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99-400: One legend states that it was called "Mosque of Olive" because it was built on an ancient place of worship where there was an olive . Another account, transmitted by the 17th century Tunisian historian Ibn Abi Dinar , reports the presence of a Byzantine Christian church dedicated to Santa Olivia at that location. Archeological investigations and restoration works in 1969–1970 have shown that

198-602: A bastion of Arab and Islamic culture resisting French influence. Some prominent members of the Algerian nationalist movement studied here, such as 'Abd al-Hamid ibn Badis , Tawfiq Madani , and Houari Boumédiène . After independence from France, reforms to the education system in 1958 and the creation of the University of Tunis in 1960 reduced the Zaytuna's importance. In 1964–1965 its status as an independent university

297-513: A city wall, will be long in falling to decay if tied in this manner. Olives were one of the main elements in ancient Israelite cuisine . Olive oil was used for not only food and cooking, but also lighting, sacrificial offerings, ointment , and anointment for priestly or royal office. The olive tree is one of the first plants mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , and one of the most significant. An olive branch (or leaf, depending on translation)

396-587: A community space. As a community space, it allows for prayer and social engagement. Congregational mosques have a crucial role in communities Islamic practices. The Qur'an does not state architectural parameters for a congregational mosque, and as a result there are both differences and similarities between congregational mosques of different regions. As all male members of the community are expected to attend Friday prayers, congregational mosques must be large enough to accommodate them and their size thus varies from community to community. The Qur'an does highlight that

495-478: A few days with lye, to a few months with brine or salt packing. With the exception of California style and salt-cured olives, all methods of curing involve a major fermentation involving bacteria and yeast that is of equal importance to the final table olive product. Traditional cures, using the natural microflora on the fruit to induce fermentation, lead to two important outcomes: the leaching out and breakdown of oleuropein and other unpalatable phenolic compounds, and

594-574: A group of Tunisian citizens, the mosque's former educational offices were reopened and it was declared an independent educational institution once again. The al-Zaytuna Mosque followed the design and architecture of previous mosques, particularly the Mosque of Uqba in Kairouan that was built in its current form a few decades earlier. The layout of the building and its interior is irregular, with many of its lines not quite parallel or perpendicular, but this

693-697: A highly successful commercial venture from the 1860s onward. In Japan, the first successful planting of olive trees happened in 1908 on Shodo Island , which became the cradle of olive cultivation in Japan. In 2016, olive oil production started in India , with olive saplings planted in Rajasthan's Thar Desert . Favoured by climate warming, several small-scale olive production farms have also been established at fairly high latitudes in Europe and North America since

792-424: A kuttab or elementary school that taught youth how to read, write, and memorize religious texts. The system of teaching was not rigid: attendance was not mandatory and students could follow the courses of their choice. Students who followed a course and became knowledgeable enough to teach the subject on their own were granted a certificate called an ijazah by their instructor. Rich libraries were also attached to

891-568: A piece of the trunk, the root, a twig, or a stake. According to Pliny the Elder a vine, a fig tree and an olive tree grew in the middle of the Roman Forum ; the olive was planted to provide shade. (The garden was recreated in the 20th century). The Roman poet Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "As for me, olives, endives , and smooth mallows provide sustenance." Lord Monboddo comments on

990-444: A rock to hasten the fermentation process. The olives are stored for a period of up to a year in a container with salt water, lemon juice, lemon peels, laurel and olive leaves, and rosemary. Some recipes may contain white vinegar or olive oil. Most commonly applied to green olive preparation, around 60% of all the world's table olives are produced with this method. Olives are soaked in lye (dilute NaOH, 2–4%) for 8–10 hours to hydrolyse

1089-504: A single primary cultivar and a secondary cultivar selected for its ability to fertilize the primary one. In recent times, efforts have been directed at producing hybrid cultivars with qualities useful to farmers, such as resistance to disease, quick growth, and larger or more consistent crops. Fossil evidence indicates that the olive tree had its origins 20–40 million years ago in the Oligocene , in what now corresponds to Italy and

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1188-580: A variety of geometric and stylized vegetal motifs. Olive The olive , botanical name Olea europaea , meaning 'European olive', is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae , found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin , with wild subspecies found further afield in Africa and western Asia . When in shrub form, it is known as Olea europaea ' Montra ' , dwarf olive , or little olive . The species

1287-422: A very close succession of ties made of charred olive wood, binding the two faces of the wall together like pins, to give it lasting endurance. For that is a material which neither decay, nor the weather, nor time can harm, but even though buried in the earth or set in the water it keeps sound and useful forever. And so not only city walls but substructures in general and all walls that require a thickness like that of

1386-509: Is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as jumu'ah . It can also host the Eid prayers in situations when there is no musalla or eidgah available nearby to host the prayers. In early Islamic history , the number of congregational mosques in one city was strictly limited. As cities and populations grew over time, it became more common for many mosques to host Friday prayers in

1485-568: Is also supported by Sihem Lamine. The saint is particularly venerated in Tunisia because it is superstitiously thought that if the site and its memory are profaned then a misfortune will happen; this includes a belief that when her relics are recovered Islam will end. This ancillary legend related to the discovery of the saint's relics is widespread in Sicily, however it is connected to other Saints as well. In 1402 king Martin I of Sicily requested

1584-744: Is also the most recommended and best possible oil for the lighting of the Shabbat candles . Due to its importance in the Hebrew Bible, the olive has significant national meaning in modern Israeli culture. Two olive branches appear as part of Israel's emblem and the olive tree is Israel's national tree. [1] Apart from being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament ), olives play an important role in Christianity. The Mount of Olives , east of Jerusalem ,

1683-569: Is also very similar to the Mosque of Uqba in Kairouan, which was also rebuilt by the Aghlabids earlier in the same century. A contemporary inscription at the base of the dome in front of the mihrab gives the date of this construction and names three individuals: 1) the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'in Billah , identified as the main patron; 2) Nusayr, a mawla of the caliph and probably the overseer of

1782-510: Is assumed that Ibn al-Habhab subsequently enlarged or rebuilt the mosque and improved its architecture. The mosque owes its current overall form to a reconstruction under the Aghlabids , the dynasty that ruled Ifriqiya on behalf of the Abbasid caliphs in the 9th century. The work was begun during the reign of emir Abu Ibrahim Ahmad and completed in 864–865. As a result, the mosque's layout

1881-574: Is cultivated in all the countries of the Mediterranean , as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. It is the type species for its genus, Olea . The tree and its fruit give their name to the Oleaceae plant family, which also includes species such as lilac , jasmine , forsythia , and the true ash tree . The olive's fruit, also called an "olive",

1980-520: Is highest in Greece, followed by Italy and Spain. The composition of olive oil varies with the cultivar, elevation, 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 is required to have no more than 0.8% free acidity and fruity flavor characteristics. Table olives are classified by

2079-808: Is mentioned several times in the New Testament . The Allegory of the Olive Tree in St Paul's Epistle to the Romans refers to the scattering and gathering of Israel. It compares the Israelites to a tame olive tree and the Gentiles to a wild olive branch. The olive tree itself, as well as olive oil and olives, play an important role in the Bible. The olive tree and olive oil are mentioned seven times in

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2178-412: Is more subdued than other methods. The brine is changed on a regular basis to help remove the phenolic compounds, and a series of progressively stronger concentrations of salt are added until the product is fully stabilized and ready to be eaten. Applied to green, semi-ripe, or ripe olives, these are soaked in water or weak brine and this solution is changed on a daily basis for 10–14 days. The oleuropein

2277-736: Is naturally dissolved and leached into the water and removed during a continual soak-wash cycle. Fermentation takes place during the water treatment stage and involves a mixed yeast/bacteria ecosystem. Sometimes, the olives are lightly cracked with a blunt instrument to trigger fermentation and speed up the fermentation process. Once debittered, the olives are brined to concentrations of 8–12% NaCl and acid corrected and are then ready to eat. Congregational mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque ( Arabic : مَسْجِد جَامِع , masjid jāmi‘ , or simply: جَامِع , jāmi‘ ; Turkish : Cami ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque ( Arabic : جامع كبير , jāmi‘ kabir ; Turkish : Ulu Cami ),

2376-428: Is not perceptible to a visitor. The building consists primarily of a trapezoidal courtyard ( sahn ) and a hypostyle prayer hall. The main difference between this mosque and the Kairouan mosque is the position of the minaret, which in this case was added at a much later period. The mosque is closely integrated into the urban fabric and most of the building's exterior is concealed by other neighbouring structures. Only on

2475-737: Is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil ; it is one of the core ingredients in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines . Thousands of cultivars of the olive tree are known. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives". About 80% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 20% are used as table olives. The word olive derives from Latin ŏlīva 'olive fruit; olive tree', possibly through Etruscan 𐌀𐌅𐌉𐌄𐌋𐌄 ( eleiva ) from

2574-514: Is often conflated with another word from the same root, jumu‘ah ( Arabic : جُمُعَة , lit.   'assembly, gathering'), a term which refers to the Friday noon prayers ( Arabic : صَلَاة الْجُمُعَة , romanized :  ṣalāṫ al-jumu‘ah , lit.   'prayer of assembly') or the Friday itself ( Arabic : يَوْم الْجُمُعَة , romanized :  yawm al-jumu‘ah , lit.   'day of assembly'). Since

2673-537: Is produced by the yeast fermentation, lactic, acetic, or citric acid is often added to the fermentation stage to stabilize the process. Applied to green, semi-ripe, or ripe olives, they are soaked in lye typically for longer periods than Spanish style (e.g. 10–72 hours) until the solution has penetrated three-quarters of the way into the fruit. They are then washed and immediately brined and acid corrected with citric acid to achieve microbial stability. Fermentation still occurs carried out by acidogenic yeast and bacteria but

2772-666: Is table olives which can be stored without refrigeration. Fermentations dominated by lactic acid bacteria are, therefore, the most suitable method of curing olives. Yeast-dominated fermentations produce a different suite of metabolites which provide poorer preservation, so they are corrected with an acid such as citric acid in the final processing stage to provide microbial stability. The many types of preparations for table olives depend on local tastes and traditions. The most important commercial examples are listed below. Applied to green, semiripe, or ripe olives. Olives are soaked in salt water for 24–48 hours. Then they are slightly crushed with

2871-435: Is typically gnarled and twisted. The small, white, feathery flowers , with ten-cleft calyx and corolla , two stamens , and bifid stigma , are borne generally on the previous year's wood, in racemes springing from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a small drupe 1–2.5 cm ( 3 ⁄ 8 –1 in) long when ripe, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars. Olives are harvested in

2970-485: The shahada . The minbar (pulpit) next to the mihrab is one of the oldest existing minbars after the minbar of Kairouan, though only some of its side panels are still originals from the Aghlabid period, with the others dating from later renovations. The latest pieces date from 1583 in the early Ottoman period. The minbar is smaller than the Kairouan minbar, measuring 2.53 by 3.30 metres. The wooden panels are carved with

3069-516: The Acropolis ; it was still to be seen there in the second century AD; and when Pausanias was shown it c. 170 AD, he reported "Legend also says that when the Persians fired Athens the olive was burnt down, but on the very day it was burnt it grew again to the height of two cubits ." Indeed, olive suckers sprout readily from the stump, and the great age of some existing olive trees shows that it

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3168-689: The International Olive Council (IOC) into three groups according to the degree of ripeness achieved before harvesting: Raw or fresh olives are naturally very bitter; to make them palatable, olives must be cured and fermented , thereby removing oleuropein , a bitter phenolic compound that can reach levels of 14% of dry matter in young olives. In addition to oleuropein, other phenolic compounds render freshly picked olives unpalatable and must also be removed or lowered in quantity through curing and fermentation. Generally speaking, phenolics reach their peak in young fruit and are converted as

3267-725: The Linear B syllabic script. The olive tree, Olea europaea , is an evergreen tree or shrub native to Mediterranean Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is short and squat and rarely exceeds 8–15 m (25–50 ft) in height. 'Pisciottana', a unique variety comprising 40,000 trees found only in the area around Pisciotta in the Campania region of southern Italy , often exceeds this, with correspondingly large trunk diameters. The silvery green leaves are oblong, measuring 4–10 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 –4 in) long and 1–3 cm ( 3 ⁄ 8 – 1 + 3 ⁄ 16  in) wide. The trunk

3366-555: The Ottoman period , both the Muradid and Husaynid dynasties restored and expanded the mosque and its associated institutions. This helped restore the mosque's prominence and its prestige as a center of learning. In 1637 an arcaded loggia was added to the mosque's exterior eastern façade by a patron named Muhammad al-Andalus ibn Ghalib, whose name suggests he was one of the moriscos expelled from Spain in 1609. From 1624 to 1812

3465-567: The Qubbat al-Bahu (or Qubbat al-Bahw ), the dome at the entrance of the prayer hall. The dome itself is dated more specifically to 991. The dates for these works are provided by a series of inscriptions around the Qubbat al-Bahu , but the names of the patrons themselves were erased at a later period, possibly when the Zirids declared independence from the Fatimids in the 11th century. From context,

3564-505: The Quran , and the olive is praised as a precious fruit. Olive tree and olive oil health benefits have been propounded in prophetic medicine. Muhammad is reported to have said: "Take oil of olive and massage with it – it is a blessed tree" ( Sunan al-Darimi , 69:103). Olives are substitutes for dates (if not available) during Ramadan fasting, and olive tree leaves are used as incense in some Muslim Mediterranean countries. In Palestine

3663-595: The early periods of Islam , a functional distinction existed between large central mosques built and controlled by the state versus small local mosques built and maintained by the general population. In the early years of Islam, under the Rashidun caliphs and many of the Umayyad caliphs , each city generally had only one congregational mosque where Friday prayers were held, while smaller mosques for regular prayers were built in local neighbourhoods. In fact, in some parts of

3762-461: The vine , but he makes clear (in 1.16.10) that the cultivated olive must be vegetatively propagated; indeed, the pits give rise to thorny, wild-type olives, spread far and wide by birds. Theophrastus reports how the bearing olive can be grafted on the wild olive, for which the Greeks had a separate name, kotinos . In his Enquiry into Plants (2.1.2–4) he states that the olive can be propagated from

3861-432: The 13th century onward. The stucco decoration around the mihrab dates largely from 1638, and the stuccowork on the imposts of the columns dates from 1820. A few carved stucco panels along the upper walls of the central aisle, probably former windows, still date from the Aghlabid period. Inside the mihrab is a marble plaque covered in gold leaf and carved with an Aghlabid Kufic inscription with religious formulas such as

3960-546: The 15th century, under the Mamluks , the urban agglomeration of Cairo and Fustat had 130 congregational mosques. In fact, the city became so saturated with congregational mosques that by the late 15th century its rulers could rarely build new ones. A similar proliferation of congregational mosques occurred in the cities of Syria , Iraq , Iran , and Morocco , as well as in the newly conquered Constantinople ( Istanbul ) under Ottoman rule. Congregational mosques function as

4059-410: The Abbasid caliph instead. The Aghlabid structure, in turn, is mostly obscured today by later additions and reconstructions. The sections that are best preserved from the 9th century are the interior of the prayer hall (though some of this was later rebuilt too) and the projecting round corner bastions at the northern and eastern corners of the mosque. There is no evidence that a minaret was attached to

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4158-520: The Islamic world such as in Egypt , Friday services were initially not permitted in villages and in other areas outside the main city where the congregational mosque stood. The ruler or governor of the city usually built his residence (the dar al-imara ) next to the congregational mosque, and in this early period the ruler also delivered the khutbah (Friday sermon) during Friday prayers. This practice

4257-618: The Spanish occupied Tunis and broke into the Zaytuna Mosque in 1534. After Tunisia gained independence from France in the 1950s the university's library was integrated into the National Libraries of Tunis. Administrative and curricular reforms to the institution were begun by Ahmad Bey in 1842. They continued in 1875 under Prime Minister Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi , who also expanded the al-Abdaliyah Library and opened it to

4356-443: The Spanish type fermentation process, but the lye treatment process is skipped and the olives are placed directly in fermentation vessels full of brine (8–12% NaCl). The brine is changed on a regular basis to help remove the phenolic compounds. As the caustic treatment is avoided, lactic acid bacteria are only present in similar numbers to yeast and appear to be outdone by the abundant yeasts found on untreated olives. As very little acid

4455-468: The United Nations adopted in 1946 is a world map with two olive branches. The olive tree, Olea europaea , has been cultivated for olive oil, fine wood, olive leaf , ornamental reasons, and the olive fruit. About 80% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 20% are used as table olives. The olive is one of the "trinity" or "triad" of basic ingredients in Mediterranean cuisine ,

4554-485: The Zaytuna Mosque prior to the 14th century. During this time there were most likely courses being offered voluntarily by ulama (Islamic legal scholars), but not in an organized manner. For centuries, Kairouan was the early centre of learning and intellectual pursuits in Tunisia and North Africa in general. Starting from the 13th century, Tunis became the capital of Ifriqiya under Almohad and Hafsid rule. This shift in power helped al-Zaytuna to flourish and become one of

4653-549: The archaic Proto-Greek form *ἐλαίϝα (* elaíwa ) ( Classic Greek ἐλαία elaía 'olive fruit; olive tree'. The word oil originally meant 'olive oil', from ŏlĕum , ἔλαιον ( élaion 'olive oil'). The word for 'oil' in multiple other languages also ultimately derives from the name of this tree and its fruit. The oldest attested forms of the Greek words are Mycenaean 𐀁𐀨𐀷 , e-ra-wa , and 𐀁𐀨𐀺 , e-ra-wo or 𐀁𐁉𐀺 , e-rai-wo , written in

4752-434: The base of the dome and above the capitals of some of the columns. The hypostyle prayer hall is divided into 15 aisles by rows of columns, 6 bays long, supporting horseshoe arches running perpendicular to the southeastern qibla wall. Each aisle is about 3 metres wide but the central aisle, leading to the mihrab (niche symbolizing the qibla), is wider than the others at 4.8 metres. Another transverse aisle runs in front of

4851-413: The building. Modern historians have been divided over whether the foundation should be attributed to Ibn al-Habhab or to Ibn al-Nu'man. Most scholars support the second explanation and attribute the foundation to Ibn al-Nu'man in 698 CE. This is the strongest by evidence as it is unlikely that the city of Tunis remained a long time without a mosque after its conquest in 79 Hijri. Under this explanation, it

4950-468: The community that do not possess land. This is practised through the tradition of leaving fruit on a tree during the harvest so that those who do not have land and are unable to take part in the harvest can still reap the benefits. The Great Seal of the United States first used in 1782 depicts an eagle clutching an olive branch in one of its talons, indicating the power of peace. The Flag of

5049-667: The dome has a sophisticated construction and Jonathan Bloom describes it is one of the finest architectural works from this period of western Islamic architecture . The dome is ribbed and rests on an octagonal base, which rests in turn on a square supporting structure. The ornamentation includes carved moldings , decorative blind arches and niches, pilasters , and polychrome mosaic or ablaq stonework in red, white, and black stone. The arches and windows have horseshoe arches and voussoirs of alternating white and red stone. Arabic inscriptions in Fatimid floriated Kufic are found around

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5148-565: The early 21st century. There were an estimated 865 million olive trees in the world as of 2005, and the vast majority of these were found in Mediterranean countries, with traditionally marginal areas accounting for no more than 25% of olive-planted area and 10% of oil production. Olives are thought to have been domesticated in the third millennium BC at the latest, at which point they, along with grain and grapes, became part of Colin Renfrew 's Mediterranean triad of staple crops that fueled

5247-667: The eastern Mediterranean Basin. Around 100,000 years ago, olives were used by humans in Africa, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, for fuel and most probably for consumption. Wild olive trees, or oleasters, have been collected in the Eastern Mediterranean since ~19,000 BP. The genome of cultivated olives reflects their origin from oleaster populations in the Eastern Mediterranean. The olive plant

5346-443: The eastern side of the mosque is there an external façade, fronted by an arcaded loggia from 1637. The adjoining rooms and structures around the rest of the mosque's perimeter include shops, libraries, and maqsura s (areas reserved for specific individuals or groups during prayer). The courtyard is accessible from the exterior via seven doorways and is surrounded by galleries supported by arcades of arches and columns. The gallery on

5445-645: The emergence of more complex societies. Olives, and especially (perfumed) olive oil, became a major export product during the Minoan and Mycenaean periods. Dutch archaeologist Jorrit Kelder proposed that the Mycenaeans sent shipments of olive oil, probably alongside live olive branches, to the court of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten as a diplomatic gift. In Egypt, these imported olive branches may have acquired ritual meanings, as they are depicted as offerings on

5544-520: The emergence of the madrasa as a distinct institution during the 11th century, the congregational mosque was also the main venue for religious education by hosting halqa s (study circles). In later centuries, as the Islamic world became increasingly divided between different political states, as the Muslim population and the cities grew, and as new rulers wished to leave their mark of patronage, it became common to have multiple congregational mosques in

5643-402: The fruit matures. Once ripening occurs, the levels of phenolics sharply decline through their conversion to other organic products, which render some cultivars edible immediately. One example of an edible olive native to the island of Thasos is the throubes black olive, which becomes edible when allowed to ripen in the sun, shrivel, and fall from the tree. The curing process may take from

5742-424: The generation of favourable metabolites from bacteria and yeast, such as organic acids, probiotics, glycerol, and esters, which affect the sensory properties of the final table olives. Mixed bacterial/yeast olive fermentations may have probiotic qualities. Lactic acid is the most important metabolite, as it lowers the pH, acting as a natural preservative against the growth of unwanted pathogenic species. The result

5841-568: The green to purple stage. O. europaea contains a pyrena commonly referred to in American English as a "pit", and in British English as a "stone". The six natural subspecies of Olea europaea are distributed over a wide range: The subspecies europaea is divided into two varieties , the europaea , which was formerly named Olea sativa , with the seedlings called "olivasters", and silvestris , which corresponds to

5940-758: The leaves. The same insect is commonly found today on olive leaves, showing that the plant-animal co-evolutionary relations have not changed since that time. Other leaves found on the same island are dated back to 60,000 BP, making them the oldest known olives from the Mediterranean. Olives are not native to the Americas . Spanish colonists brought the olive to the New World , where its cultivation prospered in present-day Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. The first seedlings from Spain were planted in Lima by Antonio de Rivera in 1560. Olive tree cultivation quickly spread along

6039-539: The local Bakri family took charge of the mosque's care and occupied the position of the mosque's imam. The present-day minaret was entirely rebuilt in 1894 and imitates the Almohad style of the Kasbah Mosque 's minaret further west. Tunisian presidents Bourguiba and Ben Ali carried out major restoration work and rehabilitation, especially during the 1960s and 1990s. There is little information about teaching at

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6138-490: The major centres of Islamic learning, and Ibn Khaldun, the first social historian in history was one of its products. The flourishing university attracted students and men of learning from all parts of the known world at the time. Along with disciplines theology – such as exegesis of the Qur'an ( tafsir ) – the university taught fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence ), Arabic grammar , history , science and medicine . It also had

6237-553: The mid-10th century had lost all political power, retained the privilege of designating congregational mosques in the city and of appointing their preachers. By the 11th century, the Arab writer and traveler Ibn Jubayr notes eleven congregational mosques in the city. In another example, Fustat , the predecessor of modern Cairo , was founded in the seventh century with just one congregational mosque (the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As ), but by

6336-513: The mosque at this time. The reasons for this omission are unclear. It suggests that minarets were not yet a standard feature of congregational mosques or that they were still considered a controversial innovation at the time. Between 990 and 995 further works were carried out under the Zirids , clients of the Fatimid caliphs. These works included the addition of galleries around the courtyard and

6435-416: The mosque was built over an existing Byzantine-era building with columns, covering a cemetery. This may have been a Christian basilica, which provides support for the legend reported by Ibn Abi Dinar. A more recent interpretation by Muhammad al-Badji Ibn Mami suggests that the previous structures may have been part of a Byzantine fortification, inside which the Arab conquerors built their mosque. This hypothesis

6534-500: The natural microbiota present on the olives that survive the lye treatment process. Many organisms are involved, usually reflecting the local conditions or terroir of the olives. During a typical fermentation gram-negative enterobacteria flourish in small numbers at first but are rapidly outgrown by lactic acid bacteria species such as Leuconostoc mesenteroides , Lactobacillus plantarum , Lactobacillus brevis and Pediococcus damnosus . These bacteria produce lactic acid to help lower

6633-554: The northwest corner of the courtyard. Built in 1894, the minaret is 43 meters (141 ft) high and imitates the decoration of the Almohad minaret of the Kasbah Mosque with its limestone strap-work in a sebka pattern on a background of ochre sandstone. The central entrance to the prayer hall is covered by a dome, the Qubbat al-Bahu , added by the Zirids around 991. Measuring about 12 metres in height and 4 metres in width,

6732-620: The old wildly growing Mediterranean species O. oleaster , with the seedlings called "oleasters". The sylvestris is characterized by a smaller, shrubby tree that produces smaller fruits and leaves. The subspecies O. e. cerasiformis is tetraploid , and O. e. maroccana is hexaploid . Wild-growing forms of the olive are sometimes treated as the species Olea oleaster , or "oleaster." The trees referred to as " white " and " black " olives in Southeast Asia are not actually olives but species of Canarium . Hundreds of cultivars of

6831-410: The oleuropein. They are usually considered "treated" when the lye has penetrated two-thirds of the way into the fruit. They are then washed once or several times in water to remove the caustic solution and transferred to fermenting vessels full of brine at typical concentrations of 8–12% NaCl. The brine is changed on a regular basis to help remove the phenolic compounds. Fermentation is carried out by

6930-402: The olive in 1779 as one of the foods preferred by the ancients and as one of the most perfect foods. Vitruvius describes of the use of charred olive wood in tying together walls and foundations in his De Architectura : The thickness of the wall should, in my opinion, be such that armed men meeting on top of it may pass one another without interference. In the thickness there should be set

7029-443: The olive rarely thrives at a distance from the sea, which in Greece invariably means up mountain slopes. Greek myth attributed to the primordial culture-hero Aristaeus the understanding of olive husbandry, along with cheese-making and bee-keeping. Olive was one of the woods used to fashion the most primitive Greek cult figures , called xoana , referring to their wooden material; they were reverently preserved for centuries. It

7128-547: The olive tree and plant carry the symbolic connotations of resilience, health, ancestral ties and community. Researchers have found that the olive tree is tied into the Palestinians' Sutra, A’wana and Sumud . The tree is a means of survival and security, represents their bond to their land, community and animals. Olive trees also serve as a symbol of their identities, which include their physical and emotional aspects and their socio-cultural values. Palestinian people view

7227-415: The olive tree are known. An olive's cultivar has a significant impact on its colour, size, shape, and growth characteristics, as well as the qualities of olive oil. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives". Since many olive cultivars are self-sterile or nearly so, they are generally planted in pairs with

7326-437: The olive trees as the first witnesses that Palestine is their homeland. The harvest season is referred to as "Palestine’s wedding" and is considered a national holiday when schools close for two days so that pupils and teachers can join in the harvest. This holiday allows community and family members to gather and serves as a ritual that encompasses their values surrounding family, labour, community and aid for other members of

7425-592: The other two being wheat for bread , pasta , and couscous ; and the grape for wine . Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking, for frying foods or as a salad dressing . It is also used in cosmetics , pharmaceuticals , and soaps , and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps , and has additional uses in some religions. Spain accounts for almost half of global olive oil production; other major producers are Portugal, Italy, Tunisia, Greece and Turkey. Per capita consumption

7524-555: The pH of the brine and therefore stabilize the product against unwanted pathogenic species. A diversity of yeasts then accumulate in sufficient numbers to help complete the fermentation alongside the lactic acid bacteria. Yeasts commonly mentioned include the teleomorphs Pichia anomala , Pichia membranifaciens , Debaryomyces hansenii and Kluyveromyces marxianus . Once fermented, the olives are placed in fresh brine and acid corrected, to be ready for market. Applied to green, semiripe and ripe olives, they are almost identical to

7623-456: The prestige of the older Mosque of Uqba in Kairouan. Significant restoration work was carried out by the Hafsid rulers, under al-Mustansir in 1250 and under Abu Yahya Zakariya in the early 14th century, adding features such as ablution facilities and replacing some of the woodwork. Other repairs and restorations were carried at multiple points during this era. The mosque's first attested minaret

7722-401: The public. In 1896 new courses were introduced such as physics , political economy , and French , and in 1912 these reforms were extended to the university's other branches in Kairouan, Sousse , Tozeur , and Gafsa . Until the 20th century the students were mostly recruited from Tunisia's wealthiest families but afterwards its recruitment broadened. Under French colonial rule it turned into

7821-419: The qibla wall. There are around 160 columns and most of them are antique spolia, most likely taken from the site of Carthage . The space in front of the mihrab is covered by a well-preserved dome from the Aghlabid period (9th century), with Kufic inscriptions from the same period. The mihrab itself was redecorated in later periods and most of the prayer hall's decoration, apart from the antique columns, dates from

7920-845: The return of Saint Olivia's relics from the Berber Caliph of Ifriqiya Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II , who refused him. Even today the Tunisians, who still venerate her, believe that the dominion of their religion will fade when the body of the Virgin Olivia will disappear. Al-Zaytuna was the second mosque to be built in Ifriqiya and the Maghreb region after the Mosque of Uqba in Kairouan . The exact date of building varies according to source. Ibn Khaldun and Al-Bakri wrote that it

8019-452: The same area. The full Arabic term for this kind of mosque is masjid jāmi‘ ( مَسْجِد جَامِع ), which is typically translated as "mosque of congregation" or "congregational mosque". "Congregational" is used to translate jāmi‘ ( جَامِع ), which comes from the Arabic root "ج - م - ع" which has a meaning ‘to bring together’ or ‘to unify’ (verbal form: جمع and يجمع ). In Arabic,

8118-737: The same city. Baghdad , the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate , had just two congregational mosques by the late 9th century: the Great Mosque of al-Mansur , located in the original Round City on the western shore of the Tigris River , and the Mosque of al-Mahdi , in the Rusafa quarter added on the eastern shore of the river. During the 10th century, the number of congregational mosques grew to six, compared to hundreds of other local regular mosques. The Abbasid caliphs, who had by

8217-451: The southern side, preceding the prayer hall, dates from the 10th-century Zirid restoration and is supported by spoliated antique columns and capitals, while the three other galleries currently date from the 17th and 19th centuries, with columns imported from Italy by the prime minister Mustapha Khaznadar in the mid-19th century. The pavement of the courtyard itself consists of antique marble plaques, also spolia. The square minaret rises from

8316-514: The term is typically simplified to just jāmi‘ ( جَامِع ). Similarly, in Turkish the term cami ( Turkish pronunciation: [d͡ʒami] ) is used for the same purpose. As the distinction between a "congregational mosque" and other mosques has diminished in more recent history, the Arabic terms masjid and jami' have become more interchangeable. In non-Arab Muslim nations, the word jāmi‘ ("that which gathers, congregates or assembles")

8415-423: The university. The manuscripts covered almost all subjects and sciences, including grammar, logic , documentations , etiquette of research, cosmology , arithmetic , geometry , minerals , vocational training , etc. One of its famous libraries, al-Abdaliyah, included a large collection of rare manuscripts that attracted scholars from abroad. Much of the library's original collection was dispersed or destroyed when

8514-534: The valleys of South America's dry Pacific coast where the climate was similar to the Mediterranean. Spanish missionaries established the tree in the 18th century in California . It was first cultivated at Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769 or later around 1795. Orchards were started at other missions, but in 1838, an inspection found only two olive orchards in California. Cultivation for oil gradually became

8613-451: The wall of the Aten temple and were used in wreaths for the burial of Tutankhamun . It is likely that, as well as being used for culinary purposes, olive oil was also used to various other ends, including as a perfume. The ancient Greeks smeared olive oil on their bodies and hair as a matter of grooming and good health. Olive oil was used to anoint kings and athletes in ancient Greece. It

8712-585: The wealth of the Minoan civilization . The ancestry of the cultivated olive is unknown. Fossil olea pollen has been found in Macedonia and other places around the Mediterranean, indicating that this genus is an original element of the Mediterranean flora. Fossilized leaves of olea were found in the palaeosols of the volcanic Greek island of Santorini and dated to about 37,000 BP . Imprints of larvae of olive whitefly Aleurobus olivinus were found on

8811-549: The works can be attributed to the patronage of the Zirid emir Al-Mansur ibn Buluggin . The inscriptions also provide the names of four craftsmen: Ahmad al-Burjini, Abu al-Thana, 'Abdallah ibn Qaffas, and Bishr ibn al-Burjini. Under the Hafsids , who ruled during the 13th to 15th centuries, Tunis became the main capital of Ifriqiya for the first time. This led to an increase in the Zaytuna Mosque's importance and allowed it to overtake

8910-401: The works; and 3) Fathallah or Fath al-Banna', the architect and chief builder. Another inscription, along one of the mosque's courtyard façades, provides the same information. The Aghlabid emir himself (Abu Ibrahim Ahmad) is not mentioned in these inscriptions, suggesting that he may not have been officially involved in the construction and that Nusayr was directing the works directly on behalf of

9009-514: Was abolished by President Habib Bourguiba and it was relegated to being a theological college for the University of Tunis. For years afterward, under the rule of both Bourguiba and his successor Ben Ali , the Zaytuna educational institution was kept officially and physically distinct from the Zaytuna Mosque itself. In 2012, after the Tunisian revolution and in response to a court petition by

9108-404: Was also built under Hafsid patronage in 1438–1439. Its appearance is known from old photographs: it had a cuboid shape (having a shaft with a square base) and was crowned with an arcaded gallery and a polygonal turret or lantern at its summit. In 1534 Spanish forces occupied Tunis and broke into the mosque, raiding its libraries and destroying or dispersing many of its manuscripts. During

9207-636: Was brought back to Noah by a dove to demonstrate that the flood was over ( Book of Genesis 8:11). The olive is listed in Deuteronomy 8:8 as one of the seven species that are noteworthy products of the Land of Israel . According to the Halakha , the Jewish law mandatory for all Jews , the olive is one of the seven species that require the recitation of me'eyn shalosh after they are consumed. Olive oil

9306-448: Was built in 114 Hijri (circa 731 CE ) by Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab . Al-Bakri, however, also mentions a mosque being built by Hasan ibn al-Nu'man , who led the conquest of Tunis and Carthage, in 79 Hijri (circa 698 CE). Ahmed ibn Abu Diyaf and Ibn Abi Dinar, attributed the order to Hasan ibn al-Nu'man in 84 Hijri (703 CE), who used it as a place of prayer. Another source states that the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ordered

9405-449: Was burnt in the sacred lamps of temples and was the "eternal flame" of the original Olympic games. Victors in these games were crowned with its leaves. In Homer's Odyssey , Odysseus crawls beneath two shoots of olive that grow from a single stock, and in the Iliad , (XVII.53ff) there is a metaphoric description of a lone olive tree in the mountains, by a spring; the Greeks observed that

9504-502: Was first cultivated some 7,000 years ago in Mediterranean regions. For thousands of years olives were grown primarily for lamp oil, with little regard for culinary flavor. Its origin can be traced to the Levant based on written tablets, olive pits, and wood fragments found in ancient tombs. As far back as 3000 BC, olives were grown commercially in Crete and may have been the source of

9603-425: Was inherited from the example of Muhammad and was passed on the caliphs after him. In the provinces, the local governors who ruled on behalf of the caliph were expected to deliver the khutbah for their local community. The minbar , a kind of pulpit from which the khutbah was traditionally given, also became a standard feature of congregational mosques by the early Abbasid period (late eighth century). Until

9702-733: Was possible that the olive tree of the Acropolis dated to the Bronze Age. The olive was sacred to Athena and appeared on the Athenian coinage. According to another myth, Elaea was an accomplished athlete killed by her fellow athletes who had grown envious of her; but Athena and Gaia turned her into an olive tree as reward. Theophrastus, in On the Causes of Plants , does not give as systematic and detailed an account of olive husbandry as he does of

9801-522: Was purely a matter of local pride that the Athenians claimed that the olive grew first in Athens. In an archaic Athenian foundation myth , Athena won the patronage of Attica from Poseidon with the gift of the olive. According to the fourth-century BC father of botany, Theophrastus , olive trees ordinarily attained an age around 200 years, he mentions that the very olive tree of Athena still grew on

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