06.11.2025Culture
Ancient winemaking and Canaanite rites uncovered near Tel Megiddo
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has revealed a remarkably well-preserved rock-cut winepress dating to the Early Bronze Age IB — roughly 5,000 years ago — along with Late Bronze Age II ritual deposits found near Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley. The excavations were conducted ahead of a major upgrade to Highway 66, a project led by the Ministry of Transport and financed by Netivei Israel – National Transport Infrastructure Company.
The winepress: Carved directly into the bedrock, the compact press includes a sloping treading surface and a collection vat. According to excavation directors Dr. Amir Golani and Barak Tzin, this is one of the few securely dated winepresses from this very early period and provides direct, tangible evidence — the long-sought "smoking gun" — for local wine production at the dawn of urbanization.
Archaeologists also documented numerous domestic structures clustered around the press, indicating that the settlement extended well beyond the familiar tell (mound) and that viticulture or grape processing played a role in everyday community life during the Early Canaanite period.
Ritual deposits from the Late Bronze Age II: In a later horizon, roughly 3,300 years ago, the team uncovered carefully placed ritual deposits that illuminate a form of Canaanite folk worship practiced outside the city proper. Finds included a miniature ceramic model of a shrine, imported jugs from Cyprus, and a complete set of ceremonial vessels.
Notably, the assemblage includes a zoomorphic, ram-shaped vessel fitted with a funnel and spout. When filled with a valued liquid such as milk, oil, or wine, the ram could be tilted to pour its contents into a receiving bowl — a likely libation device.
The deposits were placed in pits located in direct view of Tel Megiddo’s large temple area. Researchers suggest these offerings may represent a peripheral, popular cult used by local farmers and travelers to perform liquid consecrations on their way to the city gate.
Significance: Together the finds shed light on both the economic life of early urban communities in the Jezreel Valley and on popular religious practices during the Late Bronze Age. As Eli Escusido, Director of the IAA, observed, the discoveries allow scholars and the public to become "acquainted with the daily life and beliefs of the region's residents over the course of thousands of years."
Public display: The assemblage will be presented to the public beginning next week at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of the Land of Israel in Jerusalem.