Immersion is the new ritual: themiqvehat Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Jordan) and Hasmonean agro-economic policies in the Late Hellenistic period

The 2014 season of excavation at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Jordan, unearthed a stepped ritual bath or miqveh dating to the Late Hellenistic Period. Though there are numerous wine presses that are found in the vicinity, the site itself does not have a substantial settlement during this period. Mukhayyat was likely an agricultural settlement with a limited population associated with the production of wine. This local wine production reflects an increased desire amongst the transplanted Jewish population to maintain ritual purity in the Late Hellenistic Period in this region, as promoted by the Hasmoneans. Viticulture and wine production were presumably under Hasmonean control and their economic influence expanded alongside their military conquests.