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Manners & Customs

Olive Oil and Olives

Olives and olive oil. Some use is made of the pickled berry of the olive, but the bulk of the fruit is used to make oil. In the Orient, olive oil usually takes the place of butter, and is largely used in cooking meals. A survey of several Scriptures will indicate how important a food olive oil was considered to be. The widow who fed Elijah said to ...

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Three Harvest Times for Figs

THE FIG TREE Three crops of figs in Israel. The early figs, not very many in number, but large in size, are ripe a month before the main crop; the summer or main crop is used in August and September; and the winter figs remain on the trees until late in the fall of the year. Mention is made in Scripture of the firstripe figs as being desirable (Ho...

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Muzzling the Ox

The oxen not muzzled while threshing. Even today the Arab peasant farmer does not muzzle his oxen while they are treading the grain on the threshing floor. He says it would be a great sin to do so. This agrees with the teaching of the Mosaic Law. "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn [grain]" (Deuteronomy 25:4). The Apostle Pa...

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Sifting Grain

SIFTING THE GRAIN When the winnowing process is over, then comes the sifting of the grain. The wheat or barley will still be more or less mixed with certain amounts of chaff, little stones, and perhaps some tares. Sifting is therefore necessary before the grain can be ground into meal. This is the task of the women. The sifter seats herself on the...

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Vineyards on Hills

Hillsides often used. Although vineyards are to be found in various locations in Israel, it has been customary during past years for the hillsides to be utilized for the purpose, or the ground at the foot of a hill that slopes gently. Grapevines like a sandy or loose soil. They need plenty of sunshine and air by day, and dew by night, and their roo...

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The Watchman's Booth or Tower

The construction of a booth or tower. For centuries Palestinian vineyards have had watchmen, whose duty it has been to be on the lookout for marauders of any kind. Sometimes a simple booth is constructed for him, on a high spot where he can view the entire vineyard. This is made of branches and boughs of trees, and provides a shelter from the rays ...

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Grapes and Raisins

USE OF GRAPES AND MAKING OF GRAPE PRODUCTS Fresh grapes and raisins. During the months of September and October; the fresh ripe grapes are eaten along with bread as one of the principal foods, in Bible lands. Then the grapes are dried in a level corner of the vineyard. While being dried they are turned over and sprinkled with olive oil to keep the...

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Abundance of Olive Trees

Olive and Fig Tree Culture THE OLIVE TREE - ABUNDANCE OF OLIVE TREES IN BIBLE LANDS. For centuries the olive tree has been growing in lands bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, but its growth in Israel has been quite abundant. Moses told Israel that Canaan was "a land of oil olive" (Deuteronomy 8:8). He also told them that they would acquire olive...

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Making Olive Oil

The process of making olive oil. Olive mills are used for making oil. There have been many of these instruments for the manufacture of oil located in Israel. Oil-presses comprised, in addition to the vat, an upright stone with a large hole in it. In this hole a beam was inserted. This beam rested on the olives which were to be pressed, extending f...

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Rams Horn to Carry Oil

Rams' horns. The horns of the rams are considered to be of great value. In many Western lands, growers of sheep have endeavored to develop a hornless breed, but in the East the horns are thought of as an important part of the animal. The ram's horn has been used chiefly as a vessel in which liquids have been carried. For carrying purposes a wooden ...

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