#olive oil tree

[kenjed]

Gerontoelia is the oldest olive tree in the world on the island of Naxos, Greece, in the village Kastri. It is estimated to be over 5,000 years old.

Gerontoelia is behind a stone wall, so I couldn't get up close (seen here), but here is another olive tree on the same grove. By size I believe it would also be thousands of years old.

Archaeological evidence and examination of fossil olive leaves in the Aegean area, inform us of the existence of olive trees 50,000 years ago.

[watermelllonarchive]

Mohammed Aborjela shared this short documentary on October 6. He interviews Naseem, a displaced farmer helping to harvest olives at an orchard near her displacement camp.

Before the war, Naseem had her own olive groves. She recalls how members of her family would come help harvest, and the sense of family and community through this shared activity. Though her farm is destroyed, she tells Aborjela "I love harvesting the trees. It's the beautiful part."

Olive trees are a long standing cultural symbol in Palestine. Before the war, olive production made up 14% of Palestine's economy. As such, these trees have been a target of occupation forces for many years.

Mohammed Aborjela is on Instagram @ aborjelaa. He also is part of the mutual aid and volunteering initiative Shabab Gaza (@ shababgaza).

To learn more about the creators featured on this blog, check out the sticky post here.

[howamidrivinginlimbo]

The ancient olive yard of Masseria Brancati

[preraphaelitepaintings]

The Annunciation

Artist: Edward Coley Burne-Jones (English, 1833-1898)

Date: 1879

Medium: Oil paint on canvas

Collection: National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Description

'The Annunciation' depicts the events described in the Gospel according to St Luke, chapter 1, verses 26-35. The Archangel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary, saying ‘…you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus…’.

This subject was painted several times by Burne-Jones but this painting is the most important. Gabriel, suspended in space, appears to emerge from a tall bay or olive tree. The architectural background is clearly inspired by the artist’s visits to Italy in 1871 and 1873.

The artist’s travels in Italy encouraged him to paint with a greater sense of classical structure and spatial organization. The monumental architecture, the pale, sombre colours and the statuesque figures lend an austere grandeur to the Virgin’s predicament. The model for the Virgin is stated to have been Mrs. Leslie Stephen, then (appropriately) pregnant with her fourth child who would become the celebrated artist Vanessa Bell.

[vyorei]

I found a post about Palestine and olive trees about a week ago, this reminded me of it so I'm gonna post the text below.

This was posted on Facebook by Dima Seelawi on the 29th of October 2018, it just happened to find its way to my newsfeed:

"When I was young, I never really understood my parents insistence to only use olive oil imported from Palestine. It took a long time and a great distance in a process that was neither cheap nor convenient. The oil came in old beat-up containers that did not look appealing to me at all. In my head, if they wanted to support distant family back home, they could just send them money and save us and them a big hassle. We could just use the nice looking olive oil containers from the nearby store. Yet, this was never an option in our household. The only olive oil we used at home was from Palestine.

As I grew up and started a student part-time job, I worked with olive oil a little. I knew all about olive oil imported from Spain, Italy, and other countries. I knew which ones were better and more expensive. I also learned to tell, based on the pungent taste, which ones were extra virgin. I was tempted to use my employee discount to bring home one of the fancy bottles and use at our kitchen. I could not get myself to do it, and I did not exactly know why. I felt like it would be disrespectful to my parents even if it didn’t make sense to me. It did not feel right. It was not an option.

After living in Palestine for a year during the olive picking season, something changed. The olive picking season in Palestine is holy.

Palestinians relate to the weather based on how it would benefit or harm the olives. There is well-known unspoken rule about treating olive trees with respect. There is a day off from work just to pick olives. On public transportation, it is not unusual to hear someone on the phone telling their friend to stop by for their share of this year’s olive oil stored in what used to be a Coca-Cola or a liquor bottle. A driver will stop in the middle of the way to give his brother- in- law a jar of olives that are so close to one another that they start to crush showing their insides.

In Nablus, the owner of the Nabulsi soap factory takes pride in how picky he is about getting his olive oil. He insists on filling a cup to let me smell how authentic it is and smirks as he sees my diasporic facial expressions transform in appreciation of its strong smell running through all of my brain cells.

I started noticing how olive oil is an essential part of so many dishes. “Palestinians drink more olive oil than water” I would jokingly say and they would laugh in agreement. Olive oil is truly an everyday ritual.

They fantasize about its color when it’s fresh and remind me that it starts to change as it reacts with oxygen over time. They dip their bread into olive oil, just like that and without any additions, and enjoy it more than the sweetest of all foods. I can guarantee that every lunch invitation (عزومة) I received during the olive-picking season was a chance for my hosts to share their olive oil using Msakhan (a traditional Palestinian dish).

I now have a deeper understanding of the psychology behind the burning of olive trees by Israeli settlers and why farmers moan at the scene as if they lost a loved one.

Wherever you are, if it’s accessible to you, make sure your olive oil is Palestinian. Your ancestors would want that."

And this picture was attached:

Link to the article in the header image:

[artandthebible]

The Apostles

Artist: Felice Carena (Italian, 1879-1966)

Date: 1926

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Gallery of Modern Art, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Description

After the Last Supper, Christ retires in prayer with the apostles to the Garden of Olive Trees, but the apostles, overcome by tiredness in the night, fall asleep. In the foreground, James, Peter and John. In the background of the painting, the strong olive trees from which the Jewish place name Gethsemane derives are visible.

[galleryofart]

Landscape with the Castle of Massa di Carrara

Artist: Leo von Klenze (German, 1784 - 1864)

Date: 1827

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Getty Museum Collection, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Description

A late medieval castle stands on a hilltop overlooking small buildings, ruins, and olive and cypress trees. This work depicts Massa, a town near Genoa on the northwest coast of Italy. The painting is particularly rich in details: the leaves of the trees shimmer, the buildings' edges are precisely delineated, and the plain clothing worn by peasants in the foreground is carefully described. Leo von Klenze, who is primarily known as the chief architect and head of public works in Munich, was also an accomplished painter. Combining his talent for keen observation with an ability to improve upon nature, Klenze amended this vista of the Italian town. He adapted the greenery and borrowed different aspects from a range of prior sketches in order to enhance the stature of the lofty structure.

[i-am-aprl]

A Palestinian grandfather protects his thousand year old olive trees from IOF soldiers, trying to raze his land. This is the brutality of the Israeli Zionist regime. Trying to erase every thing that is Palestinian from this land. The earth in Palestine belongs to us and it will not forget. No matter how many trees they uproot.

[nickysfacts]

You can try all you want, their cultural and historical roots will always remain🫒

🇵🇸🌳🇵🇸

[wizardnuke]

does anyone know if we have to roll that rock up the hill again tomorrow

[mythologypaintings]

Clio, Muse of History

Artist: Charles Meynier (French, 1768–1832)

Date: 1800

Medium: Oil on canvas

Location: Castle of Wallenreid, Switzerland

Description

Clio, the Greek muse of history, is the daughter of Zeus and Titaness Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. Clio is depicted here writing and surrounded by objects associated with preserving the memory of historical figures and events: busts, reliefs, and sculptures. This painting belongs to a cycle of works commissioned by businessman François Boyer-Fonfréde for his home in Toulouse.

[inspofromancientworld]

Foods of the Ancient World: Olive Oil

Source: https://thebiblesleuth.com/israel-a-leading-oil-producer/

Olive oil has many uses, ranging from as a food item, through cosmetics to soaps and even as a lamp oil. Olives are one of the three core crops of Mediterranean cuisine, the other two being wheat and grapes. Olive trees were cultivated as early as the 8th millennium BCE, predating written records. Cultivation likely started in Persia and Mesopotamia before spreading through the Levant and later into North Africa, reaching Greece in the 28th century BCE with the Phoenician traders. The earliest surviving olive oil amphorae we have date to 3500 BCE to the early Early Minoans, though evidence suggests production in the area started before 4000 BCE. Evidence in Galilee points to olive oil production as far back as 6000 BCE and a now submerged settlement near Haifa in 4500 BCE.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Origin-and-distribution-of-olive-tree-in-Mediterranean-region_fig1_277259686

The earliest documentary evidence of olive oil we have is from Ebla, outside modern-day Aleppo dating to about 2400 BCE. The Egyptians have records of importing oil from Crete, Canaan, and Syria, making it an item marking wealth. Sinuhe, an Egyptian who lived in northern Canaan around 1960 BCE wrote about 'abundant olive trees'. As Rome conquered the Mediterranean world, the demand and importance of olive oil for commerce. They had olive trees planted all around the Mediterranean basin.

By Heinz-Josef Lücking, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33120207

Initially, it's thought that olive oil was produced by putting olives between mats and pressing them, catching the resulting oil in vats below. This process seems to be what was used through the Hellenistic period. The Romans introduced an olive crusher consisting of two stone disks joined by a wooden rod set into a stone dish where the olives would be placed, which allowed increased production and is still in use today in some areas.

[davidcarpenterart]

Olive Trees II

Deià 2023.

Instagram @davidcarpenterart

[ithinkofnealcassady]

nonna olga’s bring-to-everything yogurt cake to which i added tons of orange zest, fresh grated ginger, ground ginger, and ground cardamom, plus i baked it in a bundt pan. i always use olive oil for this which is so nice w the orange and spices :-) gm

[artandthebible]

Christ on the Mount of Olives

Artist: Arent de Gelder (Dutch, 1645-1727)

Date: ca. 1715

Medium: Oil on panel

Collection: The Leiden Collection, New York City, NY, United States

Description

Arent de Gelder’s painting captures the essence of a miraculous moment described in the Gospel of St. Luke 22:39–46, when an angel, descended from Heaven, comforts and supports Christ as he prays in a wooded grove at the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives. The angel, dressed in radiant white robes, tenderly reaches toward the kneeling Savior, who prays with lowered head and raised hands. Simultaneously, and with a gesture that visually strengthens their bond, the angel’s extended wing wraps around and embraces Christ. The two figures glow in a pool of heavenly light, more spiritual than physical. It overwhelms the profound darkness of the evening, dimly illuminating the surrounding olive trees and three sleeping disciples huddled together in the immediate foreground.

Christ’s encounter with the angel occurred on Passover, shortly after the Last Supper when he had informed his disciples that one of them would betray him, and before Judas betrayed him in the Garden of Gethsemane. After the Passover feast, Jesus, as was his custom, went to the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives with a few of his followers, whom the Gospel of St. Matthew identifies as Peter and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. When Christ arrived in the garden, according to the Gospel of St. Luke, he urged his disciples to “pray that you will not come into temptation.” He then moved “about a stone’s throw” away and prayed to God: “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.” As in answer to his plea, an angel descended from Heaven to succor him in his agony. Luke relates that, even with the angel by his side, Christ’s suffering was so intense that “His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.” He then discovered that his disciples, exhausted from sorrow, had fallen asleep. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Christ admonished Peter with these words: “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

[galleryofart]

Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun

Artist: Vincent van Gogh

Date: 1899

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis