one liter of wine per person per day. Many rock-hewn winepresses and vats, dating to the biblical period, have been found. One typical example at Gibeon has a wide surface for treading the grapes and a series of collecting vats. Archaeological finds at Ashkelon and Gibeon indicate large-scale wine production in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, which most likely developed to supply the Assyrian empire, and then the Babylonians, as well as the local population. Vineyards are mentioned many times in the Bible, including in detailed descriptions of the method for establishing a vineyard () and the types of vines (). The Bible refers to several types of wine, and one of the Arad ostraca also mentions wine among the supplies being sent to a garrison of soldiers. Another indication of the importance of wine in ancient Israel is that Hebrew contains numerous terms for various stages and types of vines, grape varieties, and words for wine. The word yayin was used both as a generic word for wine and as a term for wine in its first year, once it had undergone sufficient fermentation from the initial stage, when it was called tirosh. The type of wine was determined by the grapes, the time allowed for fermentation, and the age of the wine. The often coarse and unrefined taste of ancient wine was adjusted to make it more drinkable. Spices were added directly to the wine to improve the aroma, and other ingredients, such as honey, pepper, herbs, and even lime, resin, or seawater were added to improve the flavor or disguise a poor-tasting wine. Wine was also sweetened by the addition of grape juice syrup. Wine was also sometimes given an aroma by rubbing the winepress with wood resin. Wine could also be added to drinking water to improve the taste, especially towards the end of the summer when rainwater had been standing in a cistern for at least six months. This also had the beneficial effect of lowering the bacterial content of the water. After the grape harvest in mid-summer, most grapes were taken to wine presses to extract their juice for winemaking. Once fermented, wine was transferred to wineskins or large amphorae for storage. Israelite amphorae were typically tall with large handles and little decoration, and the handles were often inscribed with the name of the city in which the wine had been produced, the