Current Issue
Past Issues
Editoral Policy
About Us
Guide to Contributors
Call for Papers
Submission
‘Atiqot 78 (2014)
ISBN 2948-040X
Khirbat Din‘ila, Western Galilee: The Survey and Excavations of Three Oil Presses
(pp. 37–69)
Rafael Frankel and Nimrod Getzov
Keywords: agriculture, village, chronology, oil press typology, liquid collection, bone scraper, numismatics, Jews, Christians, Crusader documents, Baraitha di-Tehumin, Baraita of the Borders
The excavations at Khirbat Din‘ila revealed four occupation stages at the site, during the Roman, Byzantine, Crusader and Mamluk periods. During the Roman period, a square enclosure and an oil press (Oil Press C) of the beam-press type operated at the site. The pottery from this stage included mostly storage jars and fragments of a discus-type oil lamp. During the Byzantine period, three oil presses (A, B, C) were in use: Oil Presses A and B were of the lever-and-screw press type; Roman-period Oil Press C continued in use in the Byzantine period—its type could not be precisely determined. Potsherds from the Byzantine period (sixth–seventh centuries CE) were found in all the excavated areas, and included many imported wares, among them Cypriot bowls, as well as locally made vessels, such as the Galilean jar and ovoid oil lamps. Crusader-period sherds that were found at the site point to occupation to some extent during this period. Large quantities of Mamluk-period potsherds were found, including complete and restorable vessels, indicating that the final, post-oil press stage should be dated to this period. The site shows a close cultural affinity to the Phoenician coastal area. A lintel with a cross, documented south of the site, suggests that in the Byzantine period the inhabitants of Khirbat Din‘ila were Christians.