Yavne Byzantine Winery
The largest known wine factory of the Byzantine world, maker of 'Gaza' and 'Ashkelon' wine
Found 2019 — Israel Antiquities Authority salvage excavation directed by Jon Seligman, Elie Haddad and Liat Nadav-Ziv; announced October 2021
Where Yavne (biblical Jabneel / Jamnia), southern coastal plain (Israel)
Dates from c. 400–700 CE, with Persian-period presses beneath · Byzantine · Centuries after the apostles; the same coast as Philip's road to Gaza and Ashdod
Now at In situ; presses conserved for public display in Yavne; finds in Israel Antiquities Authority collections
How Yavne Byzantine Winery was found
Large-scale excavation ahead of a new neighborhood in Yavne uncovered an industrial zone of five huge wine presses, warehouses, kilns for the tall 'Gaza jars', and thousands of jar fragments; older presses of the Persian period (c. 500 BCE) lay underneath.
What it is
Five wine presses each about 225 square meters, with treading floors, compartments for fermentation and two large collecting vats, arranged around warehouses and kilns. Together they could produce an estimated two million liters a year. The wine was bottled in slender 'Gaza jars' (Gaza amphorae) and shipped from the nearby coast across the Mediterranean, where the light white 'Gaza wine' was prized as far as Britain.
Why it matters for the Bible
Yavne is where Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai refounded Jewish learning after 70 CE, and Jamnia's Byzantine-era wealth shows how the coastal plain of Judah flourished in the centuries when Jews, Samaritans and Christians all lived there. The presses illustrate the wine economy the Bible everywhere assumes, from Yeshayahu's (Isaiah's) vineyard song to Yeshua's parables of vineyards and winepresses, on a scale far larger than any village press. The find dates long after the biblical period, so its value for the Bible is as a picture of the technology and trade, not as evidence for any event.
The Hebrew word: gaht
גַּת
גַּת is pronounced gaht and means winepress — the treading floor where grapes were crushed; also the name of the Philistine city Gath (Strong's H1660).
Places
- Jabneel / Jabneh — יַבְנְאֵל (Yav-ne-EL) — El (God) causes to build
- Gaza — עַזָּה (Ah-ZAH) — strong
Events
Uzziah breaks down the wall of Jabneh (2 Chronicles 26:6) · Wine trade of the Philistine and Judean coast
Yavne Byzantine Winery in Scripture
Joshua 15:11 One of only 3 verses that name Jabneh.
Isaiah 5:1-2 The vineyard song describes digging a winepress (yeqev); Yavne shows the fully developed form of such presses.
2 Chronicles 26:6 Uzziah breaks the wall of Jabneh, the city whose later industry this is.
Questions people ask
What is Yavne Byzantine Winery?
Five wine presses each about 225 square meters, with treading floors, compartments for fermentation and two large collecting vats, arranged around warehouses and kilns. Together they could produce an estimated two million liters a year. The wine was bottled in slender 'Gaza jars' (Gaza amphorae) and shipped from the nearby coast across the Mediterranean, where the light white 'Gaza wine' was prized as far as Britain.
When was Yavne Byzantine Winery discovered?
It was found in 2019 by Israel Antiquities Authority salvage excavation directed by Jon Seligman, Elie Haddad and Liat Nadav-Ziv; announced October 2021, at Yavne (biblical Jabneel / Jamnia), southern coastal plain.
Where is Yavne Byzantine Winery today?
In situ; presses conserved for public display in Yavne; finds in Israel Antiquities Authority collections.
Which Bible verses does Yavne Byzantine Winery relate to?
Joshua 15:11, Isaiah 5:1-2, 2 Chronicles 26:6.
Related discoveries
- יַבְנֶהYavneh 'Temple Hill' Favissa: Philistine Cult StandsA single pit with over a hundred clay shrine-stands from Philistine Jabneh
- כִּנּוֹרGaza Synagogue and the 'King David' MosaicA 6th-century synagogue floor showing David with a lyre, found by chance in 1965
- מְנוֹרָהThe Ophel Treasure and Gold Menorah MedallionA Byzantine-era hoard with a 10-cm gold medallion showing menorah, shofar and Torah scroll
- עֲמָלֵקWadi Feiran (Pharan): The Traditional RephidimSinai's largest oasis, a Byzantine bishopric built on the Amalek battle tradition
- פִּסְגָּהMount Nebo: The Memorial of MosesByzantine basilica and mosaics on the peak where Moshe viewed the Land
- גַּת שְׁמָנִיםGethsemane: First-Century Mikveh and Byzantine ChurchA ritual bath from the days of Yeshua beside the Garden of Gethsemane (2020)
Sources
- Friends of the IAA, 'An Archaeological Sensation in Yavne: A Massive and Impressive Wine Factory is Exposed' (Oct 2021)
- CNN, 'World's largest Byzantine wine factory uncovered in Israel'
- Jerusalem Post, 'Largest wine factory in the world from Byzantine period unearthed in Yavne'