Olive Presses in Hebron

Olive Presses in Hebron

Olive presses have spread in Palestine since the Neolithic era, developed in the Hellenistic and Roman eras, and were called "Al Badd." The large number of presses scattered in the city of Hebron, and its outskirts, indicates the flourishing of olive cultivation and extraction of its oil in various historical periods.

In the old town of Hebron, presses spread in most of its neighborhoods, and there were 16 presses at the end of the Ottoman period, and they continued to operate during the British Mandate period; some of them continued to operate until the beginning of the eighties of the last century. The presses were run using animals, and during the British Mandate, some were modernized to be run automatically.