During the first urban
civilizations of the world we can ascertain the relationship
between civil development and olive cultivation, constant
throughout the entire history of the Mediterranean area. The
steady, ever greater demand for oil and wine in the area of
Mesopotamia, in Egypt and in Anatolia brought about prosperity in
the localities along the coast, where olive trees and vines could
be cultivated.
Proof of olive cultivation in archaeological sites that may be
dated 35OO BC is evidenced by big olive pits and charcoal from
olive wood, used for construction and as fuel in desert-like
areas, where olive trees could not have grown spontaneously. These
facts testify to the first human efforts to cultivate the olive
tree.
In Syria, Ebla was one of the principal centers of the caravan
trade network that supplied products for a
"Mediterranean" diet (wine instead of beer and olive oil
instead of sesame oil) to Egypt, Mesopotamia and Assyria, that is,
the main state structures and the most important economic
powers in the world. |
Refined Egyptian objects, vases and lamps made of alabaster, glass paste and faience, jewels, gold, silver and precious stones were bartered for local products: cloth, bronzes and, above all, olive oil and wine.
Neo-elamitic lamp
- 1100 BC. 
The photograph shows a neo-elamitic lamp decorated with a lions' head.
It was fueled with olive oil, often perfumed.
When someone wanted to point out the poverty and the "uncouthness" of a nomad population, wretched and living outside the boundaries of civil order, he said:
"... they do not know metal, they do not know (precious) stones,
they do not know oil, they do not know milk .......
They do not build their houses like men do, their hearts do not know baked bread, their stomachs do not know beer..."
The Bible reflects this scale of values, and in the Hebrew culture olive oil was used to consecrate the Ark of the Covenant, the religious ornaments and the priests.
Commandment of God to Moses (12OO BC):
"And you must dress Aaron with holy garments and anoint and sanctify him, and he must be a priest for me...Then you will bring his sons near, and you will dress them with long garments. And you must anoint them like you anointed their father, and they will have to be priests for me, and their anointment must serve them continuously as priesthood for an indefinite period of time during their generations.
And Moses acted as God had ordered him."
Exodus 40, 13
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