Discovered the sauce factory 2,000 years ago

The garum workshop, a famous Roman fish sauce to bring with you in every conquest, is far from the old city due to the unpleasant smell.

Ruins of a Roman's 2,000-year-old fish sauce factory.(Photo: BBC).

Experts at the Israeli Antiquities Authority found a small Roman fish sauce factory during a survey of a sports park site on the outskirts of Ashkelon, BBC reported on December 17. The excavation was funded by local authorities. Students and young people from the area also came to help. In addition to the aquarium, the team also found many jars, giant jars used to hold liquids.

Most of the fish sauce factories discovered by archaeologists are located in the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy. The fish sauce factory on the outskirts of Ashkelon is one of the few factories in the eastern Mediterranean, although the Romans lived here for a long time and the fish sauce was very important to them. The Romans added garum to most of their dishes to give it a savory salty taste.

"We found something very special. The production of the fish sauce creates an unpleasant odor that the workshop must be located far away from the residential area. In this case, it is about 2km from the ancient city of Ashkelon , " Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini at the Israel Antiquities Agency said.

The fish sauce workshop was gradually abandoned after the Romans left, but later visitors found the site suitable for growing grapes. In the 5th century, an Eastern Roman monastery produced wine there. To date, traces of three grape presses remain. The Israeli Antiquities Department will open the site for free on the afternoon of December 22.