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Gamla’s industrial complex. Since the olive tree, unlike most valuable plants, will grow well in the thin, rocky soil of mountainsides, it was highly suitable for cultivation at Gamla. Consequently, a booming olive-oil industry supported a class of rich merchants who built their homes right next to their “factory,” an olive-press compound, in the western part of the city. The olive-press compound even included a mikveh for the workers in order to produce ritually clean oil. Among the well-preserved structures of the compound is this room adjacent to the oil-press room; arch supports divide the room, and corbels, overlapping stones that supported the roof beams, jut out from the rear wall.