The Oldest Living Olive Tree in Bethlehem
The al Badawi olive tree in Bethlehem, estimated to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old, is believed to be the oldest living olive tree in the world . Despite the tree’s incredible age, the tradition of pressing oil from olives in this ancient region of the Middle East is even older. Archaeological research shows that people were producing olive oil here as far back as 8,000 years ago.
Ancient Olive Oil Production at Ein Zippori
In a dig at the site of the Bronze Age town of Ein Zippori , located just over a mile west of Nazareth, researchers discovered shards of broken pottery containers. Chemical analyses of these pottery fragments confirmed that they once held olive oil, providing direct evidence of one of the earliest olive oil production sites in history.