Tweet
THE OLIVE TREE AND ARMENIA
http://asbarez.com/110702/the-olive-tree-and-armenia/
Monday, June 17th, 2013
Tales of Symbolism, Resilience and Dreams
BY MARIA TITIZIAN
According to the Old Testament, when Noah released a dove to see if
the floods had receded, it returned with an olive leaf in its beak.
Genesis 8:11 in the King James Bible says, "And the dove came in to him
in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off:
so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth." How
far that dove must have flown to find an olive branch is beyond the
scope of my knowledge and imagination.
In 1974, Yasser Arafat, in a historic speech at the UN General
Assembly said, "I come bearing an olive branch in one hand and a
freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let me drop the olive
branch." It was the first time that a non-state representative
addressed the United Nations.
The olive tree's powerful symbolism in many cultures and religions is
rooted in history and tradition. It is referred to as the "blessed"
tree and represents eternal life, wisdom, peace, hope and longevity and
much more. Olive trees can grow to be thousands of years old. They are
resistant to drought and fire; their trunks can grow to a circumference
of 30 feet and they continue to bear fruit for hundreds and hundreds
of years.
The first time I saw an olive tree was in Kessab, Syria 25 years
ago at the ancestral home of my husband's family in the village of
Kaladuran. I was there for the early autumn harvest and watched as my
father-in-law brought burlap sacks full of beautiful green olives he
had picked from his orchard. In fact, their home which was nestled
between two mountains along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea was
surrounded with olive trees. I was a city girl, raised in Canada and
the process of picking olives that would then be processed and sold
as olive oil from a quiet seaside village by the Mediterranean was
awe inspiring. I also had a goat slaughtered to honor my arrival to
the village, but I still can't talk about it.
Finding good quality olive oil in Armenia, or any olive oil for
that matter, was almost impossible when we came here. We knew
that olive trees could not grow in Armenia because of the climate
(they fare well in warm-temperate weather conditions, primarily in
Mediterranean countries), hence no local production and since olive
oil was not widely used in local cuisine, its import was rare and
irregular. When we were able to get our hands on some, we used it
as sparingly as possible. One year my husband's aunt came to Yerevan
from Kessab. She was in her late seventies and was traveling outside
of her village for the first time in her life on a plane. While she
was clearly over the moon about traveling on an airplane and coming
to the homeland she had remembered to bring a bottle of olive oil
she had prepared herself from their olive trees. I think that just
might have been the best gift we had ever received.
Today, imported olives and olive oil are widely available although
quite expensive. With the many shortcomings in economic and
agricultural policy in the country, Armenia continues to depend on
the import of different goods and produce on an ongoing basis. But
Armenia is a bizarre place. Perhaps even an extraordinary place where
the most unlikely opportunities present themselves and where dreams,
however ambitious, can be realized.
There is a man, a farmer from the village of Alvank near Meghri on
the Armenia-Iran border who decided 11 years ago to plant 5000 olive
trees. He believed not in the impossible but in the possible and along
with his brother decided to get into the olive business. When asked
why he did his answer was simple: because he thought the weather in
Meghri would work and no one else had bothered to try. Although he
lost almost half his trees that first winter due to severe weather
conditions, today almost a decade later he is harvesting olives in
the country. A pretty remarkable feat considering that for the first
time, instead of selling fresh, raw olives through word of mouth as
he had been doing for the past three harvests, he will be processing
them in a small factory he built and packaging them for sale.
Syrian-Armenians fleeing the war in Syria have also decided to try
planting olive trees in several locations in Armenia and Artsakh. And
why not? The olive tree is a hardy and adaptable plant. With the
proper care and attention and the optimal location, Armenia might
begin to develop a small olive tree industry.
As it turns out, thousands of years ago Armenians introduced the olive
tree to Palestine. Aly Gadira, the curator of the Zaitounah (Olive)
Museum in Tunisia told the Kuwait News Agency back in 2004 that "...the
most ancient documented sources available report that the olive tree
was brought into Palestine from Armenia 4000 BC and then taken by the
Phoenicians to Greece and later to North Africa, particularly Tunisia."
I don't know if this is true, I have no reason to question the source,
however I would not be surprised because we are something like the
olive tree itself - hardy and adaptable.
http://asbarez.com/110702/the-olive-tree-and-armenia/
Monday, June 17th, 2013
Tales of Symbolism, Resilience and Dreams
BY MARIA TITIZIAN
According to the Old Testament, when Noah released a dove to see if
the floods had receded, it returned with an olive leaf in its beak.
Genesis 8:11 in the King James Bible says, "And the dove came in to him
in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off:
so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth." How
far that dove must have flown to find an olive branch is beyond the
scope of my knowledge and imagination.
In 1974, Yasser Arafat, in a historic speech at the UN General
Assembly said, "I come bearing an olive branch in one hand and a
freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let me drop the olive
branch." It was the first time that a non-state representative
addressed the United Nations.
The olive tree's powerful symbolism in many cultures and religions is
rooted in history and tradition. It is referred to as the "blessed"
tree and represents eternal life, wisdom, peace, hope and longevity and
much more. Olive trees can grow to be thousands of years old. They are
resistant to drought and fire; their trunks can grow to a circumference
of 30 feet and they continue to bear fruit for hundreds and hundreds
of years.
The first time I saw an olive tree was in Kessab, Syria 25 years
ago at the ancestral home of my husband's family in the village of
Kaladuran. I was there for the early autumn harvest and watched as my
father-in-law brought burlap sacks full of beautiful green olives he
had picked from his orchard. In fact, their home which was nestled
between two mountains along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea was
surrounded with olive trees. I was a city girl, raised in Canada and
the process of picking olives that would then be processed and sold
as olive oil from a quiet seaside village by the Mediterranean was
awe inspiring. I also had a goat slaughtered to honor my arrival to
the village, but I still can't talk about it.
Finding good quality olive oil in Armenia, or any olive oil for
that matter, was almost impossible when we came here. We knew
that olive trees could not grow in Armenia because of the climate
(they fare well in warm-temperate weather conditions, primarily in
Mediterranean countries), hence no local production and since olive
oil was not widely used in local cuisine, its import was rare and
irregular. When we were able to get our hands on some, we used it
as sparingly as possible. One year my husband's aunt came to Yerevan
from Kessab. She was in her late seventies and was traveling outside
of her village for the first time in her life on a plane. While she
was clearly over the moon about traveling on an airplane and coming
to the homeland she had remembered to bring a bottle of olive oil
she had prepared herself from their olive trees. I think that just
might have been the best gift we had ever received.
Today, imported olives and olive oil are widely available although
quite expensive. With the many shortcomings in economic and
agricultural policy in the country, Armenia continues to depend on
the import of different goods and produce on an ongoing basis. But
Armenia is a bizarre place. Perhaps even an extraordinary place where
the most unlikely opportunities present themselves and where dreams,
however ambitious, can be realized.
There is a man, a farmer from the village of Alvank near Meghri on
the Armenia-Iran border who decided 11 years ago to plant 5000 olive
trees. He believed not in the impossible but in the possible and along
with his brother decided to get into the olive business. When asked
why he did his answer was simple: because he thought the weather in
Meghri would work and no one else had bothered to try. Although he
lost almost half his trees that first winter due to severe weather
conditions, today almost a decade later he is harvesting olives in
the country. A pretty remarkable feat considering that for the first
time, instead of selling fresh, raw olives through word of mouth as
he had been doing for the past three harvests, he will be processing
them in a small factory he built and packaging them for sale.
Syrian-Armenians fleeing the war in Syria have also decided to try
planting olive trees in several locations in Armenia and Artsakh. And
why not? The olive tree is a hardy and adaptable plant. With the
proper care and attention and the optimal location, Armenia might
begin to develop a small olive tree industry.
As it turns out, thousands of years ago Armenians introduced the olive
tree to Palestine. Aly Gadira, the curator of the Zaitounah (Olive)
Museum in Tunisia told the Kuwait News Agency back in 2004 that "...the
most ancient documented sources available report that the olive tree
was brought into Palestine from Armenia 4000 BC and then taken by the
Phoenicians to Greece and later to North Africa, particularly Tunisia."
I don't know if this is true, I have no reason to question the source,
however I would not be surprised because we are something like the
olive tree itself - hardy and adaptable.