The olive tree is indigenous to the Levant, in the Eastern Mediterranean, but is now grown and used extensively throughout the world. The first Spanish settlers introduced the tree to America and, since ancient times, it has been used for its many medicinal properties.
It’s the first botanical medicine mentioned in the Bible, being described in Ezekiel 47:12: “The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”
Ancient Egyptians used it for mummifying royalty and the ancient Greeks used it to relieve fevers.
