Byzantine-Era Wine Industry in Israel Offers Lessons for Modern Climate Challenges

Byzantine-Era Wine Industry in Israel Offers Lessons for Modern Climate Challenges

The largest winepress from the Byzantine era in Israel. Credit: Israeli Antiquities Authority The wine industry in the Negev Desert, Israel, played a key role in the local economy during the Byzantine period, according to new research by the University of Haifa. Despite harsh desert conditions, wine production flourished for centuries—though it remained highly vulnerable to fluctuations in rainfall. The findings, published in the journal PLOS ON…