Food Sources: Earth, Water, and Air - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 23

sils, and on the joints for cases of acute
influenza; with ghee ( samna ) and sesame
oil ( ª īra ¡ ) it was used for ulcers on the
leg. It could also be used with soap and
egg white as a “plaster” for fractures, and
was drunk in small quantities for kidney
stone.
Modern Western use is mainly culi-
nary, but also as eardrops and in com-
pound oils.

the young shoots should be irrigated, espe-
cially right after the planting, and manure
is recommended. Classical sources quoted
by Arab authors indicate that human
dung is not suitable for fertilising olive
trees. Much of the technical advice is
mixed with magical claims for pomoting
growth, protecting from pests and treat-
ing diseases, changing the taste or colour
of the olives, and preparation of olive oil.
For example, planting is said to be more
propitious if the moon is waxing and is in
the one of the two houses of Saturn.
A variety of methods are recorded for
planting olive trees from shoots around
the base of an existing tree. These are
sometimes grafted with stock from wild
varieties. The sources note that trees
planted from seed, which usually occurs
in late autumn, do poorly under domes-
tication. The sources suggest planting in
fine and pliable soil in locations protected
from hot winds. Olives do not grow well
in saline soils. Cultivation is preferable in
the mountains because of the cool air.
Olive production occurs after the tree
reaches maturity, generally in about 15
years. It is difficult to kill an olive tree by
cutting it down, since new shoots will be
sent up from the roots. In Palestine, exces-
sive dew and heavy moisture can damage
the pollen when the olive tree is flowering.
The best olives come from trees which are
40-60 years old. Olives were traditionally
harvested in November in Palestine and
Syria, either by men climbing the trees
and throwing the olives down or by beat-
ing the trees with sticks. Al-A 2 smaī quotes
Abd al-Mālik b. āli b. Alī that olives
trees can survive up to 3,000 years (!).
One of the best varieties of olives was
the Syrian rikābī , so-called because it
was exported from Syria on camelback.
‚ aālibī noted that this variety was espe-
cially regarded for the purity and clarity
of its oil. Rikābī olives and their oil were

2. Olive cultivation
The domesticated olive tree was an
important food plant in the Mediterra-
nean region and Asia Minor during the
Islamic era. The primary centre of culti-
vation was Syria and Palestine, but sub-
stantial groves were also found in Spain.
In Egypt there was limited production of
olives in the Delta, especially near Alex-
andria, according to al-Muaddasī and
al-ala ª andī. Olives were cultivated in
the Fayyūm and the Sīwa oasis since the
Hellenistic period. Ethnographic descrip-
tions of olive planting and the folklore
surrounding olives focus on Syria and Pal-
estine (see Crowfoot and Baldensperger,
and Dalman), especially in reference to
biblical studies (see Moldenke).
Information is available in the major
mediaeval agricultural treatises about the
cultivation of olives and their use in the
form of olive oil ( zayt ), although much of
this is copied from earlier classical texts.
The most extensive source on olive cul-
tivation comes from the widely-quoted
al-Filāa al-Nabaiyya attributed to Ibn
Wa ª iyya and reflecting much older
practices in the region of Irā and Syria.
According to this source, the best time
for planting olive trees is when the sun
is at the midpoint of the zodiacal house
of Pisces until it reaches the middle of
Taurus, during February and March; this
general time frame is frequently reported
in the mediaeval almanacs. In most cases,