|
Olives in ancient times...
It is not entirely clear how long people have been growing and using olives for, but there are some clues that suggest that the Semitic peoples of Syria grew olives at least 6000 years ago. We may not be absolutely sure who was the first to grow them, but we know from historical documents that the olive was very important to most of the early Mediterranean races.
How olives were used...
How the ancient peoples discovered that the otherwise inedible green olive could be treated with water and brine to remove the toxins is a matter for speculation, but it is clear that there has been a wide trade in preserved olives and olive oil throughout the Mediterranean region for many thousands of years. Pictorial and written documentary evidences shows that many early races used olive oil both for cooking and medicinal purposes. Amphorae containers and clay tablets found in Crete mention types of oil and there uses and date back to 2500BC from the time of King Minos. It is also believed that the Phoenicians showed the Greeks how to burn the oil in their lamps to provide illumination. With their expansive empire stretching across much of the know world the Romans were instrumental in spreading and increasing the importance of olives, planting groves of trees or importing oil wherever they went. Olives and oil were used as food and for cooking as we still do today and many of the early peoples knew of the health benefits and used the oil as a medicine for all manner of ailments or even as a beauty product for the skin and the hair.
How olives were grown...
Although the wild olive tree grows naturally throughout the Mediterranean it does not produce the quantity or quality of fruit as the domesticated varieties do. The cultivated varieties were probably the result of taking cuttings from particularly high cropping trees so that eventually over many generations the range a variety of different olives that we have today was established. The olive tree can grow quite tall but it is usually pruned into a more manageable size so that the fruit can be picked by climbing up ladders or using long handled tools. The tree prefers a warm and dry environment and it has a stubborn nature that makes it particularly good at regenerating even if the tree has been cut down just above the ground. It is not uncommon for olive trees to live for many hundreds of years.
What our ancestors thought about olives...
The olive was important in religion, and both the Bible and the Koran contain many references to it, one of the best known coming from the Book of Genesis where Noah sees the returning dove with an olive branch in its beak. The olive oil was also used in many ceremonies through out time to anoint and purify, a practice that is still used today in some churches. Egyptian, Greek and Roman gods have been associated with olives reinforcing the importance of this fruit to these ancient peoples. Greeks considered the olive tree to be sacred and they had strict rules protecting them from being damaged. Many festivals and events included references to the importance they placed in the olive tree and winners of major athletic events were awarded jars of oil or wreaths of olive branches.
...back
|
