The earliest agriculture begins with a fig (Ficus carica). Fig trees are the first known domesticated plants. In the ancient near East, cultivation of fig trees predates that of wheat, barley and legumes such as chick peas and lentils.
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Fossilized fig seeds produced from selective breeding date back to c. 9400 - 9200 BCE. Figs are excellent for drying and taking on the road. They are popular on the early trade routes as snack food or commerce.
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Native to the Mediterranean region, south and west Asia, fig trees provide the earliest people with fruits packed with nutritious compounds. High in fiber and rich in iron, figs can be cooked, used in jams and preserves or eaten raw.
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Dried figs are nutritious. The fruit doesn't last long so drying and preserving keeps people in figs when figs are out of season. Since figs are almost 80% water, drying packs in the fiber and nutrients such as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, Vitamin K and B vitamins. Dried figs contain about 30% water.
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Most figs today come from Turkey, Morocco and Algeria. They bear pockets of unisexual flowers pollinated by a specially adapted fig wasp. The figs can propagate without the wasp, for instance in the UK where the temperature is too cold for the insects.
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The tree is about 10 ft (3.2 m) tall with broad three to five-lobed leaves and smooth white bark. Some fig trees grow larger. The fruit ripens to a deep purple, brown or reddish pear-shaped bulb full of white seeds.
Each fig contains 30 - 1600 seeds. Figs can occur in other colors such as yellow and black. There are more naturally occurring varieties of figs than any other tree-borne fruit.
Boukha (Tunisian Arabic: بوخة) is a distilled beverage made from figs. It originates in the Tunisian Jewish community, where most of it is still produced.
In the Northern Hemisphere including the Mediterranean regions and countries of Asia Minor, the figs are ripe between late summer and early autumn.
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The hardy trees with their fragrant leaves and love of sunshine can tolerate frosty to hot humid conditions. They've been cultivated in many climates.
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The milky sap of the plant parts may irritate skin. Gloves and long sleeves can be worn if handling the plants. Not everyone has a reaction. In folk medicine, the sap is used to remove warts and soften calluses.
Birds and animals eat the fruits and excrete the seeds with body waste. In this way new fig trees can grow a distance away from the mother tree, who has less competition for nutrients and water resources.
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Fig trees like rocky environments and can grow in poor soils and higher elevations. Figs are usually found near water. The roots are often shallow with a flattened appearance.
They can grow up to 6 m (20ft) deep to reach water. Fig may be found growing naturally in areas of groundwater or underground water sources.
In ancient Mesopotamian culture, Queen of Heavens the Goddess Inanna (Ishtar) takes the form of the divine fig tree Xikum. The tree is called 'the primeval mother at the central place of the earth'. She's the protector of Tammuz (Dumuzid).
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Figs and fig trees are associated with female sexuality and, according to scholars, enlightenment through the feminine principle. In Buddhism, Gautama Buddha reaches enlightenment (bodhi) c. 500 BCE after meditating beneath a Ficus religiosa, now known as the bodhi tree, for seven weeks.
The site of the tree beneath which the Buddha attains enlightenment is in present-day Bodh Gaya. The bodhi tree has been replaced eleven times.
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In Christianity, the fig is famous for clothing Adam and Eve after their fall from grace. Later sculptures, paintings and other representations use fig leaves to the point of stereotype to cover up anatomical parts considered naughty.
The prophet Muhammad enjoys figs and promotes them. In one text he says, "If I had to mention a fruit descended from paradise, I would say this is it because the paradisiacal fruits do not have pits ... eat from these fruits, for they prevent hemorrhoids, prevent piles and help gout."
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Many types of fig cake exist, from loaves to pan cakes to cupcakes. In ancient Mesopotamian one for the favorite fig cakes isn't a cake at all. It's a thick, hardened paste of figs formed into a round or oblong loaf.
The ancients create fig-cakes with the most succulent of ripe figs. The maker pounds them in a large wooden mortar with long wood pestle until they're mush. This is kneaded together and formed into loaves in standard molds.
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The 'cakes' or slices are taken on the road, sold in the market or stored as prepared food. These most ancient of foods are long loved in the Mediterranean and near East countries.
According to the Jewish Aggadah the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden is a fig. In the later Christian Bible the fruit is an apple. A pomegranate has also been suggested.
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The Book of Deuteronomy describes the fertility of the land of Canaan, naming the fig tree as one of Seven Species. These are the seven plants indigenous to the Middle East which altogether can provide food throughout the year.
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