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‘Atiqot 70 (2012)
ISBN 2948-040X
The Lever Presses of Eretz Israel in the Light of the Alone Abba Oil Press
(with contributions by Shulamit Hadad, Gerald Finkielsztejn and Danny Syon)
(Hebrew, pp. 51–81; English summary, pp. 84*–86*)
Leea Porat, Rafael Frankel and Nimrod Getzov
Keywords: Galilee, oil production, ethnicity, lever press, screw press, Talmud, historical sources, winepress typology, numismatics
A salvage excavation conducted at Moshav Alone Abba revealed an oil press of the Roman period that was situated within a cave. The crushing installation at Alone Abba is of a type used from the end of the Persian period until recent times. The olive mash was pressed in a Maresha-type lever-and-weights press, one of a variety of lever-press types in use in the country. The finds comprise pottery from the Hellenistic–Middle Roman periods; a stamped amphora handle; seven bone spatulas; a stone stamp; and two coins from the beginning of the second century CE. The Roman-period pottery evinces a marked affinity to that of Jewish sites of the period.