Ancient olive oil press unearthed in Modi’in

An unusually well-preserved olive oil press was unearthed by archaeologists on the outskirts of the city of Modi’in in central Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced recently. The press “was used for industrial oil production for consumption and illumination about 1,400 years ago,” the IAA said. That means the press would have been active around the end of the period of Byzantine rule and the beginning of Muslim rule in 637 CE.