It is the start of September, and all across the Holy Land families are looking at their dwindling supplies of zeit zeitun (Arabic for olive oil), gazing up at the ripe fruit on the branches of their shejara zeitun (olive trees), and knowing that the time has come to begin preparations for the coming olive harvest.
Harvesting tools, ladders, sticks, buckets and tarps are gathered. Willing relatives with vehicles offering plenty of trunk space, removable seats, and children in need of fresh air are called. Empty glass and plastic bottles kept since the start of the year suddenly become valuable commodities, washed and dried for what is to come. Housekeeping tasks set aside through the summer are now hastily finished, as the anticipation of busier weekends and afternoons takes hold.
Olive harvesting is a serious business in the Holy Land. It is far more than an agricultural practice. It is a time honored ritual, drawing families and friends together, returning them to ancestral lands, and offering a moment to slow down from the hectic pace of modern life and to gather that most beloved fruit of all: the olive.
Are olives a vegetable or a fruit?
Like other fruits such as the tomato, the olive is a fruit treated as a vegetable. The olive tree of the Holy Land, the Mediterranean variety known by its scientific name Olea europaea, was in all likelihood one of the earliest cultivated fruits of settled civilization. While olive trees take up to five years after planting to bear their first fruit, they require little care for most of the year, provided they have some access to water and are occasionally pruned. In ideal conditions the trees typically yield good harvests every other year, and even the leaner years bring a decent crop.
What are the Roman olive trees?
Olive trees are known for their extraordinarily long life. The oldest olive trees in the Holy Land are called the Roman olive trees, meaning they were planted at the time of Christ. Carefully maintained and pruned, they can stand for millennia. During the Ottoman era, olive trees were even itemized as a taxable commodity.
So what do people do with their olives?
Preserve olives for eating
The principal challenge of harvesting olives lies in drying them and then preserving them well. In traditional Palestinian Arab family homes, the flat rooftops and a designated elevated, dry room are set aside for this purpose. The family experts, who know best how to turn the bitter taste of a freshly plucked olive into a savory delicacy, also know precisely how to package and preserve the harvest to bring out its finest flavor.
Press olives for olive oil
In northern and eastern Mediterranean culture, zeit zeitun (olive oil) is a staple of the diet. It is the butter, the cooking oil, the seasoning, the appetizer and the main course, served at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Olive oil has also long been used as a shampoo and a body oil. In ages past, marriage dowries and land sales often involved olive oil.
Turn olive oil into soap
The city of Nablus, the ancient Shechem, is known as the great center of olive oil soap production. Famous for its natural properties, olive oil factories once filled the city. Today, this industry is enjoying a modest revival as a luxury bath and beauty item in Western markets.
You can purchase a wide variety of herbal pure extra virgin Nabulsi olive oil soaps in our online store.
Turn the branches and trunks into olive wood crafts
This is our specialty. While the olive pit itself can be used for sacred craft , the Franciscan monks once instructed their artisans to use olive pits as beads for rosaries , the wood of the tree can be shaped into an extraordinary range of products. Olive wood is a soft wood with a great amount of grain, lending each finished piece a singular look and feel. As trees are trimmed, pruned, or eventually cut down after running their natural course (even the oldest olive trees die in time), the wood is used for two principal purposes: fuel for the fire, and raw material for the hands of the artisan.
Looking for a particular piece carved from olive wood? Let our artisans know after viewing the products in our online store by sending us an email.
We at Bethlehem Handicrafts are proud to put the Holy Land in your hand by giving you the finest original Bethlehem olive wood carvings, crafted with care in the Holy Land.
Made by Christian Hands. Loved by Christian Hearts.
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