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Olive Tree
The olive tree is one of the most characteristic and valued trees in the Mediterranean. It has grown in the lands around the Aegean Sea for centuries, with findings dating back as far as 5000 years and olive tree cultivation going back to 1500 years BC.
The olive tree branch and its juice have also been an integral part of ancient religious beliefs, often represented as a symbol of peace. The olive, considered a measure of wealth, was closely guarded and defended against possible sabotage or theft.
The characteristic dark green foliage of the olive tree with its frosted silver underside, together with its gnarled and hollow trunk, provides a picturesque and enduring symbol of settled habitations.
There are over a hundred different varieties and types of olive trees, most of which are specific to particular regions, each with its own unique qualities and characteristics.
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Olive Tree Uses
Wood: The olive tree has hard, dense wood which makes it a perfect natural resource for fashionable tools, household appliances and furniture.
Leaves: The leaves may be processed into fine compost as fertilizer for the following year’s crop, as well as food for cattle and livestock.
Fruit: The fruit – the edible olive – is processed unripe or green whilst others are left to mature on the tree.
Kernel oil: Further processing creates a product suitable for cooking at high temperatures.
Lamp Oil: During ancient times lamp oils were used to light luxurious houses, baths and temples.
Hand made products: Olive oil is a historic component of soaps, perfumes and various creams. Today, in olive groves all over the world, ancient recipes are still in use.
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Olive Tree History
The olive tree was seen as a symbol of peace, victory and the endurance of life itself. They said that evokes feelings of harmony, vitality, and health. Their branches were ritually offered to gods and used in powerful figures as emblems of faith and purification. It is surprising to hear that the leafy branches of olive trees were even found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. Olives provide people with food, medicines and nourishing creams. In ancient Greek olive oil was called by Hippocrates “the great therapeutic,” women used for cosmetic reasons on the skin and hair also after bathing for nourishment and protection. Olive oil was also mixed with grounded charcoal to create an eye shadow.
For more than 6,000 years the Olive tree and has made a great impact on the civilizations of the Mediterranean coast. They were born in the area currently occupied by Lebanon, where they are still wild they have being cultivated widespread from Syria to Tunisia, Greece to Italy, and from Crete to Spain.
Olive tree spread throughout the Mediterranean, after the discovery of America, and exported to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Mexico during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The olive tree arrived to southern Europe with the Phoenicians about 2,700 years ago. Still, it appeared ‘late’ when compared with the use given by the Egyptians (in the tomb of Tutankhamun they found crowns made of olive branches, and it’s well known olive oil from Syria and Palestine was imported), or how important it was in the economy of Crete, as king Minos wrote in the year 2500 BC.
Due to its age, the olive tree digs its roots in the language so deeply that in all European