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History and Technology of Olive Oil in the Holy Land. By Rafael Frankel, Shmuel Avitsur, and Etan Ayalon; translated by Jay C. Jacobson. Arlington, Va., and Tel Aviv: Olearius Editions and Eretz Israel Museum, 1993. Pp. 208; illustrations, maps, figures, tables, bibliography, index. $40.00 (cloth). (Available only by mail order from Olearius Editions, P.O. Box 906, Arlington, VA 22216, USA.)
Food, cooking oil, cosmetic, medicine, trade and export item, temple offering, anointment of kings and priests, the olive fruit and its expressed oil have occupied a central place in Mediterranean life for centuries, and are the focus of this work by authors with a century of collective research experience in olive oil and related technology. Compiled as a hybrid book that is neither singly authored nor a collection of individual works, this well-written, authoritative book offers a three-part olein anthology: ancient oil mills and presses (Frankel), traditional to industrial olive oil production (Avitsur), and traditional olive oil plants (Ayalon). Drawing on historical texts, archaeological evidence, and comparative ethnographic studies-in Israel and the surrounding Mediterranean region-the authors reconstruct the history of the growing of olives and the production of their oil, framed within the context of the paramount role which olive oil played in the economy, culture, and religion of their homeland. And while the focus here is on this facet of life in Israel-the first book ever to deal comprehensively with this subject in Israelit resounds with...