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These Byzantine jugs come from the olive oil factory located
in square L15. Excavators have
already found hundreds of fragments of similar vessels all around
the site. The evidence suggests that during the Byzantine and
Late Roman periods the inhabitants at Omrit imported much of
their pottery from a nearby village called Kefar Hanaya. Unlike
the vessels depicted, most of the pottery discovered thus far
has been highly fragmentary, particularly pottery predating
the Byzantine period.
Dozens of oil lamps have been recovered at Omrit, primarily
from the Byzantine period. The two complete oil lamps are Byzantine.
Notice the distinctive Byzantine stampings on oil lamp number
two. Fragments of older oil lamps dating to the early Roman
period have also been the discovered at Omrit. ER lamp fragments
have been discovered in the highest abundance within the road
strata of M23. It is likely that
the Byzantine road builders mixed crushed pottery from earlier
periods into the lime-slurry they used to pave their roads.
The Byzantine bath complex (K23,
L23, and M23) and olive oil factory
(L15 and 16) have yielded
several pieces of ancient jewelry. In the 4th century road strata
of M23 excavators discovered a golden earring. The earring is
approximately two centimeters long and is in the shape of a
tear-drop. On the floor of the olive oil factory several bronze
rings were discovered. These rings may suggest domestic habitation
of the factory during the late Byzantine period.
This house key was found in L15,
part of the Byzantine olive oil factory, during the 1999 season.
Nails like the one pictured above are fairly common around Omrit
and may have been used in roofing. Roofing tiles are also common
around the site.
Glass fragments are extremely common at Omrit. Again, these
fragments date primarily to the Byzantine and Late Roman periods.
Most of the glass pictured above was originally clear, but over
time a thick layer of patina has formed giving the glass an
iridescent blue color.
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