Whereas in Africa, vestiges of sheets of olive tree of the Middle Paleolithic (54.000 av. J-C) were discovered and what in Spain, the oldest fragments, dating the period of the Neolithic, were found taken out of the nest near Almería. Today still, the mythical story of the olive tree is not always well known.
We consider that three sorts were cultivated by the time of the old civilizations: Olea Laperrini (Morocco), Olea Africana (Arabian Peninsula and Egypt) and Olea Ferruginea (Asia Minor).
It is said that the culture of olive trees began as exploitation organized on the edges of the Mediterranean Sea (Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, on the Archipelago of the Cyclades and especially on the island of Crete), where it that they were already exploited in the Neolithic period. The olive tree would thus be connected to these civilizations since its existence.
From there, the olive tree was exported in Italy and in Greece, to extend then in the other Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. And, finally, it has lands in Spain via the Phoenician people.
Moreover, the exploitation of olive trees is noticed from 2.000 av. JC, in Egypt, in particular on the coast, of the mythical city of Alexandria to El Fayoum. The olive oil was used to illuminate temples and pyramids. Egyptians were the first ones to extract the oil of olives thanks to natural mechanical processes, which are always the same nowadays. The oil already was to use at that time for the cooking, in particular in the seasoning of salads and other dishes. Furthermore, in Egypt, for example, a crown of olive tree branches was discerned in mummies.
The Oracle of Delfos said that the one who gives the city the best gift would be the one to name it.
Poseidon build a river of salted water and Atenea created the olive tree.
Atenea won and the olive tree was the symbol and the most representative icon of the Greek and the Roman empires.
From the the olive tree humans extract the juice of the olives, the olive oil.