Israeli archaeologists working east of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley announced the discovery of a roughly 5,000-year-old rock-hewn winepress and a 3,300-year-old cache of ritual vessels during a salvage dig linked to upgrades on Highway 66. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) team, excavating ahead of construction by the Netivei Israel – National Transport Infrastructure Company, says the finds illuminate early urban growth and everyday Canaanite worship outside the city’s walls.
The Early Bronze Age installation features a sloped treading floor and a collection vat cut into bedrock, surrounded by domestic structures that suggest organized production. According to excavation directors Dr. Amir Golani and Barak Tzin, “This winepress is unique, one of very few known from such an ancient period when urbanization first took place in our region… This winepress finally provides new and clear evidence that early wine production actually took place here.”
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From the Late Bronze Age, the team unearthed a miniature shrine, imported Cypriot ceramics, storage jars, and an intact libation set centered on a ram-shaped vessel buried near a rock outcrop—likely an open-air altar on the approach to Megiddo’s temple precinct. The researchers explain: “A small bowl, which was attached to the ram’s body, was designed to function as a funnel… The ram’s head was shaped like a spout. Once the vessel was filled, tilting the ram forward spilled the liquid out from its mouth.”
Netivei Israel CEO Nissim Peretz said, “These remarkable discoveries are a national asset and proof that advancing national infrastructure can proceed with full responsibility towards the past.” IAA Director Eli Escusido added, “The exposure of ancient wine-making facilities, and the evidence of folk worship outside of Megiddo, allow us to become acquainted with the daily life and beliefs of the region’s residents over the course of thousands of years.” Select artifacts will go on public display in Jerusalem at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of the Land of Israel.