From the beginning, populations who lived in the Mediterranean Basin cultivated the olive tree and extracted oil from its fruit. Since only sedentary populations cultivated the olive tree, its cultivation marked the turning point between nomadic and sedentary peoples, the origin of our civilization.
Throughout the centuries, olive oil has accompanied man and served him in a variety of ways: since the time of Galen, this versatile fruit was first used as a medical remedy. It was also used as an ornament, as a combustible source of energy and light, to bestow honor on heroes and on the dead and, in trade, as a "prized currency". It was used in cosmetics, in sacramental liturgy, and in the consecration of kings. Through time, olive oil has been the symbol of peace, wisdom, prosperity, wealth, strength, beauty, dignity, holiness, honor, victory and consecration, and has symbolized the alliance between God and man.
We must go back to the Copper Age, about 6000 years ago, to discover the first traces of the use of oil extracted from olives. Several sedentary peoples located in what is currently Syria and Palestine selected a plant with plump fruit from among wild olive plants and used the oil that was extracted to protect their skin and burn as fuel. In the Middle East, Syria and Mesopotamia developed its use primarily for food and fuel but also used its wood for construction.
Later, the Phoenicians exported the oil across the Mediterranean Sea, introducing it to the Minoan civilizations and to the Egyptian people.
The Egyptians used olive oil primarily in the cult of the dead: they traditionally adorned the monumental tombs of the kings with wreaths of olive branches and the pits of the olive. Anointing the bodies of the dead with oil for mummification was an expression of wealth and dignity. The Egyptians were the first to use oil for another purpose; to designate prominent people. The Pharaohs would appoint their chosen deputies by pouring olive oil on their heads.
A Greek myth told by Callimachus recounts the story of how the olive was created by Pallas Athena. Zeus had promised the region of Attica to whomever presented man with the most useful gift. Poseidon made seawater spring forth from the ground and gave man a horse, the symbol of courage and power in war. The goddess of wisdom answered by making the olive tree spring forth from a rock, symbolizing the prosperity that comes from peace. The Greeks preserved the area around the rock as a sacred place: this was the Acropolis, the foundation of the city of Athens. They also considered olive trees sacred to the gods: Solon's Law decreed that anyone who destroyed an olive tree would be condemned to death. In "King Oedipus at Colonus" Sophocles referred to the olive tree simply as "our children's nourishment". The Greeks used olive oil as a medicine, to protect their skin, in cosmetics, for personal hygiene, as a lubricant, for lighting, for ritual uses and to improve the muscle tone of athletes. Its principal use of olive oil, however, was dietary: each Greek adult consumed approximately 30 liters a year.
The olive tree is also part of the legend surrounding the foundation of Rome, for it was under the olive tree that the she-wolf suckled the twins, Romulus and Remus, the founders of the Eternal City. The Romans were a practical people and they used olive oil above all as a "prized currency".
They often accepted olive oil as a payment for the taxes owed by conquered populations; so it was not by chance that an olive tree is depicted on the first coins struck in Crotone. This is how the cultivation of the olive spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The olive was also highly regarded as a symbol of glory that was used to crown their heroes and as a wish for prosperity in nuptial decorations.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the use of olive oil declined because the Barbarians needed pastureland for their flocks. Consequently, olive trees were safeguarded in monasteries and other religious institutions; the oil was used primarily for liturgical purposes and for the administration of the sacrament.
Since the origins of man, many religions have considered the olive tree as sacred. It is connected to the myths surrounding the creation of the world. One example is the myth of the origin of the tree. Near death, Adam prayed for the Oil of Mercy; from the seeds placed in his mouth after burial, the cypress, cedar and olive grew.
In Holy Scriptures, the olive tree and its oil symbolize the alliance between God and mankind: the dove that announced the end of the universal flood to Noah had an olive branch in its beak, which symbolized a new era of reconciliation.
This symbolic value was also expressed in the consecration of the men called to mediate between God the father and the people of Israel. This was the case with the priests, in memory of the election of Aaron commanded by God of Moses (Exodus 40:13), with the King (1 Samuel 10:1) and the prophets, (1 Kings 19:16). All were anointed with oil. Olive oil and Judaism are still linked through the feast of Hanukkah, which commemorates the triumph of the Hebrews over their Greek rulers, symbolizing the victory of faith over Hellenism and its worship of reason. The ritual celebrates the miracle of the holy oil in the temple, which miraculously regenerated itself for eight days.
Implied in the name of Christianity is the use of olive oil for the consecration of kings, priests and prophets: the Greek term Christos means “anointed”. Christ was anointed by the Lord to be the Messiah who was awaited by Israel and sent into the world as man’s salvation. Consequently, since its foundation, the Church signs those baptized with the Holy Blessing with olive oil. “And olive oil is the constant symbol of the sacraments, a sign of the presence of the love of God”. With blessed oil during the Confirmation Mass of the Thursday Saint, the sacraments are administered for Confirmation, for Ordination and for the Extreme Unction of the sick. The use of olive oil in the Christian religion originated in the New Testament: Christ prepared himself for the passion in an olive grove of Gethsemane and the Good Samaritan poured a balm of olive oil on the wounds of the suffering man. The Christian tradition has maintained the symbolic value connected to this plant not only in the sacraments but also in the exchange of blessed olive branches, a sign of peace, and in the lamp, fueled by olive oil, that burns perpetually next to the Holy Sacrament. The olive branch also symbolizes a number of saints including St. Bernard Ptolomei, the founder of the Olivetans, St. Irene and St. Bruno.
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