OLIVE

OLIVE TREE

LATIN NAME: OLEA EUROPAEA

HOMELAND: MEDITERRANEAN BASIN

Immortal queen of all times

It is the only tree and fruit that has survived to the present day without ever losing its importance, value and meaning, and even increasing it, since it was first noticed by mankind.

First appearance in writing

Assyrian King II Ashurnasipal, in Nimrud, the capital of Assyria during the middle empire period, describes in writing the green areas and garden arrangements he made in his own words. The Olive Tree appears for the first time in the oldest written document in history describing urban green areas and garden arrangements.

This precious tree has been a common value for all cultures and beliefs that have lived in the Mediterranean and its surroundings, which is the homeland of the Olive Tree, and has been attributed with holiness.

In ancient Egypt, olive oil, which was accepted as a gift from the Goddess Isis, was applied to people's bodies both as a protective lotion and as a type of ablution that allowed them to pass to the afterlife more easily.

In Greek Mythology, in the competitive race between the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Athena who wanted to name a newly established city, the Olive Tree was the first chosen gift from Athena and the city of Athens, whose name is still the same today, was named after the goddess Athena.

In the Iliad, which tells the story of the Trojan Wars, while Homer was resting under the shade of an Olive Tree, the Olive Tree spoke to Homer and said, "I belong to no one, I belong to everyone, I was here before you came and I will be here after you go" and declared its immortality.

Unlike the Quran and the Bible, which are Abrahamic religions, the Torah mentions that Hz. Adam had a third son other than Habil and Kabil. Accordingly, God gave Hz. She gives Adam a third son named Seth to ease the pain of his dead son Abel. One day, Seth goes with his mother Eve to beg for oil from the tree of mercy in the Garden of Eden, but his request is rejected. The angel Michael says that the oil he wants will be given to him on the Day of Judgment, and when his father, Prophet Adam, dies, he gives Seth three seeds to put in his mouth while burying him. Seth hides these seeds and when his father, Prophet Adam, dies, he puts the three seeds given by the angel Michael in his mouth before he is buried. Three trees grow in Prophet Adam's grave. These trees become cedar, cypress and olive trees.

During the Great Flood, a dove brings an olive branch to Prophet Noah. Prophet Noah accepts the olive branch as both a sign of hope that there is land nearby and a sign that God has made peace with humanity. The olive branch continues to be a symbol of hope and peace today.