It's the Eretz-Yisrael Olive Oil

Dr. Ianir Milevski and Nimrod Getzov excavated a site at ‘En Zippori in the Lower Galilee which led to research that indicates olive oil was already being used in the country 8,000 years ago, that is to say, in the sixth millennium BCE.  

“this is the earliest evidence of the use of olive oil in the country, and perhaps the entire Mediterranean basin”

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority 

Getzov and Milevski methodically sampled the pottery vessels found in the excavation in order to ascertain what was stored in them...Together with Dr. Dvory Namdar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Institute of Earth Sciences, they took small pieces of pottery and utilizing chemical methods for extraction and identification examined the organic remains that were absorbed in the sides of the vessel.

These tests revealed that the pottery dating to the Early Chalcolithic period contained olive oil...Of the twenty pottery vessels sampled, two were found to be particularly ancient, dating to approximately 5,800 BCE...now at Zippori, evidence has been found for first time of the use of olive oil...this is the earliest evidence of olive oil production in the country, and possibly the entire Levant (the Mediterranean basin).” Milevski and Getzov said, “It seems that olive oil was already a part of the diet and might also have been used for lighting. Although it is impossible to say for sure, this might be an olive species that was domesticated and joined grain and legumes – the other kinds of field crops that we know were grown then. Those crops are known from at least two thousand years prior to the settlement at ‘En Zippori. With the adoption of olive oil the basic Mediterranean diet was complete. From ancient times to the present, the Mediterranean economy has been based on high quality olive oil, grain and must, the three crops frequently mentioned in the Bible.”

Olive oil, it's a Jewish thing.

Especially for the Temple Service and ... Chanukah.


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