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

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.