Mediterranean Viticulture in Late Antique Palestine

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, LVI:1 (Summer, 2025), 43–79.

https://doi.org/10.1162/JINH.a.3

Shulamit Miller, Guy Bar-Oz, Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, and Gil Gambash

The article discusses viticulture as a prolific form of horticulture throughout Mediterranean history, especially during the Roman period and throughout Late Antiquity. Vintners across the greater Mediterranean produced wines of varying qualities that could be sold at a range of prices in local markets and taverns or shipped to farther destinations as luxury products. By integrating new methodologies for the study of archaeological remains alongside critical readings of historical sources, we discuss the pervasive import that agricultural production of wine held in the Roman and Later Roman periods. The article engages both archaeological and textual sources from Late Antique Palestine, exploring these data in relation to each other and in juxtaposition with similar evidence of viticulture in the broader Mediterranean world.

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A Rock-Cut Pit (Filled with Stones after Its Excavation) in an Outcrop Protruding from an Agricultural Terrace at Ramat Raḥel in the Judean Hills.