🏛️ The olive in culture and history
The olive branch, myths, the Olympic wreath, the Mediterranean diet and other traces of the olive in culture.
The olive in culture and history is the section about how the tree, its fruit and its oil became part of faith, myth, sport and everyday custom around the Mediterranean. The story goes back a very long way: thousands of crushed olive stones at the submerged settlement of Kfar Samir off the Carmel coast show that oil was being produced 7,600–7,000 years ago.
The Olive branch is a sign of peace. In the Book of Genesis the dove brings Noah an olive leaf as a sign that the flood has receded. In 2019 UNESCO proclaimed 26 November World Olive Tree Day and called the olive a universal symbol of peace and resilience.
In ancient Greece the olive was a sacred tree. Herodotus tells how the Persians were struck that Olympic winners received a wreath of olive rather than money. Pausanias writes that a wild olive grew at Olympia and that the winners' wreaths were woven from its leaves; such a wreath is known as the Kotinos. The myth of Athena and the olive tells of her contest with Poseidon for Attica: the goddess planted an olive, the divine judges awarded her the land, and the city was named Athens.
The Mediterranean diet has been on UNESCO's Representative List since 2010, and since 2013 it has covered seven countries: Spain, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Cyprus, Croatia and Portugal. Olive oil is named there as one of the foundations of the diet.
Soap has its own olive story: in 2024 UNESCO inscribed Nabulsi soap from Palestine, which is cured for a year, and Aleppo ghar soap from Syria, which dries for 6–9 months. The section also includes Gethsemane.
What it includes
How it connects to Olives
🏛️ The olive in culture and history → kind of → 🫒 Olives
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Frequently asked questions
Why is the olive branch a symbol of peace?
In the Book of Genesis a dove returns to Noah with an olive leaf, a sign that the flood has receded. When UNESCO proclaimed 26 November World Olive Tree Day, it also recognised the olive as a universal symbol of peace and resilience.
Is it true that Olympic winners were rewarded with money?
No. Herodotus says this was exactly what surprised the Persians: the winners received a wreath of olive, not money. Pausanias writes that the wreaths were woven from the leaves of a wild olive growing at Olympia. In 2004 the winners of the Athens Games were crowned with wreaths from the olive tree of Vouves.
When is World Olive Tree Day?
On 26 November. UNESCO proclaimed it in 2019 at the initiative of Lebanon and Tunisia; the decision was adopted unanimously at the 40th session of its General Conference.
How old is olive oil production?
The oldest evidence is thousands of crushed olive stones at the submerged settlement of Kfar Samir near Mount Carmel in Israel, about 7,600–7,000 years old. Clear cultivation of the olive dates to roughly 7,000 years ago, including finds at Tel Tsaf.
Similar
🧪 Olive and olive oil composition and health · 🫒 Olive oil · 🌳 Olive trees, groves and famous trees · 📜 Protected olive oil and olive names · 🏭 Olive harvest and the oil mill · 🫒 Olive cultivars
Sources
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage — Mediterranean diet (00884), Decision 8.COM 8.10 (2013)
- International Olive Council — World Olive Tree Day (UNESCO proclamation, 2019)
- Herodotus, The Histories 8.26 (trans. A. D. Godley, Perseus Digital Library)
- Barazani O., Dag A., Dunseth Z. The history of olive cultivation in the southern Levant. Front. Plant Sci. 2023, 14:1131557