Olive oil, derives from the fruit of olive trees, and is a blessed, valuable, and priceless gift from nature to humanity.
It has been consumed and used for thousands of years, and it is currently more popular than ever because of its health advantages and culinary versatility.
Olive oil has long been a staple of Mediterranean cooking, including that of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Neolithic people were collecting wild olives in Asia Minor as early as the eighth millennium BCE.
The olive tree reached Greece, Carthage and Libya sometime in the 28th century BCE, having been spread westward by the Phoenicians. Until around 1500 BCE, eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean were most heavily cultivated.
And according to historians the olive tree is the oldest tree known to this day.
Incorporating olive oil into one’s diet can benefit one’s health and well-being in a variety of ways.
Olive oil was used in a variety of ways in Ancient Greece. Spartans and other Greeks massaged themselves with it when practicing at the gymnasia, for example. And, despite its exorbitant expense, the cosmetic use of olive oil quickly spread to other Hellenic city-states, lasting over a thousand years.
