Endnote 5 – Gamla: Portrait of a Rebellion
The virgin oil from each year’s first pressing was sent to the Temple as tribute, cf. Leviticus 24:2; Numbers 18:12; Mishnah Menachot 8:3. Gentile oil was forbidden to Jews, Mishnah Avoda Zara 2:6. For oil trade with the Jewish diaspora, see, for example, Josephus’ accusations against John of Gischala, who allegedly sold his oil at an exhorbitant price to Jews in Syria ( The Jewish War 2.591–592 and Vita 74–75).