Historical Uses of Olive Oil

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of the prime ingredients in all Honey Girl Organics skin care products; however olive oil has been used for thousands of years because of its unique properties. In this post I’ll give a brief overview of the historical uses of olive oil which range from cooking oil to religious rituals to an ingredient in soap, not to mention ancient forms of skin care.

Oil was first extracted from olives over 5,000 years ago in western Asia, especially the eastern Mediterranean and many believe widespread cultivation of olives began on the Greek isle of Crete. Egyptians imported the oil from Crete thousands of years ago and by the height of the Roman Empire it had spread throughout the entire Mediterranean.

Olive trees flourished in the rocky Greek countryside that was hostile to most types of trees. Their ability to thrive in harsh conditions led to Italian folklore dictating that the five ingredients for ideal olive trees were “sun, stone, drought, silence and solitude.” It was believed that the incredible vitality of olive trees was conferred to people through their oil, which was thought to enhance a person’s strength and youth.

Olive oil was very common in ancient Greek and Roman cuisine and was used to fuel sacred lamps. In the ancient city of Sparta athletes were known to rub themselves with olive oil to accentuate the body’s natural beauty, a practice which spread throughout Hellenic society and was often seen at the Olympic games of ancient Greece. Olive trees were so valued that those who cut one down were often condemned to death or exile as punishment. According to legend, the famous Greek city of Athens was so named because ancient Athenians considered olive oil (the offering of the goddess Athena) more essential than water (the offering of the god Poseidon). Olive oil was so important to ancient Greek society that Homer (the world’s very first novelist) famously referred to it as “liquid gold."

Many religious rituals were performed using olive oil. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, for example, celebrates the miracle of a small amount of olive oil lasting eight nights, seven more than was expected. The Catholic Church also uses olive oil to bless and strengthen those preparing for Baptism. The Qur’an, the Islamic holy book, actually refers to the olive as a sacred plant.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, means that the olive oil was obtained by pressing the olives, rather than from chemical means and is thus most like the olive oil used by ancient peoples. Extra Virgin Olive Oil has less than 1% acidity and is the healthiest available. In Honey Girl Organics skin care products we use only organic extra virgin olive oil, the best kind you can find.

Well I hope you enjoyed that look at the history of Olive Oil, I plan to be looking into the history of Honey Girl’s other products too, so check back soon!