Oil Presses from Hurbat Castra

Byzantine Period, 4th-7th Centuries BCE 
Oil Presses from Hurbat Castra, Byzantine Period, 4th-7th Centuries BCE Oil Presses from Hurbat Castra, Byzantine Period, 4th-7th Centuries BCE
Hurbat Castra, located at the southern approaches to Haifa, is on the planned route of the Carmel Tunnel. Therefore, archaeological salvage digs were conducted at the site by the Israel Antiquities Authority, from 1993-1997. A Roman-Byzantine city was discovered at the site. The economy of the city was based on the production of wine and olive oil in large quantities, testimony to which are eleven grape presses and seven oil presses. Two of the oil presses were transferred by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s preservation unit in 1997 to the Road of the Millennia in the Carmel National Park.

 
Oil Extraction
Oil ExtractionOil Extraction
Olive oil was extracted in two stages: crushing the olives and pressing the olive-pulp. Two installations were built for these activities:
1) a crushing mill composed of a crushing basin and a millstone;
2) a lever and weight press.



Oil Press

Oil PressOil PressBy a turn of the winch, the rope is shortened and coiled around the winch. The stone weights are raised and the beam is lowered. Pressure is created on the baskets of olive-pulp and the resulting liquid flows into a collecting vat. Warm water, fed into the vat, facilitates the collection of the oil.