Old testament times

See ISRAEL. OLIVE (ny) zayith, ἐλαία, oliva, Arab. zeitiin).—A well-known tree, one of the most characteristic of Syria and Palestine. It belongs to the order Oleacee, which also includes the ash. It is a tree with gnarled and, when large, usually hollow trunk, and straggling branches. It loves rich soil, but flourishes without irrigation. The small white flowers form axillary clusters.

When their function is over, ΠΟΥ͂ fall in showers to the ground (Job 15%), and their place is taken by small oblong fruits, at first green, but becoming almost blac when ripe. From these comes the fatness of the olive, its rich nutritious oil. The leaves are oblong to lanceolate, of the characteristic dull olive-green at their upper surface, and a frosted silver colour below.

This arrangement of colours makes an olive tree at a little distance appear as if covered by a filmy veil of silver gauze, which xives a soft dreamy sheen to the landscape. "here are groves of olives near all the cities and villages of Pal. and Syria, and several of them are very extensive. That near Beirfit is nearly 5 miles ie That near Tripoli is about as large. There are fine groves near Nablfis, and on the western slopes of Lebanon.

The ground in which olive trees grow is ploughed twice or more a er | and enriched with inorganie and organic ertilizers. A favourite dressing is a marl, known as huwwwdrah, which is found everywhere in pockets of the cretaceous rocks of Syria. The first olives begin to fallin September. These are usually left until the time when the owner or his agent, and the lessee, can together pick them up and measure them. In November comes the harvest. The trees are beaten with a long pole (Dt 24%).

The ‘shakings’ (Is 24"5) of the olive tree refer to the few olives left after the first beating. These were to be left for the poor; see art. GLEANING. The olive harvest is usually carried home in baskets, on the backs of men or donkeys. ‘Olive berries’ (Ja 3%), in reality a kind of drupe, are used for food in two stages.

(1) When green they are pickled in brine, until the bitter taste is somewhat overcome, a result which is hastened by slightly bruising the drupe, so that the brine may more readily penetrate its pulp. They are eaten with bread, and, especially during the fasts, constitute a notable portion of the diet of the people. (2) When quite ripe they are sometimes packed down in salt, or immersed in brine, and at other times pre- OLIVES, MOUNT OF served in their own oil.

The yield varies much in different years. If it is large one year it is usually small the next. The drupes are often beaten in a mortar, as in Bible times (Ex 27™ etc.) In this case the mare is placed in a vessel filled with hot water. The oil floats to the surface, and is skimmed off. The more usual way of obtaining the oil, however, is to bruise the ripe berries in a shallow circular basin, excavated in a stone shaped like the nether millstone, or in the solid rock.

The bruising is sometimes done with the foot (Dt 33", Mic 6%), but more commonly b an upright millstone, with a long pole peed! through its centre. The short end of this pole is fastened to an upright fixed in the centre of the basin, and the other pushed or pulled round bya man or animal, so that the stone revolves just within the outer edge of the basin. This reduces the berries to a pulp.

Part of the oil flows out through a spout in the rim of the basin into a vat (J] 2 3%, ag 2"), After the oil which flows of itself has been drawn away, the marc is packed in soft reed baskets. These are subjected to pressure by piling them one over the other between two stone pillars, with an upright groove at the inner face of each. In these grooves slides a horizontal bar, which is heavily weighted with stones or iron.

Under this primitive but powerful press the oil flows down in streams, and is collected in a vat at the foot of the pile. At first it has much ex- traneous matter and water mixed with it. These radually separate, leaving the pure sweet oil. This is et in jars, or in large reservoirs hewn out of the rock or built with great exactness, and well pointed at the joints, or plastered within.

The oil is used extensively as food, and large quantities of soap of most excellent quality are made by boiling it with crude soda. The Scripture allusions to the olive are\ very numerous. It is the first tree, of those now known, mentioned in the Bible (Gn 81). [108 wealth of nourishment made it a natural candidate for the position of king of trees (Jg 9°-°). Itis an emblem of peace and prosperity (1’s 52° 128°) and beauty (Jer 1118, Hos 14%).

The two olive trees in Zee 43-14 were emblems of fruitfulness. RV well translates (v.44) ‘two sons of oil,’ instead of AV ‘two anointed ones.’ Standing by ‘the Lord of the whole earth,’ they denote His abundant, overtiowing provision for the se wants of mankind. dil is frequently alluded to as food (2 Ch 2”), medicine (Lk 10%, Ja 5%), unguent (Ps 23°, Mt 6”), illuminator (Mt 258 ete.) The temple oil was beaten (Ex 27”).

The name ‘ Mount of Olives’ indicates the importance attached to this tree, and associates it with many of the most interesting incidents in the life of our Lord. G. E. Post.