The fig tree is called by different names – fig, fig tree, fig, wine berry. Fig berries – figs contain a lot of vitamins and sugar. Up to 100 kg of berries can be collected from one fig tree. The fig tree belongs to the ficus family. This tree has a powerful trunk, shiny hard leaves and a crown that provides shade and coolness. Fig inflorescences are called sycopies, this is a pear-shaped or round berry, hollow inside. Tiny nondescript fig flowers are located inside the berries, you can see them if you break the inflorescence.
© Hedwig Storch
The fig tree is a very ancient tree. Its fruits were collected by primitive people in the Paleolithic era. The fig tree is the only tree mentioned in the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve. “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” – this is what the clothes of the first people looked like. The ancient Phoenicians worshiped the Mediterranean fig tree as a deity. Communication with God took place near the fig tree; it was a place of prayer. Devout Jews also read daily prayers under the fig tree. In the life of the ancient Jews, the fig tree was of great importance; in the Holy Scripture, it is proclaimed as a symbol of the Jewish people. And a dried-up fig tree was considered a harbinger of God’s wrath, which would fall upon the wicked people.
© H. Zell
In ancient Italy, the fig tree was a fertility cult. Fig fruits played a huge role in the lives of the inhabitants of Italy, the beginning of autumn was called “prima figa” (“first fig”). Wreaths of fig leaves served as decoration for participants in Roman harvest festivals. Fig trees were considered sacred trees and they grew in front of temples. The mythical ideas about the fig tree among the Romans and Greeks are very similar. The fig tree was brought to Italy from Greece. In the ancient world, Greece was the main producer of figs. Even today, archaeologists find remains of dried figs. 44 varieties of figs bred in Hellas were considered the best in the Mediterranean and brought great income to the Greek states. The oldest statues of the winners of the Olympic Games were carved from the wood of fig trees. In Sparta, Dionysus the Fig-bearer was revered, his images, carved from fig wood, were kept on the island of Naxos. Legend has it that the art of growing figs was passed on by the goddess of fertility, Demeter, to the Eleusian king, Phytalus.
© Kurt Stueber
Fig trees have been grown in Egypt since ancient times. The Egyptians considered the sycamore (fig) to be a sacred tree, the embodiment of the goddess of the sky, Nut. The fig tree was also revered in India. On ceramics, seals and prints, one can see an image of the Indian fig tree – pipala – the prototype of the Heavenly Tree, standing on a platform with a goddess in a fork, surrounded by mythical characters and priests. Sticks for lighting the sacred fire and vessels for worship were made from fig wood. In India, the cult of the sacred fig tree still exists today. In India, the fig tree is considered the throne of the god Vishnu, who sits on its branches in the form of a young man. In ancient times, it was believed that the first cultural fruit that mankind got was the fig tree, it was the first to lead mankind to a better life. Since ancient times, people have valued and loved this tree for the nutritional and taste qualities of its fruits.
