Research Article

The Wine Workshops and Production Techniques in the Ancient City of Matiate

Volume: 7 Number: 1 March 26, 2025
TR EN

The Wine Workshops and Production Techniques in the Ancient City of Matiate

Abstract

Wine has a history of thousands of years as both a ritual and consumer product. As a ritual production, it is used as an offering to the gods in ancient literature. It was also the main drink of entertainment and meetings in daily life. Matiate is located within the borders of Midyat district. The region where Midyat is located was called as Masius in the Classical period and Tur Abdin in the Middle Ages. It is mentioned as the city of the Kaschiari region in Hittite inscriptions. The history of wine production is based on Assyrian inscriptions in Matiate. It is known from Assyrian inscriptions that the city was captured and taxed in 900 BC. It is recorded that the city’s residents paid their taxes largely with the wine. Two workshops have been discovered. One of them is located in building a-1 and the other is in the complex a-10. Both building a-1 and a-10 are dated to the late Roman period. The production was carried out using three techniques. These are known as screw press, wedge press and lever press. When the workshops unearthed in the city are evaluated, it is seen that production is carried out using the wedge press in the building a-1. The production is carried out by the screw press technique in the building a-10. In this study, it is revealed what kind of techniques are used in production and the import organization of the surplus product is examined in the city of Matiate.

Keywords

References

  1. Akgül, A., Şenol, G. S., Yıldırım, H., Seçmen, Ö., & Doğan, Y. (2018). An ethnobotanical study in Midyat (Turkey), a city on the Silk Road where cultures meet. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 14(12), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-017-0201-8
  2. Ayalon, E. (2015). Twin-screw olive oil presses from Israel. Israel Exploration Journal, 65(1), 100–110.
  3. Aydınoğlu, Ü. (2009). Dağlık Kilikia bölgesinde antik çağda zeytinyağı ve şarap üretimi : Üretimin arkeolojik kanıtları. Zero Books.
  4. Baratta, G. (2005). Römische kelteranlagen auf der Italienischen halbinsel. Tabularium.
  5. Ben Zvi, I. (2012). Wine production in Eretz Israel in antiquity: Advancement in research or a completely new approach. E. Ayalon, R. Frankel & A. Kloner (Eds.), Cathedra: For the history of Eretz Israel and its Yishuv (pp.15–36). Irm.
  6. Bowden, W., & Lavan, L. (2004). Recent research on the late antique countryside. Brill.
  7. Brun, J.P. (2020). From oil to wine? A balanced view on the production of the most representative agricultural products of antiquity. N. Garnier & G. Olcese (Eds.), Making wine in western-Mediterranean, production and the trade of amphorae: Some new data from Italy (pp. 3-22). Propylaeum.
  8. Bryce, T. (2009). The routledge handbook of the peoples and places of ancient western Asia: The near east from the early bronze age to the fall of the Persian empire. Routledge.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Greek and Roman Period Archeology

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

March 26, 2025

Submission Date

December 4, 2024

Acceptance Date

March 26, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 7 Number: 1

APA
Ersun, D. (2025). The Wine Workshops and Production Techniques in the Ancient City of Matiate. OANNES - International Journal of Ancient History, 7(1), 131-145. https://doi.org/10.33469/oannes.1596031

21585     24714
 

OANNES Journal is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. (CC BY NC)
 

Only publications in the fields of Ancient History, Archeology and Ancient Languages and Cultures are accepted in OANNES Journal. Publications sent from other fields are not taken into consideration. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.tr