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116-490: Olive oil production is the main source of income for the inhabitants. The village is situated on the left bank of the river Tanos , on the south slopes of mountain Zavitsa . It is surrounded by an extensive olive trees plantation. The natural caves that have formed due to the erosion of the terrain caused by the flow of the river are of particular interest. They divide the settlement into two neighborhoods. The upper neighborhood

232-505: A Phoenician colony into the capital of a Punic empire which dominated large parts of the Southwest Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The legendary Queen Elissa, Alyssa or Dido , originally from Tyre , is regarded as the founder of the city, though her historicity has been questioned. In the myth, Dido asked for land from a local tribe, which told her that she could get as much land as an oxhide could cover. She cut

348-455: A cardinal . He "saw himself as the reviver of the ancient Christian Church of Africa, the Church of Cyprian of Carthage", and, on 10 November 1884, was successful in his great ambition of having the metropolitan see of Carthage restored, with himself as its first archbishop. In line with the declaration of Pope Leo IX in 1053, Pope Leo XIII acknowledged the revived Archdiocese of Carthage as

464-463: A fuel in oil lamps , soap-making , and skincare application. The Spartans and other Greeks used oil to rub themselves while exercising in the gymnasia . From its beginnings early in the 7th century BC, the cosmetic use of olive oil quickly spread to all of the Hellenic city-states, together with athletes training in the nude, and lasted close to a thousand years despite its great expense. Olive oil

580-402: A drought during the flowering phase, for example, can result in a lower quality (virgin) oil. Olive trees produce well every couple of years, so greater harvests occur in alternate years (the year in-between is when the tree yields less). However the quality is still dependent on the weather. In the ancient Levant , three methods were used to produce different grades of olive oil. The finest oil

696-536: A high smoke point, and consequently is widely used in restaurants as well as home cooking in some countries. The United States is not a member of the IOC and does not implement its grades, but on October 25, 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) established Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil which closely parallel the IOC standards: These grades are voluntary. Certification

812-506: A limited area: the north coastal tell , the lower Bagradas river valley (inland from Utica), Cape Bon , and the adjacent sahel on the east coast. Punic culture here achieved the introduction of agricultural sciences first developed for lands of the eastern Mediterranean, and their adaptation to local African conditions. The urban landscape of Carthage is known in part from ancient authors, augmented by modern digs and surveys conducted by archeologists. The "first urban nucleus" dating to

928-577: A more serious rift among Christians was the Donatist controversy , against which Augustine of Hippo spent much time and parchment arguing. At the Council of Carthage (397) , the biblical canon for the western Church was confirmed . The Christians at Carthage conducted persecutions against the pagans , during which the pagan temples, notably the famous Temple of Juno Caelesti , were destroyed. The Vandals under Gaiseric invaded Africa in 429. They relinquished

1044-446: A retired army general ( c.  300 ), was translated into Latin and later into Greek. The original and both translations have been lost; however, some of Mago's text has survived in other Latin works. Olive trees (e.g., grafting ), fruit trees (pomegranate, almond, fig, date palm), viniculture , bees, cattle, sheep, poultry, implements, and farm management were among the ancient topics which Mago discussed. As well, Mago addresses

1160-404: A roadway consisting of clay; in situ stairs compensate for the slope of the hill. Construction of this type presupposes organization and political will, and has inspired the name of the neighborhood, " Hannibal district", referring to the legendary Punic general or sufet (consul) at the beginning of the second century BC. The habitat is typical, even stereotypical. The street was often used as

1276-428: A small addition of virgin for taste. Olive pomace oil is refined pomace olive oil, often blended with some virgin oil. It is fit for consumption, but may not be described simply as olive oil . It has a more neutral flavor than pure or virgin olive oil, making it less desirable to users concerned with flavor; however, it has the same fat composition as regular olive oil, giving it the same health benefits. It also has

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1392-438: A storefront/shopfront; cisterns were installed in basements to collect water for domestic use, and a long corridor on the right side of each residence led to a courtyard containing a sump , around which various other elements may be found. In some places, the ground is covered with mosaics called punica pavement, sometimes using a characteristic red mortar. Punic culture and agricultural sciences, after arriving at Carthage from

1508-571: A tomb on the island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea . Sinuhe , the Egyptian exile who lived in northern Canaan c.1960 BC, wrote of abundant olive trees. The Minoans used olive oil in religious ceremonies. The oil became a principal product of the Minoan civilization , where it is thought to have represented wealth. Olive oil was also a major export of Mycenaean Greece (c. 1450–1150 BC). Scholars believe

1624-507: A town has no need of an estate in the country." "One who has bought land should sell his town house, so that he will have no desire to worship the household gods of the city rather than those of the country; the man who takes greater delight in his city residence will have no need of a country estate. The issues involved in rural land management also reveal underlying features of Punic society, its structure and stratification . The hired workers might be considered 'rural proletariat', drawn from

1740-401: A town under Ottoman rule in the 18th century. Le Kram was developed in the late 19th century under French administration as a settlement close to the port of La Goulette . In 1881, Tunisia became a French protectorate , and in the same year Charles Lavigerie , who was archbishop of Algiers, became apostolic administrator of the vicariate of Tunis. In the following year, Lavigerie became

1856-425: A votive glass filled with olive oil, floating on a half-inch of water. The glass has a metal holder that hangs from a bracket on the wall or sits on a table. A cork float with a lit wick floats on the oil. To douse the flame, the float is carefully pressed down into the oil. Makeshift oil lamps can easily be made by soaking a ball of cotton in olive oil and forming it into a peak. The peak is lit and then burns until all

1972-540: Is consecrated by bishops as sacred chrism , which is used to confer the sacrament of confirmation (as a symbol of the strengthening of the Holy Spirit), in the rites of baptism and the ordination of priests and bishops, in the consecration of altars and churches , and, traditionally, in the anointing of monarchs at their coronation . Eastern Orthodox Christians still use oil lamps in their churches, home prayer corners, and cemeteries. A vigil lamp consists of

2088-423: Is an intergovernmental organisation of states that produce olives or products derived from olives, such as olive oil. The IOC officially governs 95% of international production and holds great influence over the rest. The EU regulates the use of different protected designation of origin labels for olive oils. The United States is not a member of the IOC and is not subject to its authority, but on October 25, 2010,

2204-662: Is available, for a fee, from the USDA. Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia . Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classical world . It became the capital city of the civilisation of Ancient Carthage and later Roman Carthage . The city developed from

2320-519: Is called "virgin oil" in English. The remaining semi-solid waste, called pomace , retains a small quantity (about 5–10%) of oil that cannot be extracted by further pressing, but only with chemical solvents. This is done in specialized chemical plants, not in the oil mills. The resulting oil is named pomace oil . Handling of olive waste is an environmental challenge because the wastewater , which amounts to millions of tons (billions of liters) annually in

2436-408: Is called Palamidi. The ancient Villa of Herodes Atticus at Eva is the most notable landmark. One can also visit the ancient settlements of Kourmeki and Tsiorovos and the women's Byzantine Monastery of Loukou . This Peloponnese location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained by pressing whole olives ,

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2552-420: Is not chemical acidity in the sense of pH , but the percent (measured by weight) of free oleic acid . Measured by quantitative analysis , acidity is a measure of the hydrolysis of the oil's triglycerides: as the oil degrades, more fatty acids are freed from the glycerides , increasing the level of free acidity and thereby increasing hydrolytic rancidity . Another measure of the oil's chemical degradation

2668-541: Is required to have no more than 0.8% free acidity , and is considered to have favorable flavor characteristics. Olive oil has long been a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine , including ancient Greek and Roman cuisine . Wild olives, which originated in Asia Minor , were collected by Neolithic people as early as the 8th millennium BC. Besides food, olive oil has been used for religious rituals , medicines , as

2784-447: Is taken to make sure the olives are perfectly ripe. The process is generally as follows: The oil produced by only physical (mechanical) means as described above is called virgin oil. Extra virgin olive oil is virgin olive oil that satisfies specific high chemical and organoleptic criteria (low free acidity, no or very little organoleptic defects). A higher grade extra virgin olive oil is mostly dependent on favourable weather conditions;

2900-545: Is the peroxide value , which measures the degree to which the oil is oxidized by free radicals , leading to oxidative rancidity. Phenolic acids present in olive oil also add acidic sensory properties to aroma and flavor. The grades of oil extracted from the olive fruit can be classified as: In countries that adhere to the standards of the International Olive Council , as well as in Australia, and under

3016-436: Is then malaxed (slowly churned or mixed) to allow the microscopic oil droplets to agglomerate. The oil is then separated from the watery matter and fruit pulp with the use of a press (traditional method) or centrifugation (modern method). After extraction the remnant solid substance, called pomace , still contains a small quantity of oil. One parameter used to characterise an oil is its acidity . In this context, "acidity"

3132-540: Is unknown. Archaeological evidence in Galilee shows that by 6000 BC olives were being turned into olive oil and in 4500 BC at a now-submerged prehistoric settlement south of Haifa . Olive trees and oil production in the Eastern Mediterranean can be traced to archives of the ancient city-state Ebla (2600–2240 BC), which were located on the outskirts of Aleppo . Here some dozen documents dated 2400 BC describe

3248-518: Is virgin oil that has been refined using charcoal and other chemical and physical filters, methods which do not alter the glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams (0.3%) and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard. It is obtained by refining virgin oils to eliminate high acidity or organoleptic defects. Oils labeled as pure olive oil or olive oil are primarily refined olive oil, with

3364-560: The Atlas Mountains . An imperial fleet arrived and retook Carthage, but in 698, Hasan ibn al-Nu'man returned and defeated Emperor Tiberios III at the 698 Battle of Carthage . Roman imperial forces withdrew from all of Africa except Ceuta . Fearing that the Byzantine Empire might reconquer it, they decided to destroy Roman Carthage in a scorched earth policy and establish their headquarters somewhere else. Its walls were torn down,

3480-869: The Battle of Carthage in 698 to prevent it from being reconquered by the Byzantine Empire . It remained occupied during the Muslim period and was used as a fort by the Muslims until the Hafsid period when it was taken by the Crusaders with its inhabitants massacred during the Eighth Crusade . The Hafsids decided to destroy its defenses so it could not be used as a base by a hostile power again. It also continued to function as an episcopal see . The regional power shifted to Kairouan and

3596-675: The European Union , has low biodegradability , is toxic to plants, and cannot be processed through conventional water treatment systems. Traditionally, olive pomace would be used as compost or developed as a possible biofuel , although these uses introduce concern due to chemicals present in the pomace. A process called "valorization" of olive pomace is under research and development, consisting of additional processing to obtain value-added byproducts , such as animal feed , food additives for human products, and phenolic and fatty acid extracts for potential human use. On average, during

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3712-713: The Levant and later to North Africa , though some scholars argue for an Egyptian origin. The olive tree reached Greece, Carthage and Libya sometime in the 28th century BC , having been spread westward by the Phoenicians . Until around 1500 BC, eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean were most heavily cultivated. Evidence also suggests that olives were being grown in Crete as long ago as 2500 BC. The earliest surviving olive oil amphorae date to 3500 BC ( Early Minoan times), though

3828-481: The Medina of Tunis in the medieval period , until the early 20th century, when it began to develop into a coastal suburb of Tunis , incorporated as Carthage municipality in 1919. The archaeological site was first surveyed in 1830, by Danish consul Christian Tuxen Falbe . Excavations were performed in the second half of the 19th century by Charles Ernest Beulé and by Alfred Louis Delattre . The Carthage National Museum

3944-509: The Roman Empire in the province of Africa . The question of Carthaginian decline and demise has remained a subject of literary, political, artistic, and philosophical debates in both ancient and modern histories. Late antique and medieval Carthage continued to play an important cultural and economic role in the Byzantine period . The city was sacked and destroyed by Umayyad forces after

4060-535: The Tyrians were hard at work: laying courses for walls, rolling up stones to build the citadel, while others picked out building sites and plowed a boundary furrow. Laws were being enacted, magistrates and a sacred senate chosen. Here men were dredging harbors, there they laid the deep foundations of a theatre, and quarried massive pillars... ." The two inner harbors, named cothon in Punic, were located in

4176-423: The U.S. Department of Agriculture adopted new voluntary olive oil grading standards that closely parallel those of the IOC, with some adjustments for the characteristics of olives grown in the U.S. U.S. Customs regulations on "country of origin" state that if a non-origin nation is shown on the label, then the real origin must be shown on the same side of the label in letters of comparable size, so as not to mislead

4292-506: The grape , used as a dessert fruit and for wine. Extra virgin olive oil is mostly used raw as a condiment and as an ingredient in salad dressings . If uncompromised by heat, the flavor is stronger. It also can be used for sautéing . When extra virgin olive oil is heated above 210–216 °C (410–421 °F), depending on its free fatty acid content, the unrefined particles within the oil are burned. This leads to deteriorated taste. Refined olive oils are suited for deep frying because of

4408-529: The primatial see of Africa and Lavigerie as primate. The Acropolium of Carthage (Saint Louis Cathedral of Carthage) was erected on Byrsa hill in 1884. The Danish consul Christian Tuxen Falbe conducted a first survey of the topography of the archaeological site (published in 1833). Antiquarian interest was intensified following the publication of Flaubert's Salammbô in 1858. Charles Ernest Beulé performed some preliminary excavations of Roman remains on Byrsa hill in 1860. In 1866, Muhammad Khaznadar

4524-464: The 4th and 3rd centuries, the sculptures of the sarcophagi became works of art. "Bronze engraving and stone-carving reached their zenith." The elevation of the land at the promontory on the seashore to the north-east (now called Sidi Bou Saïd ), was twice as high above sea level as that at the Byrsa (100 m and 50 m). In between runs a ridge, several times reaching 50 m; it continues northwestward along

4640-622: The African was born in Carthage. The Medina of Tunis , originally a Berber settlement, was established as the new regional center under the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century. Under the Aghlabids , the people of Tunis revolted numerous times, but the city profited from economic improvements and quickly became the second most important in the kingdom. It was briefly the national capital, from

4756-469: The Arab period and the eleventh-century historian Al-Bakri stated that they were still in good condition at that time. They also had production centers nearby. It is difficult to determine whether the continued habitation of some other buildings belonged to Late Byzantine or Early Arab period. The Bir Ftouha church may have continued to remain in use although it is not clear when it became uninhabited. Constantine

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4872-526: The Bishop of Rome, the first archbishop and chief metropolitan of the whole of Africa is the bishop of Carthage. Later, an archbishop of Carthage named Cyriacus was imprisoned by the Arab rulers because of an accusation by some Christians. Pope Gregory VII wrote Cyriacus a letter of consolation, repeating the hopeful assurances of the primacy of the Church of Carthage, "whether the Church of Carthage should still lie desolate or rise again in glory". By 1076, Cyriacus

4988-548: The Eastern Mediterranean region, and some dating to the Roman period are still in use today. Productivity was greatly improved by Joseph Graham's development of the hydraulic pressing system in 1795. The olive tree has historically been a symbol of peace between nations. It has played a religious and social role in Greek mythology , especially concerning the city of Athens , named after the goddess Athena because her gift of an olive tree

5104-507: The Empire. Among its major monuments was an amphitheater . Carthage also became a center of early Christianity (see Carthage (episcopal see) ). In the first of a string of rather poorly reported councils at Carthage a few years later, no fewer than 70 bishops attended. Tertullian later broke with the mainstream that was increasingly represented in the West by the primacy of the Bishop of Rome , but

5220-650: The Exodus of the Tribes of Israel from Egypt , and later in the permanent Temple in Jerusalem . It was obtained by using only the first drop from a squeezed olive and was consecrated for use only in the Temple by the priests and stored in special containers. In modern times, although candles can be used to light the menorah at Hanukkah , oil containers are preferred, to imitate the original menorah. In Judaism of Ancient Israel, olive oil

5336-502: The Hafsids. After repelling them, Muhammad I al-Mustansir decided to raze Cathage's defenses in order to prevent a repeat. Carthage is some 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) east-northeast of Tunis; the settlements nearest to Carthage were the town of Sidi Bou Said to the north and the village of Le Kram to the south. Sidi Bou Said was a village which had grown around the tomb of the eponymous sufi saint (d. 1231), which had been developed into

5452-522: The Mediterranean since the 8th millennium BC. Spain is the world's largest producer, manufacturing almost half of the world's olive oil. Other large producers are Italy, Greece, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco. The composition of olive oil varies with the cultivar , altitude, time of harvest, and extraction process. It consists mainly of oleic acid (up to 83%), with smaller amounts of other fatty acids including linoleic acid (up to 21%) and palmitic acid (up to 20%). Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

5568-520: The Mediterranean, olive farming was introduced to places like Spain and continued to spread throughout the Roman Empire . Olive trees were introduced to the Americas in the 16th century, when cultivation began in areas with a climate similar to the Mediterranean, such as Chile, Argentina, and California . Recent genetic studies suggest that species used by modern cultivators descend from multiple wild populations, but detailed history of domestication

5684-560: The Roman Carthage. The neighborhood can be dated back to early second century BC, and with its houses, shops, and private spaces, is significant for what it reveals about daily life of the Punic Carthage. The remains have been preserved under embankments, the substructures of the later Roman forum, whose foundation piles dot the district. The housing blocks are separated by a grid of straight streets about 6 m (20 ft) wide, with

5800-527: The Tunisian mountains caused large amounts of silt to erode into the river. This silt accumulated in the harbor until it became useless, and Rome was forced to rebuild Carthage. By 122 BC, Gaius Gracchus founded a short-lived colony , called Colonia Iunonia , after the Latin name for the Punic goddess Tanit , Iuno Caelestis . The purpose was to obtain arable lands for impoverished farmers. The Senate abolished

5916-753: The Western Mediterranean culminating in the Sicilian Wars and the Pyrrhic War over Sicily , while the Romans fought three wars against Carthage, known as the Punic Wars , from the Latin "Punicus" meaning "Phoenician", as Carthage was a Phoenician colony grown into an empire. The Carthaginian republic was one of the longest-lived and largest states in the ancient Mediterranean. Reports relay several wars with Syracuse and finally, Rome, which eventually resulted in

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6032-494: The association of Città dell'Olio. Italy imports about 65% of Spanish olive oil exports. Greece has by far the largest per capita consumption of olive oil worldwide, around 24 liters per year. Consumption in Spain is 15 liters; Italy 13 liters; and Israel, around 3 liters. Canada consumes 1.5 liters and the US 1 liter. The International Olive Council (IOC)

6148-616: The auspices of UNESCO from 1975 to 1984. The site of the ruins is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The name Carthage ( / ˈ k ɑːr θ ɪ dʒ / KAR -thij ) is the Early Modern anglicisation of Middle French Carthage /kartaʒə/ , from Latin Carthāgō and Karthāgō (cf. Greek Karkhēdōn ( Καρχηδών ) and Etruscan * Carθaza ) from the Punic qrt-ḥdšt ( 𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕 ‎) "new city", implying it

6264-495: The city of Carthage c. 310 BC: It was divided into market gardens and orchards of all sorts of fruit trees, with many streams of water flowing in channels irrigating every part. There were country homes everywhere, lavishly built and covered with stucco. ... Part of the land was planted with vines, part with olives and other productive trees. Beyond these, cattle and sheep were pastured on the plains, and there were meadows with grazing horses. Greek cities contested with Carthage for

6380-418: The colony some time later, to undermine Gracchus' power. After this ill-fated effort, a new city of Carthage was built on the same land by Julius Caesar in the period from 49 to 44 BC, and by the first century, it had grown to be the second-largest city in the western half of the Roman Empire , with a peak population of 500,000. It was the center of the province of Africa , which was a major breadbasket of

6496-463: The consumer. Yet most major U.S. brands continue to put "imported from Italy" on the front label in large letters and other origins on the back in very small print. "In fact, olive oil labeled 'Italian' often comes from Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, and Greece." This makes it unclear what percentage of the olive oil is really of Italian origin. All production begins by transforming the olive fruit into olive paste by crushing or pressing. This paste

6612-491: The defeat and destruction of Carthage in the Third Punic War. The Carthaginians were Phoenician settlers of primarily Southern Mediterranean and Southern European ancestry. Phoenicians had originated in the Mediterranean coast of the Levant . They spoke Canaanite , a Semitic language , and followed a local variety of the ancient Canaanite religion , the Punic religion . The Carthaginians travelled widely across

6728-457: The eastern Mediterranean, gradually adapted to the local conditions. The merchant harbor at Carthage was developed after settlement of the nearby Punic town of Utica , and eventually the surrounding African countryside was brought into the orbit of the Punic urban centers, first commercially, then politically. Direct management over cultivation of neighbouring lands by Punic owners followed. A 28-volume work on agriculture written in Punic by Mago ,

6844-540: The end of the reign of Ibrahim II in 902, until 909, when the Shi'ite Berbers took over Ifriqiya and founded the Fatimid Caliphate . Carthage remained a residential see until the high medieval period , and is mentioned in two letters of Pope Leo IX dated 1053, written in reply to consultations regarding a conflict between the bishops of Carthage and Gummi . In each of the two letters, Pope Leo declares that, after

6960-607: The entire Mediterranean basin during evolution of the Roman Republic and Empire . According to the historian Pliny the Elder , Italy had "excellent olive oil at reasonable prices" by the 1st century AD—"the best in the Mediterranean". As olive production expanded in the 5th century AD the Romans began to employ more sophisticated production techniques such as the olive press and trapetum (pictured left). Many ancient presses still exist in

7076-457: The facade of their allied status to Rome and defeated the Roman general Bonifacius to seize Carthage, the once most treasured province of Rome. The 5th-century Roman bishop Victor Vitensis mentions in his Historia Persecutionis Africanae Provincia that the Vandals destroyed parts of Carthage, including various buildings and churches. Once in power, the ecclesiastical authorities were persecuted,

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7192-564: The fruit of Olea europaea , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin , and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a condiment, or as a salad dressing . It can also be found in some cosmetics , pharmaceuticals , soaps , and fuels for traditional oil lamps . It also has additional uses in some religions. The olive is one of three core food plants in Mediterranean cuisine , together with wheat and grapes. Olive trees have been cultivated around

7308-574: The ground to induce sweating and decay before they are ground. According to the Geoponica , salt and a little nitre are added when oil is stored. In countries of the levant, a sharp-tasting green oil was sometimes extracted from unripe olives, known in medieval times as anpeqinon ( Ancient Greek : ὀμφάκιον, ὀμφάχινον ; Arabic : زيت الأنفاق ), being a corruption of the Latin words oleum omphacium and used in cuisine and in medicine. Today, this oil

7424-435: The higher smoke point and milder flavour. Extra virgin oils have a smoke point around 180–215 °C (356–419 °F), with higher-quality oils having a higher smoke point, whereas refined light olive oil has a smoke point up to 230 °C (446 °F). That they can be used for deep frying is contrary to the common misconception that there are no olive oils with a smoke point as high as many other vegetable oils . In

7540-564: The history of Herodian , Carthage rivaled Alexandria for second place in the Roman empire. The Punic Carthage was divided into four equally sized residential areas with the same layout. The Punic had religious areas, market places, council house, towers, a theater, and a huge necropolis ; roughly in the middle of the city stood a high citadel called the Byrsa . Surrounding Carthage were walls "of great strength" said in places to rise above 13 m, being nearly 10 m thick, according to ancient authors. To

7656-490: The lands of the king and the queen. These belonged to a library of clay tablets perfectly preserved by having been baked in the fire that destroyed the palace. A later source is the frequent mentions of oil in the Tanakh . Dynastic Egyptians before 2000 BC imported olive oil from Crete, Syria and Canaan , and oil was an important item of commerce and wealth. Remains of olive oil have been found in jugs over 4,000 years old in

7772-417: The local Berbers. Whether there remained Berber landowners next to Punic-run farms is unclear. Some Berbers became sharecroppers. Slaves acquired for farm work were often prisoners of war. In lands outside Punic political control, independent Berbers cultivated grain and raised horses on their lands. Yet within the Punic domain that surrounded the city-state of Carthage, there were ethnic divisions in addition to

7888-521: The locals were aggressively taxed, and naval raids were routinely launched on Romans in the Mediterranean. After a failed attempt to recapture the city in the fifth century, the Eastern Roman Empire finally subdued the Vandals in the Vandalic War in 533–534 and made Carthage capital of Byzantine North Africa . Thereafter, the city became the seat of the praetorian prefecture of Africa , which

8004-451: The misconception, heating at these high heats is theorised to impact taste or nutrition. The Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches use olive oil for the oil of catechumens (used to bless and strengthen those preparing for baptism) and oil of the sick (used to confer the Sacrament of anointing of the sick or extreme unction). Olive oil mixed with a perfuming agent such as balsam

8120-451: The naval and commercial harbors, and another two were further up the hill toward the Byrsa citadel. Sites of pottery kilns have been identified, between the agora and the harbors, and further north. Earthenware often used Greek models. A fuller 's shop for preparing woolen cloth (shrink and thicken) was evidently situated further to the west and south, then by the edge of the city. Carthage also produced objects of rare refinement. During

8236-428: The north east. Houses usually were whitewashed and blank to the street, but within were courtyards open to the sky. In these neighborhoods multistory construction later became common, some up to six stories tall according to an ancient Greek author. Several architectural floorplans of homes have been revealed by recent excavations , as well as the general layout of several city blocks . Stone stairs were set in

8352-449: The occurrence of child sacrifice, as claimed in the Bible and Greco-Roman sources, although there has been considerable doubt among archeologists as to this interpretation and many consider it simply a cemetery devoted to infants. Probably the tophet burial fields were "dedicated at an early date, perhaps by the first settlers." Recent studies, on the other hand, indicate that child sacrifice

8468-447: The oil is consumed, whereupon the rest of the cotton burns out. Olive oil is a usual offering to churches and cemeteries. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses virgin olive oil that has been blessed by the priesthood for anointing the sick. In Jewish observance, olive oil was the only fuel allowed to be used in the seven-branched menorah in the Mishkan service during

8584-605: The oil was made by a process where olives were placed in woven mats and squeezed. The oil was collected in vats. This process was known from the Bronze Age , was used by the Egyptians, and continued to be used through the Hellenistic period . The importance of olive oil as a commercial commodity increased after the Roman conquest of Egypt, Greece and Asia Minor led to more trade along the Mediterranean. Olive trees were planted throughout

8700-572: The olive oil in Spain. The world's largest olive oil mill ( almazara , in Spanish), capable of processing 2,500 tonnes of olives per day, is in the town of Villacarrillo , Jaén. Italian major producers are the regions of Calabria and, above all, Apulia . Many PDO and PGI extra-virgin olive oil are produced in these regions. Extra-virgin olive oil is also produced in Tuscany , in cities including Lucca , Florence , and Siena , which are also included in

8816-400: The other for mercantile trade. A walled tower overlooked both harbors. The city had massive walls, 37 km (23 mi) long, which was longer than the walls of comparable cities. Most of the walls were on the shore and so could be less impressive, as Carthaginian control of the sea made attack from that direction difficult. The 4.0 to 4.8 km (2.5 to 3 mi) of wall on the isthmus to

8932-464: The oxhide into strips and laid out the perimeter of the new city. As Carthage prospered at home, the polity sent colonists abroad as well as magistrates to rule the colonies. The ancient city was destroyed in the nearly three year siege of Carthage by the Roman Republic during the Third Punic War in 146 BC. It was re-developed a century later as Roman Carthage , which became the major city of

9048-440: The percentage is far higher in some Mediterranean countries. The International Olive Council requires the median of the fruity attribute to be higher than zero for a given olive oil in order to meet the criteria of extra virgin olive oil classification. Virgin olive oil is a lesser grade of virgin oil, with free acidity of up to 2.0%, and is judged to have a good taste, but may include some sensory defects. Refined olive oil

9164-496: The period 2016 to 2021, world production of olive oil was 3.1 million metric tons (3.4 million short tons). Spain produced 44% of world production. The next largest producers were Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco. Villacarrillo , Jaén , Andalucía , Spain is a center of olive oil production. Spain's olive oil production derives 75% from the region of Andalucía , particularly within Jaén province which produces 70% of

9280-603: The production of olive oil is assumed to have started before 4000 BC. Olive trees were certainly cultivated by the Late Minoan period (1500 BC) in Crete, and perhaps as early as the Early Minoan. The cultivation of olive trees in Crete became particularly intense in the post-palatial period and played an important role in the island's economy, as it did across the Mediterranean. Later, as Greek colonies were established in other parts of

9396-434: The sake of their own 'utilitarian' interests, to treat carefully and well their managers and farm workers, or their overseers and slaves. Yet elsewhere these writers suggest that rural land ownership provided also a new power base among the city's nobility, for those resident in their country villas. By many, farming was viewed as an alternative endeavour to an urban business. Another modern historian opines that more often it

9512-455: The seas and set up numerous colonies. Unlike Greek, Phoenician, and Tyrian colonizers who "only required colonies to pay due respect for their home-cities", Carthage is said to have "sent its own magistrates to govern overseas settlements". The fall of Carthage came at the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC at the Battle of Carthage . Despite initial devastating Roman naval losses and Hannibal 's 15-year occupation of much of Roman Italy, who

9628-447: The seashore, and forms the edge of a plateau-like area between the Byrsa and the sea. Newer urban developments lay here in these northern districts. Due to the Roman's leveling of the city, the original Punic urban landscape of Carthage was largely lost. Since 1982, French archaeologist Serge Lancel excavated a residential area of the Punic Carthage on top of Byrsa hill near the Forum of

9744-586: The seventh century, in area about 10 hectares (25 acres), was apparently located on low-lying lands along the coast (north of the later harbors). As confirmed by archaeological excavations, Carthage was a "creation ex nihilo ", built on 'virgin' land, and situated at what was then the end of a peninsula. Here among "mud brick walls and beaten clay floors" (recently uncovered) were also found extensive cemeteries, which yielded evocative grave goods like clay masks. "Thanks to this burial archaeology we know more about archaic Carthage than about any other contemporary city in

9860-509: The several growing regions that surrounded the city wrote admiringly of the lush green gardens, orchards, fields, irrigation channels, hedgerows (as boundaries), as well as the many prosperous farming towns located across the rural landscape. Accordingly, the Greek author and compiler Diodorus Siculus (fl. 1st century BC), who enjoyed access to ancient writings later lost, and on which he based most of his writings, described agricultural land near

9976-459: The son of the Prime Minister of Tunisia , carried out the first locally led excavations. A more systematic survey of both Punic and Roman-era remains is due to Alfred Louis Delattre , who was sent to Tunis by cardinal Charles Lavigerie in 1875 on both an apostolic and an archaeological mission. Audollent cites Delattre and Lavigerie to the effect that in the 1880s, locals still knew the area of

10092-406: The south of the city. Considering the importance of the Byrsa , the citadel area to the north, our knowledge of it is patchy. Its prominent heights were the scene of fierce combat during the fiery destruction of the city in 146 BC. The Byrsa was the reported site of the Temple of Eshmun (the healing god), at the top of a stairway of sixty steps. A temple of Tanit (the city's queen goddess)

10208-465: The southeast; one being commercial, and the other for war. Their definite functions are not entirely known, probably for the construction, outfitting, or repair of ships, perhaps also loading and unloading cargo. Larger anchorages existed to the north and south of the city. North and west of the cothon were located several industrial areas, e.g., metalworking and pottery (e.g., for amphora ), which could serve both inner harbors, and ships anchored to

10324-423: The stages of maturity, olive fruit changes colour from green to violet, and then black. Olive oil taste characteristics depend on the stage of ripeness at which olive fruits are collected. Olive oil is an important cooking oil in countries surrounding the Mediterranean, and it forms one of the three staple food plants of Mediterranean cuisine , the other two being wheat (as in pasta , bread, and couscous ), and

10440-485: The streets, and drainage was planned, e.g., in the form of soakaways leaching into the sandy soil. Along the Byrsa's southern slope were located not only fine old homes, but also many of the earliest grave-sites, juxtaposed in small areas, interspersed with daily life. Artisan workshops were located in the city at sites north and west of the harbors. The location of three metal workshops (implied from iron slag and other vestiges of such activity) were found adjacent to

10556-475: The synthesis of cadmium selenide quantum dots . The Ranieri Filo della Torre is an international literary prize for writings about extra virgin olive oil. It yearly honors poetry, fiction and non-fiction about extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is produced by grinding olives and extracting the oil by mechanical or chemical means. Green olives usually produce more bitter oil, and overripe olives can produce oil with fermentation defects, so for good olive oil care

10672-468: The usual quasi feudal distinctions between lord and peasant, or master and serf. This inherent instability in the countryside drew the unwanted attention of potential invaders. Yet for long periods Carthage was able to manage these social difficulties. The many amphorae with Punic markings subsequently found about ancient Mediterranean coastal settlements testify to Carthaginian trade in locally made olive oil and wine. Carthage's agricultural production

10788-544: The voluntary United States Department of Agriculture labeling standards in the United States: Extra virgin olive oil is the highest grade of virgin olive oil derived by cold mechanical extraction without use of solvents or refining methods. It contains no more than 0.8% free acidity , and is judged to have a superior taste, having some fruitiness and no defined sensory defects. Extra virgin olive oil accounts for less than 10% of oil in many producing countries;

10904-468: The water supply from its aqueducts cut off, the agricultural land was ravaged and its harbors made unusable. The destruction of the Exarchate of Africa marked a permanent end to the Byzantine Empire's influence in the region. It is clear from archaeological evidence that the town of Carthage continued to be occupied, as did the neighborhood of Bjordi Djedid. The Baths of Antoninus continued to function in

11020-403: The west were truly massive and were never penetrated. Carthage was one of the largest cities of the Hellenistic period and was among the largest cities in preindustrial history. Whereas by AD 14, Rome had at least 750,000 inhabitants and in the following century may have reached 1 million, the cities of Alexandria and Antioch numbered only a few hundred thousand or less. According to

11136-493: The west, three parallel walls were built. The walls altogether ran for about 33 kilometres (21 miles) to encircle the city. The heights of the Byrsa were additionally fortified ; this area being the last to succumb to the Romans in 146 BC . Originally the Romans had landed their army on the strip of land extending southward from the city. Outside the city walls of Carthage is the Chora or farm lands of Carthage. Chora encompassed

11252-600: The western Mediterranean." Already in the eighth century, fabric dyeing operations had been established, evident from crushed shells of murex (from which the 'Phoenician purple' was derived). Nonetheless, only a "meager picture" of the cultural life of the earliest pioneers in the city can be conjectured, and not much about housing, monuments or defenses. The Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BC) imagined early Carthage, when his legendary character Aeneas had arrived there: "Aeneas found, where lately huts had been, marvelous buildings, gateways, cobbled ways, and din of wagons. There

11368-404: The wine-maker's art (here a type of sherry ). In Punic farming society, according to Mago, the small estate owners were the chief producers. They were, two modern historians write, not absent landlords. Rather, the likely reader of Mago was "the master of a relatively modest estate, from which, by great personal exertion, he extracted the maximum yield." Mago counselled the rural landowner, for

11484-468: Was sown with salt after being razed, but there is no evidence for this. When Carthage fell, its nearby rival Utica , a Roman ally, was made capital of the region and replaced Carthage as the leading center of Punic trade and leadership. It had the advantageous position of being situated on the outlet of the Medjerda River , Tunisia's only river that flowed all year long. However, grain cultivation in

11600-416: Was a "new Tyre ". The Latin adjective pūnicus , meaning "Phoenician", is reflected in English in some borrowings from Latin – notably the Punic Wars and the Punic language . The Modern Standard Arabic form Qarṭāj ( قرطاج ) is an adoption of French Carthage , replacing an older local toponym reported as Cartagenna that directly continued the Latin name. Carthage

11716-417: Was also popular as a form of birth control; Aristotle in his History of Animals recommends applying a mixture of olive oil combined with either oil of cedar , ointment of lead , or ointment of frankincense to the cervix to prevent pregnancy. It is not clear when and where olive trees were first domesticated. The modern olive tree may have originated in ancient Persia and Mesopotamia and spread to

11832-489: Was also used to prepare the holy anointing oil used for priests, kings, prophets, and others. Olive oil is also a natural and safe lubricant , and can be used to lubricate kitchen machinery (grinders, blenders, cookware, etc.). It can also be used for illumination (oil lamps) or as the base for soaps and detergents. Some cosmetics also use olive oil as their base, and it can be used as a substitute for machine oil. Olive oil has also been used as both solvent and ligand in

11948-416: Was built on a promontory with sea inlets to the north and the south. The city's location made it master of the Mediterranean's maritime trade. All ships crossing the sea had to pass between Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, where Carthage was built, affording it great power and influence. Two large, artificial harbors were built within the city, one for harboring the city's prodigious navy of 220 warships and

12064-432: Was founded in 1875 by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie . Excavations performed by French archaeologists in the 1920s first attracted an extraordinary amount of attention because of the evidence they produced for child sacrifice . There has been considerable disagreement among scholars concerning whether child sacrifice was practiced by ancient Carthage. The open-air Carthage Paleo-Christian Museum has exhibits excavated under

12180-462: Was held in high regard by the ancients, and rivaled that of Rome – they were once competitors, e.g., over their olive harvests. Under Roman rule, however, grain production (wheat and barley) for export increased dramatically in 'Africa'; yet these later fell with the rise in Roman Egypt 's grain exports. Thereafter olive groves and vineyards were re-established around Carthage. Visitors to

12296-418: Was held to be more precious than rival Poseidon 's gift of a salt spring. There are many olive cultivars , each with a particular flavor, texture, and shelf life that make them more or less suitable for different applications, such as direct human consumption on bread or in salads, indirect consumption in domestic cooking or catering, or industrial uses such as animal feed or engineering applications. During

12412-648: Was likely situated on the slope of the 'lesser Byrsa' immediately to the east, which runs down toward the sea. Also situated on the Byrsa were luxury homes. South of the citadel, near the cothon was the tophet , a special and very old cemetery , which when begun lay outside the city's boundaries. Here the Salammbô was located, the Sanctuary of Tanit , not a temple but an enclosure for placing stone stelae . These were mostly short and upright, carved for funeral purposes. The presence of infant skeletons from here may indicate

12528-552: Was made into an exarchate during the emperor Maurice's reign, as was Ravenna on the Italian Peninsula. These two exarchates were the western bulwarks of the Byzantine Empire, all that remained of its power in the West. In the early seventh century Heraclius the Elder , the exarch of Carthage, overthrew the Byzantine emperor Phocas , whereupon his son Heraclius succeeded to the imperial throne. The Roman Exarchate of Africa

12644-504: Was not able to withstand the seventh-century Muslim conquest of the Maghreb . The Umayyad Caliphate under Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 686 sent a force led by Zuhayr ibn Qays , who won a battle over the Romans and Berbers led by King Kusaila of the Kingdom of Altava on the plain of Kairouan , but he could not follow that up. In 695, Hassan ibn al-Nu'man captured Carthage and advanced into

12760-464: Was on the brink of defeat but managed to recover, the end of the series of wars resulted in the end of Carthaginian power and the complete destruction of the city by Scipio Aemilianus . The Romans pulled the Phoenician warships out into the harbor and burned them before the city, and went from house to house, capturing and enslaving the people. About 50,000 Carthaginians were sold into slavery . The city

12876-499: Was practiced by the Carthaginians. According to K.L. Noll, the majority of scholars in believe that child sacrifice took place in Carthage. Between the sea-filled cothon for shipping and the Byrsa heights lay the agora [Greek: "market"], the city-state's central marketplace for business and commerce. The agora was also an area of public squares and plazas, where the people might formally assemble, or gather for festivals. It

12992-474: Was produced from fully developed and ripe olives harvested solely from the apex of the tree, and lightly pressed, "for what flows from light pressure is very sweet and very thin". The remaining olives are pressed with a heavier weight, and vary in ripeness. Inferior oil is produced from unripe olives that are stored for extended periods of time until they grow soft or begin to shrivel to become more fit for grinding. Others are left for extended periods in pits in

13108-465: Was set ablaze and razed to the ground, leaving only ruins and rubble. After the fall of Carthage, Rome annexed the majority of the Carthaginian colonies, including other North African locations such as Volubilis , Lixus , Chellah . Today a "Carthaginian peace" can refer to any brutal peace treaty demanding total subjugation of the defeated side. Since at least 1863, it has been claimed that Carthage

13224-469: Was set free, but there was only one other bishop in the province. These are the last of whom there is mention in that period of the history of the see. The fortress of Carthage was used by the Muslims until Hafsid era and was captured by the Crusaders during the Eighth Crusade . The inhabitants of Carthage were slaughtered by the Crusaders after they took it, and it was used as a base of operations against

13340-411: Was the site of religious shrines, and the location of whatever were the major municipal buildings of Carthage. Here beat the heart of civic life. In this district of Carthage, more probably, the ruling suffets presided, the council of elders convened, the tribunal of the 104 met, and justice was dispensed at trials in the open air. Early residential districts wrapped around the Byrsa from the south to

13456-413: Was the urban merchant of Carthage who owned rural farming land to some profit, and also to retire there during the heat of summer. It may seem that Mago anticipated such an opinion, and instead issued this contrary advice (as quoted by the Roman writer Columella): The man who acquires an estate must sell his house, lest he prefer to live in the town rather than in the country. Anyone who prefers to live in

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