Cosmetics
Olive oil's use cosmetic uses are attested throughout ancient literature, appearing in Mesopotamian, Hittite, Mycenaean, Hebrew, Greek, and Roman works. Both men and women used olive oil on their skin and in their hair. Women also received beauty treatments with olive oil infused with myrrh.

In Greek times, olive oil was used to as a cleaning agent. Olive oil was rubbed on the body to mix with oils and dirt present on the skin. This mixture was then scraped off with a strigil, a sickle-like instrument. The resultant scraping, or gloios, was also used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. In fact, the gloios that came from athletes was especially prized for its curative properties.

The picture on the left depicts an aryballos, a type of oil container, and two strigils. This was the standard hygiene kit for the ancient athlete.

Industrial Purposes
Olive oil was also used in textile processing and in tanning. This is attested as early as the Mycenaean period. There are also examples of the use of lower grade olive oil in the soap making process, in the Levant, or modern Syria.

Light
Ceramic oil lamps are found throughout ancient contexts form the Early Bronze age to Medieval times. In fact, such lamps are still use in some parts of the world today. Several lamps still containing olive oil have even been excavated. The wick would be placed in the spout on the right side of the lamp and the oil to fuel the lamp would be poured in the reservoir in the center of the lamp.

Ritual
Olive oil has a place in most of the religions of the Mediterranean and the Middle East as both a ritual and an hygienic substance. Islam stresses the use of olive oil as a suitable substance for anointing. Mohammed himself, the prophet of Islam preached about this and applied olive oil his own body.

It has also played a major role in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It is used during baptism in the Christian church and is often used for anointing both the sick and the dead. Jesus Christ preached many times on the Mount of Olives of Jerusalem and he was arrested amongst the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Food
Due to a great deal of contradictory evidence, it is difficult establish when olive oil was first used as a food item. However, the use of Olive Oil as a major staple food is well attested in the Roman Period. In Rome, there stands the Mons Testaccio, literally a mountain of pottery made from discarded olive oil containers called amphorae. This evidence, coupled with a number of olive oil references in the recipes of Apicius, a famous chef of the Roman Empire, point to its widespread culinary applications.