Homer called it "Liquid Gold” Hippocrates called it “Great therapeutic”. The magnificent fruit tree was the symbol of peace, abundance, glory and safety. It was seeped into the bones of dead Saints and Martyrs, rubbed all over the Greek Athletes Bodies. Egyptians used it to preserve their mummies.
It is believed that it grew somewhere near Asia. From Syria it spread to Greece. It was cultivated and from the island of Crete it spread to Egypt. Between the 7th and 3rd Century, physicians, historians and philosophers undertook its botanical classifications and referred to the curative properties of it. The most heavily cultivated area was Mycenae in Greece. As Greek Colonies expended Olive Oil cultivation moved to Southern Italy and Northern Africa. Then it spread to South France.
The Olive trees dominated the Greek Country side and were thought as sacred. Those who were seen cutting down trees were sent to exile or executed. Ships were designed and built solely for the transportation of Olive Oil from Greece to trading posts all over the Mediterranean.
