Category: Phoenicians in North Africa

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Several emblematic North African plants and fruits do actually not originate from the region, but were brought there 3000 years ago on the Phoenician ships. Next to olive trees and vines, which we already mentioned, we will discover today two other Phoenician contributions to our countries’ agricultural production: figs and pomegranates.

Figs : the fruit of Paradise

The fig tree is probably native to Central Asia, and was the first fruit tree to be domesticated by man: around 4500 BCE, long before olive trees. Fig cultivation started in the Middle East, the world region where sedentary agriculture first appeared, in the famous “Fertile Crescent”.

The fig tree was an ideal candidate for domestication, as it is very easy to reproduce: to plant a new tree, all that is needed is a grain, a cut branch, or a piece of fruit. Figs are also highly resistant both to heat and cold, enabling them to survive in highly diverse climate conditions. Finally, the fig tree produces up to three harvests per year.

Fig trees were spread through the Mediterranean world by the Phoenician traders. In North Africa, fig cultivation started in Carthage and the other Phoenician colonies. Through the centuries, the new tree was so well acclimated to its new shoreline that it became one of the most cultivated in the region. A hadith describes the fig as a fruit that originates from Paradise.

Pomegranates: Punic apples

The pomegranate tree is originally from modern-day Iran, where it has been cultivated for around 5000 years. In the Persian Empire, the pomegranate flower was considered sacred, a symbol of abundance, fertility and royalty.

From its native region, pomegranate cultivation spread through the Middle East, including Phoenicia. Like olive trees, vines and fig trees, pomegranate trees were spread throughout the Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians, through their colonial empire.

In Roman Antiquity, pomegranates were strongly associated with Carthage. The Romans called them Malum punicum, Punic apple. The English name of pomegranates refers to the Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim kingdom in Spain. The Arabic name, romman (رمان), derives from a Semitic root meanig “high” or “exalted”.

Today, the North African nations are important pomegranate producers. In 1986, Tunisia offered China plants a local variety of soft-seed pomegranates, which were very successful on the Chinese market.

What about Barbary figs? This strange cactus carries a highly popular fruit in North Africa: the Barbary fig, also called prickly pear. It comes from even further away: it is originally from the Mexican desert. Unknown in the Ancient World before the discovery of America, it was introduced into the Mediterranean world, where it spread rapidly. It is especially common in the semi-desert areas of North Africa, so that in the colonial era, is was called “Barbary fig” (Barbary = Berbery, the land of the Berbers). Its Darija Arabic name, “karmouss ennasara”, fig of the Christians, gives a better account of it origins.

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Originally from the desert of Arabia, dates have been cultivated in the Middle East for thousands of years. Their arrival in North Africa is much more recent: the first date palms arrived in Egypt about 6000 years ago, and then Libya about 3000 years ago. When it started spreading in the region, the Arabian date palm crossed with local wild date palm species, giving birth to the North African date palm. While the Phoenicians are not the originators of date cultivation in North Africa, they certainly played a role in its spread.

Date palms are a type of palm trees, originally from Arabia and the Indus Valley. Their deep roots, which enable them to reach underground waters that are inaccessible to other plants, and their resistance to heat, make them ideally adapted to life in desert regions. Their naturally sweet fruit is emblematic of oasis agriculture.

The oldest archaeological traces of date cultivation go back to 7000 BCE in modern-day Pakistan, and 5500 BCE in Arabia. Date cultivation spread to Egypt around 4000 BCE. In the rest of North Africa, it started much later: around 1000 BCE in Libya, from where it spread to the whole region. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned that the Nasamon Amazigh cultivated dates in the Awjila oasis.

On its arrival in North Africa, the Arabian date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) met another wild variety of date palm: Phoenix theophrasti, originally from Crete, which was already living in the region. A crossing between the two species happened around 3000 years ago, giving birth to the modern-day North African date palm.

What role did the Phoenicians play in the spread of date cultivation? Their role is not well-known, but it cannot be a coincidence that the time when date palms started spreading in North Africa corresponds to the establishment of the first Phoenician colonies. The Latin name of the date, Phoenix, refers to the Phoenicians.

The Phoenicians certainly didn’t import the first dates on their ships: this desert fruit spread by land, from Egypt to Libya. The crossing between the Arabian date palm and the local wild date palm was probably a natural hybrid, but the Phoenicians certainly selected the best plants in order to obtain new varieties. What is certain is that the Phoenicians largely contributed to the spread of dates produced in North Africa, especially the new hybrid form, throughout the Mediterranean world.

Later on, date cultivation developed a lot in Carthage, where dates played a crucial role in the economy of the Carthaginian Empire: they served as basic food, natural sweetener, exchange money, and trade resource. The Carthaginians developed sophisticated agricultural and irrigation techniques to optimize their date production, exploiting the fertile land in their territory. Carthaginian dates were sold throughout the Mediterranean world. Date palms were a strong symbol of the power and fertility of Carthage, and were often represented on coins.

Date cultivation in Carthage and its zone of influence continued in the Roman era. In the Roman world, date palm branches were used for military processions, as a symbol of victory.

Dates also play an important symbolic role in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions: they are mentioned over 50 times in the Bible and 20 times in the Quran. The Jews eat dates for their religious celebrations. In Christianity, date palm branches are used on Palm Sunday, to celebrate Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, one week before his crucifixion.

Nowadays, date cultivation still has an important place in the North African socioeconomic landscape, especially in the desert oases. Despite its traditional importance, date cultivation is threatened by drought and disease. The North African nations, from Egypt to Morocco, still produce over 1.9 million tons of dates per year.

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The Phoenicians were one of the first civilisations to develop vine cultivation and winemaking. While wild vine was already growing in North Africa long before the first Phoenician ships arrived, it was the Phoenicians, in Carthage and their other colonies, who taught the indigenous populations how to cultivate vine. Mago’s agricultural treaties, exposing the ancient Carthaginian viticulture techniques, strongly influenced the Romans and contributed to the growth of viticulture all through Europe.

From the Phoenicians…

Various species of wild vine have always grown all around the world. In North Africa, they are mostly found in mountain regions like the Atlas and Kabylie. Ancient men were quick to discover that when they pressed the grapes that grew on these vines, they obtained a juice that started fermenting immediately; but much more skills were required to transform the fermented grapes into a palatable drink.

The first archaeological traces of winemaking from wild vine were found in the Caucasus region. Vine cultivation started around 6000 years ago. The oldest known vineyard was discovered in Armenia and contains a clay tank and a vine press.

From the Caucasus, vine cultivation spread to Mesopotamia, and then the Middle East, and all the way to Greece. The Phoenicians used wine in their religious ceremonies, as an offering to the gods. The Phoenicians probably introduced wine to Egypt, where a prosperous winemaking industry appeared around 3.000 BCE.

The Phoenician traders were the first to see wine’s commercial value, which brought them to develop new, more sophisticated winemaking techniques in order to grow their production. The Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon and Byblos exported and sold wine by sea through all the Mediterranean world. The development of Phoenician colonies, including in North Africa, grew the demand for wine. Phoenician wine was so popular in the Greco-Roman world that the adjective “bybline” (from Byblos) was used for good-quality wine.

The two oldest Phoenician shipwrecks, Tanit and Elissa, were discovered in 1997, at the bottom of the Mediterranean. The ships contained 780 remarkably well-preserved amphorae of wine dating back to the 8th Century BCE. The two ships traded wine between Phoenicia and Carthage.

The Phoenicians diffused new varieties of vine through the Mediterranean basin, especially Vitis vinifera pontica, which became the ancestor of most of the most widely cultivated varieties of white grapes around the world today. They also taught the local populations – like the North African Amazigh – to cultivate the wild vine they already knew.

At the same time, the Greeks were also making wine. Greek viticulture learned a lot from the Phoenicians. In North Africa, the Greek colonists introduced vine into Cyrenaica in the 7th Century BCE. This fertile, luxurious region was ideal for large-scale viticulture. Wine presses were found in cities like Cyrene and Euhesperides (Benghazi). The Greeks also introduced vine to Massalia, Southern Gaul.

… to Carthage…

Carthage, the main Phoenician colony in North Africa, was an important winemaking center. Passum, a highly popular straw wine (produced from dried grapes), was from Carthage.

In the 4th Century BCE, the Carthaginian countryside was full of vine and olive trees. Wine from the Bagradas (Medjerda) river valley was especially popular.

The Carthaginians also introduced vine into Spain, in the old coastal Phoenician colonies. They sold wine to the local tribes, in exchange for precious metals like silver and tin, which were abundant in the region.

Mago, a 2nd-Century Carthaginian author, wrote an agricultural treaty in 28 books, on Carthaginian agricultural knowledge. Major sections of his book explain how to plant and prune vine. He recommends to plant vine on slopes oriented towards the North, to protect them from the sun. He also exposes the best Carthaginian winemaking practices, especially how to produce the best straw wine. His book was so influential that after the destruction of Carthage, the Roman Senate ordered it to be translated into Latin.

… to the Romans…

Viticulture and winemaking in North Africa continued in the Roman era, especially in urban centers like Carthage and Volubilis. African wine was highly appreciated in the whole Roman world. Together with wheat and olive oil, it played an important role in the region’s economy.

Under the influence of Mago, the Romans developed advanced viticulture techniques inspired from the Carthaginians. Mago’s book is now lost, but it was quoted by Latin authors. Columella, a 1st-Century author who quotes Mago abundantly, was from Gadir (Cadiz), a former Punic city in Spain, which explains his interest for the Carthaginian author. It can be said that, via Mago, the whole modern European and Western winemaking industry is in debt to Carthage.

The Greek-Roman god of wine was Dionysus – his Latin name was Bacchus – who, according to mythology, taught men how to cultivate vine. The cult of Bacchus was highly popular in Roman Africa, and involved ecstatic rites of drunkenness, often together with sexual orgies.

In the Roman era, large Jewish communities settled in North Africa. Later on, Christianity also became very popular in the region. Both religions see wine as a gift of God – their sacred texts even say that wine “rejoices the heart of man” – while also condemning drunkenness and encouraging a reasonable consumption. Christians even use wine in their religious service, as an element of the Eucharist. The Christianisation of the region caused a deep change in wine drinking habits, by discouraging excessive drinking. Later on, Christian monks developed new fermentation methods, for wine and beer, to create new flavors.

… until today

Winemaking in North Africa strongly decreased after the arrival of Islam, because of the religious prohibition of alcohol consumption; but it never completely disappeared. Especially, North African Jews continued producing wine for their own consumption.

The North African winemaking industry underwent a renewed time of growth in the French (and Italian, in Libya) colonial era, when many new vineyards were planted. Especially in Algeria, French colonists produced wine, for their local consumption or to export it to metropolitan France. There is even a theory that the French community in Algeria were called “Pieds-Noirs” (“Black-Feet”) because their feet were black from crushing grapes! When in the middle of the 19th Century, an epidemic ravaged the French vineyards, Algerian wine filled the void.

Just before independence, Algeria was the fourth-largest winemaking country in the world after France, Italy and Spain, and had over a dozen of estates classified as “Vin délimité de qualité supérieure” (Superior quality delimited wine). After the colonists and the French army, two important local wine-drinking groups, left, Algerian wine production started declining, forcing the local vineyards to find new markets like USSR. New efforts are now ongoing to revive the Algerian wine market.

Morocco’s wine production developed a lot since the 1990s, and the country is now seen as having the highest winemaking potential in the region. Thanks to the efforts of local producers, Morocco now has over 50.000 hectares of vineyards, mostly in the Fes-Meknes and Oriental regions, and produces high-quality wine for the local and international markets. Boulaouane, a wine from Doukkala region, is the best-sold foreign wine in France.

In Tunisia, winemaking is mostly located around the Cape Bon, and the country mostly produces rosé wine. A local producer in Kelibia renders homage to the Carthaginian agronomist Mago, whose writings spread the Carthaginian winemaking know-how through the whole Roman world, by producing the country’s most popular wine, called Magon.

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The Phoenician alphabet, one of the oldest in the world, is at the origin of several of the most common alphabets in the world today, including the Latin and Arabic alphabet. In North Africa, it was used in Carthage and the whole Carthaginian Empire.

The Phoenician alphabet is an alphabet of 22 letters. It was developed around 3000 years ago, by the ancient Phoenicians. It is an abjad, an alphabet in which only the consonants are written, just like the Arabic alphabet. It is written from right to left, again like Arabic. It is one of the oldest alphabets invented by man, in which each sign represents one sound, while other older forms of writing, like Cuneiform of Egyptian hieroglyphs, were far more complex and accessible only to a highly trained scribal class.

From Phoenicia, the Phoenician alphabet spread through the Middle East, and then the Mediterranean basin. The Phoenicians were a maritime trading civilisation: as their ships navigated around all Mediterranean ports, they brought with them not only goods for sale, but also their alphabet and other forms of knowledge. The Phoenician alphabet was more simple to learn than other common forms of writing at the time, making its adoption by other people easier.

With time, other people in the ancient Mediterranean world developed their own alphabet, based on the Phoenician alphabet. The Hebrews, neighbors of the Phoenicians, created their alphabet around the 10th Century BCE, which they used to write down their sacred texts. The Greeks also developed an alphabet, which is still used today, from the Phoenician alphabet. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the inventor of the Greek alphabet was the Phoenician prince Cadmus of Tyre. In Italy, the Etruscan alphabet, derived from the Greek alphabet, gave birth to the Latin alphabet.

In North Africa, the Phoenician alphabet was used in Carthage and the other Phoenician colonies. In the Carthaginian Empire, it was used to write the Punic language, a Phoenician dialect. As the Carthaginian scribes remained attached to traditional Phoenician grammar, the inscriptions that have been found give only few indications on the linguistic evolution of Punic, compared to the original Phoenician language.

Tifinagh, potentially the world’s oldest alphabet, is an indigenous North African writing system, used by the ancient Amazigh to write their language. The link between the Phoenician alphabet and Tifinagh is debated: some specialists believe Tifinagh to be a strongly altered adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet, but most hold that this alphabet developed according to an indigenous North African model, with only limited Phoenician influences.

As the Phoenician alphabet was originally engraved in stone with a stylus, the letters had a quite angular shape. In the Roman era, a more cursive form or writing, the Neo-Punic alphabet, developed in North Africa.

The Phoenician alphabet is the ancestor of the most widely used alphabets in the world today. On the one hand, via the Greek alphabet, it gave birth to the Latin alphabet, as well as the Cyrillic alphabet, used to writer Slavic languages. On the other hand, is also gave birth to the Semitic alphabets, like the Arabic, Hebrew, and Ethiopian alphabet.

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In Antiquity, the city of Agadir was a Phoenician port, the last link of a chain of trade counters along the Atlantic coast; but the city’s name was originally Amazigh, which shows that the indigenous population of the region knew this site long before the first Phoenician ships came. This name was actually borrowed by the Phoenicians, who named several other cities they founded after it.

After the founding of Carthage, Phoenician merchants founded a chain of trade counters beyond the Columns of Hercules, on the Atlantic coast of modern-day Morocco. From those counters, the Phoenicians developed relations with the indigenous populations and traded with them. The last of those counters was probably located on Cape Ghir. Nothing else is known of this counter, which never became very important (unlike the one on the Iles Purpuraires, on the coast of Essaouira, where the Phoenicians developed a purple fabric). Phoenician remains, mostly potteries, have been found in the region.

The name “Agadir” is of Amazigh origin: an “agadir” (in Tifinagh: ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a fortified granary, used by the Amazigh mountain tribes to store their harvest and other possessions. Several such agadirs can still be found in Morocco, throughout the High Atlas, the Anti-Atlas and the Draa valley. When the Phoenicians arrived in the region, they borrowed this word from the Amazigh: in Punic language, a “gadir” (𐤀𐤂𐤃𐤓) is a wall or a fortified compound. The Phoenicians gave this name to several other cities they founded, the main one being Gadir (Cadiz), in Southern Spain.

In the 5th Century BCE, the Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator led an expedition to explore the West African coast, founding colonies on the way (or, more likely, reestablishing abandoned Phoenician colonies). His travel narrative mentions five cities he founded: Karikon-Teichos (castle of the sun), Gytte (potentially derived from geth, “cattle”, or gt, “press”), Akra (promontory), Melitta (honeybee) and Arambys (mountain of grapes). Those cities are difficult to identify with certainty. Some believe that Akra was Agadir, but most specialists rather locate them further North, between El-Jadida and Essaouira. The most common identification of the five cities, according to the etymology of their name, is Azemmour, El-Jadida, Oualidia, Cape Beddouza and the Island Mogador, next to Essaouira. The river Lixus, also mentioned in the travel itinerary, is probably the Oued Draa.

Among the products that the local population sold to the Phoenicians was argan oil, produced by the Amazigh from the fruit of the argan tree, which grows only in this region of the world. Over 3.000 years ago, the Phoenicians were already exporting argan oil through the whole Mediterranean basin, and using it as food complement and cosmetic.

In the Roman era, Cape Ghir was known as “Cape Rhysaddir”. This name, mentioned by the Roman historian Polybius, comes from the Phoenician Rs ‘dr, “Cape of the Powerful”, probably a reference to the Punic goddess Tanit. There was apparently no city at that time. The modern-day name of Cape Ghir comes from the Tamazight ighir (ⵉⵖⵉⵔ), meaning “[mountain] shoulder”.

The modern-day city of Agadir was founded by the Portuguese in 1505, under the name Santa Cruz do Cabo de Aguer (Holy Cross of Cape Ghir). The Portuguese built the Casbah of Agadir Oufella. The city became Moroccan in 1541, after it was conquered by the Saadian dynasty.

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By the beginning of the 6th Century BCE, Tyre, the mother city of Carthage, was facing the threat of the Babylonian Empire, so that it could no longer defend the Phoenician colonies in the Western Mediterranean basin. Carthage, recently independent, took over the role of protector of the other Phoenician colonies, thus laying the foundations of the Carthaginian Empire.

Context

In the 7th Century, Tyre and the other Phoenician city-States came under the domination of the Assyrian Empire, while remaining largely autonomous. The weakening of Tyre enabled Carthage to take its independence around 650.

Tyre was later besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, from 586 to 573. Nebuchadnezzar never managed to conquer the city, but the Tyrians gave themselves up after 13 years of siege.

Carthage: protector of the Phoenician cities

In 580, a group of Greek colonists from Rhodes and Cnidus, led by Pentathlos of Cnidus, tried to establish a Greek colony in Sicily, at the site of the future city of Lilybaeum (modern-day Marsala). While other Greek colonies, like Syracuse, had already been established before, they were far away from the Phoenician cities to the West of the island and weren’t a threat for them. This new Greek colony was surrounded by Phoenician territory, very close to the city of Motya.

The Phoenicians in Sicily decided to get together, in order to expel this new Greek colony from their zone of influence. As Tyre, under siege by the Babylonians, could not come to their aid, Carthage took the leadership of the united Phoenician forces.

At this time, the Greek city of Selinunte was at war against the Elymians (an indigenous people of Sicily) of Segesta, who were allied with the Phoenicians of Motya. The Greek newcomers decided to send support to their kinsmen in Selinunte, but they were defeated by the Phoenician-Elymian alliance. Their leader, Pentathlos of Cnidus, was killed in battle. The survivors fled and founded a Greek colony in Lipari, in the Aeolian Islands.

The Carthaginian Empire is born

After this episode, Carthage established itself as the protector of the Phoenician colonies in the Western Mediterranean basin, a role that enabled them to gradually take control of the other Phoenician colonies.

While the Phoenicians were a trading civilisation, who founded colonies and bought local products from the surrounding peoples, the Carthaginians broke with the peaceful Phoenician tradition by using military force to extend their Empire.

The Carthaginian conquest of North Africa started during the reign of King Malchus (556-550). Carthage took control of the former Phoenician colonies on the Gibraltar Strait and in Tripolitania. After Oea (Tripoli) had been taken by the Greeks of Cyrenaica, the Carthaginians reconquered the city. Utica, the first Phoenician colony in Africa, came under Carthaginian control quite late, around 540.

Carthaginian ambitions went beyond Africa. A military campaign in Sicily, probably after the Phoenicians on the island called on Carthage for help against Greek expansion, enabled Carthage to integrate the Phoenician cities in Sicily into their Empire.

Around 550, Malchus was sent to Sardinia, to support the local Phoenician population gainst the indigenous Nuragic people. He won several victories that enabled him to establish Punic colonies on the island.

Around 540, the new King Mago of Carthage made an alliance with the Etruscans. Together, they attacked Alalia, a colony founded in Corsica by the Greeks of Massalia (Marseille). The Phocaeans were defeated and forced to abandon Alalia, which came under Carthaginian rule.

Around 530, the Tartessian civilisation, an important trading partner of Carthage in Spain, fell, enabling the Carthaginians to extend their influence in Spain.

From 480 on, Carthage led several wars against the Greeks of Syracuse, for the control of Sicily. In 397, after Motya was destroyed, the survivors founded the city of Lilybaeum, on the site of the short-lived Greek colony.

Over a century later, in 332, Alexander the Great besieged Tyre and conquered the city. The Phoenician civilisation, once the major power in most of the Mediterranean basin, was now surviving only in the Carthaginian Empire.

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While the olive tree is a typical tree of North African landscapes today, that can be found everywhere in our countrysides, its cultivation in North Africa actually started quite recently, around 3.000 years ago. The indigenous population were familiar with the wild olive tree, but the domestic form was brought on board the Phoenician ships, or by the Greeks to Cyrenaica.

The olive tree: a gift of the gods

The olive tree can be found all around the Mediterranean basin. Its cultivation plays an important role in the region’s economy, with several thousands of known cultivars. Olive oil is used since Antiquity as fuel for lamps, for cooking, and as a cosmetic, considerably enriching all the people who produced it.

The Greeks considered the olive tree to be a gift of the gods. According to mythology, after Athens was founded, the gods Athena and Poseidon were contending for the right to give their name to the city. Zeus, the king of the gods, decreed that the one who would offer its inhabitants the best gift would win. Poseidon hit a rock with his trident, and sweet water came out. Then Athena hit the soil with her spear, and an olive tree grew out of it. The Athenians preferred her gift, as it would bring them light and heat.

In addition to its strong resistance to drought, the olive tree is also known for its longevity: there are trees known to be several thousands of years old!

Olive tree cultivation

Olive tree cultivation started around 7.000 years ago, in the Middle-East. It is no coincidence that this is also the time when the first big cities developed in the region.

Olive tree cultivation expanded from the Middle-East, all around the Mediterranean basin, especially thanks to the Phoenician salesmen. In Crete, the Minoans, the first ancestors of the Greek civilisation, were cultivating olive trees 5.000 years ago. Olive oil might have been the source of the Minoan civilisation’s wealth. Later, olive tree cultivation spread to all Greece.

Olives were cultivated mostly to make lamp oil. This oil was then burned in the temples, as an offering for the gods. It was also used to keep the Olympic flame burning.

In Antiquity, olive oil was known for its medicinal and cosmetic virtues. It was used to anoint kings. The Greeks spread perfumed oil over their body and hair. At sports competitions, the winners received a crown made of olive branches. Today, the olive branch is an universal symbol of peace.

Olive oil was also used for cooking. It is now a basic ingredient of all Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Its has many nutritious virtues: it is rich in vitamins and good fats, and also low in cholesterol.

The olive tree played an important role in the Jewish religion, and then in Christianity and Islam. Jewish priests were anointed with oil, and some Christian traditions use it for baptism. The olive tree is mentioned in the Bible and the Quran, as a source of wealth.

The olive tree in North Africa

Wild olive trees have always grown in North Africa. The first inhabitants of the region knew the tree: they used it to produce fuel, and maybe also for food; but they didn’t cultivate it.

The first to cultivate olive trees on the North African coasts were the Phoenicians and the Greeks, the two major maritime civilisations of the Mediterranean basin. While the Greeks, in Cyrenaica, mostly cultivated it themselves, the Phoenicians, who were salesmen rather than farmers, taught the local Amazigh people to cultivate it on their highly fertile land. The Numidian and Mauretanian Amazigh learned to cultivate olive trees, to graft wild olive branches on cultivated trees, and to produce olive oil.

During the Roman era, olive tree cultivation certainly played a major role in making North Africa one of the most prosperous regions of the Empire.

The discovery of petrol put an end to the use of oil as fuel. Nowadays, olives are mostly cultivated for food. Around 80% of all cultivated olives are used to produce oil, while the other 20% are table olives, meant to be eaten. Olive oil is the most common cooking oil in the region. Olives are also part of the recipe for traditional North African dishes.