3. Keeping.— ^»t\\ olives and oil were preserved in jars carefully cleansed ; and oil was drawn out for use in horns or other small vessels. See Ckuse. These vessels for keeping oil were stored in cellars or store- houses ; special mention of such repositories is made in the inventories of royal property an<l revenue (1 Sam. X, 1; xvi, 1, 13; 1 Kings i, 39; xvii, 16; 2 Kings iv, % 6; ix, 1, 3; 1 Chron. xxvii, 28; 2 Chron. xi, 11 ; xxxii| 28; Prov. xxi, 20; comp. Shebiith, v, 7; Celim, ii, 5; xvii, 12 ; Colum. I. c). A supply of oil was always kept at hand in the Temple (see Josephus, War, v, 13, 6), and an oil treasury was among the stores of the Jew- ish kings (2 Kings xx, 13 ; comp. 2 Chron. xxxii, 28).
VII._X
Oil of Tekoa was reckoned the best {Menach. viii, 8). Trade in oil was carried on with the Tyrians, bj' whom it was probably often re-exported to Egypt, whose olives do not for the most part produce good oil. Oil to the amount of 20,000 baths (2 Chron. ii, 10; Joseph. Ant. viii, 2, 9), or 20 measures {cors, 1 Kings v, 11), was among the supplies furnished by Solomon to Hiram. Direct trade in oil was carried on between Egypt and Palestine (1 Kings v, 11 ; 2 Chron. ii, 10, 15; Ezra iii, 7 ; Isa. XXX, 6 : Ivii, 9 ; Ezek. xxvii, 17 ; Hos. xii, 1 ; comp. Jerome, Com. in Osee, iii, 12; Joseph. Ant. viii, 2, 9; War, ii, 21, 2 ; Strabo, xvii, p. 809 ; Pliny, xv, 4, 13 ; Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. ii, 28, sm. ed. ; Hasselquist, Trav. p. 53, 117). See Commerce.
III. Use. — Besides the consumption of olives them- selves as food, common to all olive-producing countries (Horace, 1 Od. xxxi, 15; jMartial, xiii, 36; Arvieux, Trav. p. 209 ; Terumoth, i, 9, ii, 6), the principal uses of olive-oil may be thus stated :
1. A s food. — The use of oil is general throughout Western Asia at the present time, as it was in primitive ages. Oil was much used instead of butter and animal fat at meals and in various preparations of food (comp. Ezek. xvi, 13). See Food. In such uses oil, when fresh and sweet, is more agreeable than animal fat. The Orientals think so, and Europeans soon acquire the same preference. The Hebrews must have reckoned oil one of the prime necessities of life (Sirach, xxxix, 31 ; comp. Jer. xxxi, 12; xii, 8; Luke xvi, 6 sq.). It is often mentioned in connection with honey (Ezek. xvi, 13, 19; xxvii, 17), and its abundance was a chief mark of pi-osperity (comp. Joel ii, 19). Dried wheat, boiled with either butter or oil, but more commonly the former, is a common dish for all classes in Syria. Hasselquist speaks of bread baked in oil as being particularly sus- taining; and Faber, in his Pilgrimage, mentions eggs fried in oil as Saracen and Arabian dishes (comp. Jerome, Vit. S. Hilarion, ch. xi, vol. ii, p. 32 ; Ibn-Batuta, Tirtv. p. 60, ed. Lee; Volney, Trav. i, 362, 406; Pvussell, Alep- po,i, 80, 119; Harmer, Obs. i, 471, 474; Shaw, Trav. p. 232 ; Bertrandon de la Broccjuiere, Early Trav. p. 332 ; Burckhardt, Trav. in Arab, i, 54; Notes on Bed. i, 59; Arvieux, /. c; Chardin, Voy. iv, 84; Niebuhr, Voy. ii, 302 ; Hasselquist, Trav. p. 132 ; Faber, Evagatorium, i, 197; ii, 752,415),
It was probably on account of the common use of oil in food that the " meat-offerings" prescribed by the Law were so frequently mixed with oil (Lev. ii, 4, 7, 15 ; viii, 26, 31; Numb, vii, 19 sq.; Deut. xii, 17; xxxii, 13; 1 Kings xvii, 12, 15; 1 Chron. xii, 40; Ezra, xvi, 19). This was certainlj' not for the purpose of aiding the burning of the sacrifice ; nor is it likely that any sym- bolic idea was connected with the oil. See Sacrifice. The rite of sprinkling with oil, as a libation, does not occur in the Law, but seems to be alluded to in Micah vi, 7. See Offering.
2. Cosmetic. — -As is the case generally in hot climates, oil was used by the Jews for anointing the body, e. g. after the bath, and giving to the skin and hair a smooth and comely appearance, e. g. before an entertainment. Whether for luxurj' or ceremony, the head and beard were the parts usually anointed (Deut. xxviii, 40; 2 Sam. xiv, 2; Psa. xxiii, 5; xcii, 11; civ, 15; Luke vii, 46) ; and this use of oil, which was especially fre- quent at banquets, became at length proverbially com- mon among the Israelites (Prov. xxi, 17 ; comp. Catull. vi, 8 ; Curt, ix, 7, 20). To be deprived of the use of oil was thus a serious privation, assumed voluntarily in the time of mourning or of calamity (Ruth iii, 3 ; 2 Sam. xii, 20 ; Dan. x, 3 ; Isa. Ixi, 3 ; Amos vi, 6 ; Sus. 17). At Egyptian entertainments it was usual for a servant to anoint the head of each guest as he took his seat. Strabo mentions the Egyptian use of castor-oil for this purpose (xviii, 824). The Greek and Roman usage will be found mentioned in the following passages : Homer, //. X, 577; xviii. 596; xxiii, 281 ; Od. vii, 107; vi, 96; X, 364; Horace, 3 Od. xiii, 6; 1 Sat. vi, 123; 2 Sat. i,