Archaeologists working near Tel Megiddo, in Israel’s Jezreel Valley, recently uncovered rare items and an ancient winepress during road work along Highway 66. The site is linked in Scripture to “Armageddon,” a name tied to “Har Megiddo,” or “mountain of Megiddo.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced that the finds range from Israel’s Early Bronze Age, around 3000 B.C., to the Late Bronze Age, about 1270 B.C. Officials say the standout is a rock-carved winepress dated to about 5,000 years ago, described as the oldest discovered in Israel.

“This wine press is unique, one of very few known from such an ancient period when urbanization first took place in our region,” officials said in a statement.

“Until now, indirect evidence indicated that wine could have been produced 5,000 years ago, but we did not have conclusive proof of this. … [T]his wine press finally provides new and clear evidence that early wine production actually took place here.”

The team also found intact evidence of a Canaanite folk cult from roughly 3,300 years ago. Items include a ceramic model of a shrine and animal-shaped ritual vessels, along with imported jugs from Cyprus.

The IAA said the vessels “were carefully placed in the ground in an orderly burial as ritual offerings.”

“These included a miniature ceramic model of a shrine, storage jars, imported jugs and juglets from Cyprus, and a unique and impressive set of vessels, which was probably used for libations, or the ceremonial pouring of liquids,” the release said.

Officials believe locals outside the main temple used these offerings. The burial spots suggest farmers worshiped at an open-air place rather than within the city’s sacred compound.

“[The finds] allow us to become acquainted with the daily life and beliefs of the region’s residents over the course of thousands of years.”

“Some of these offerings were discovered as intact pottery vessels buried next to a large rock outcrop, which may have served as an open-air altar outside the Canaanite city of Megiddo,” researchers said.

Leaders say the excavation ties together gaps between known settlements around the tell. They point to both early industry and continued worship practices across ages.

Officials said the dig “revealed a new part of the matrix between the known settlements in the city.”

They added, “The 5,000-year-old hewn wine press places the beginnings of the local wine industry in a very early urban-settlement context, while the offerings from the period about 3,300 years ago indicate the continuity of ritual consecration and libations outside the sacred complex within the tell, possibly expressing aspects of the local Canaanite folk cult.”

Eli Escusido, director of the IAA, praised the progress.

The IAA director said the finds are “revealing, layer by layer, the wealth of history hidden and embedded in the soil here.”

He 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.”

Researchers also noted earlier discoveries at Megiddo that tie to a biblical battle. Pottery at the site points to an Egyptian military presence in a later period.

“The exposure of so many Egyptian vessels, including fragments of serving bowls, cooking pots and storage jars, is an exceptional phenomenon,” archaeologist Assaf Kleiman said.

“We, therefore, understand it as representing Egyptians who settled at Megiddo in the late 7th century, maybe as part of an army force that arrived at the site following the collapse of the Assyrian Empire.”

Taken together, the winepress and ritual vessels give a fuller picture of life, work, and worship near Megiddo. They show early winemaking at scale and simple people setting offerings at a rocky altar, outside the city’s central temple.