46 



The following description of the modus operandi 

 among the Arabs, is taken from Thomson's " The Land 

 and the Book," and will be better understood by the 

 illustration of an ancient Arab press and mill- stones 

 (see Illustration M.) : — 



" The m'aserah is worked by hand, and is only 

 " used for the Olives which fall first in autumn, before 

 " the rains of winter raise the brooks which drive the 

 " mutruf. The Olives for the m'aserah are ground to a 

 " pulp in circular stone basins, by rolling a large stone 

 " wheel over them. The mass is then put into small 

 " baskets of straw- work, which are placed one upon 

 " another, between two upright posts, and pressed by a 

 " screw which moves in the beam or entablature from 

 " above, like the screw in the standing-press of a book- 

 4 ' binder, or else by a beam-lever. After this first 

 " pressing, the pulp is taken out of the baskets, put into 

 " large copper pans, and, being sprinkled with water, is 

 ec heated over a fire, and again pressed as before. This 

 " finishes the process, and the oil is put away in jars to 

 " use, or in cisterns, to be kept for future market. 



" The mutmf is driven like an ordinary mill, except 

 " that the apparatus for beating up the Olives is an 

 " upright cylinder, with iron cross-bars at the lower end. 

 " The cylinder turns rapidly in a hollow tube of stone- 

 " work, into which the Olives are thrown from above, 

 " and beaten to a pulp by the revolving cross-bars. The 

 " interior of the tube is kept hot, so that the mass is 

 " taken out below sufficiently heated to cause the oil to 

 " run freely. The same baskets are used as in the 

 " m'aserah, but the press is a beam-lever, with heavy 

 " weights at the end. This process is repeated a second 

 " time, as in the m'aserah, and then the refuse is thrown 

 " away. 



" The m'aserah is, however, the machinery used 

 " from the most remote times, as we know from the 

 " basins and wheels to crush the Olives, still found in 

 " the ruins of old towns. The huge stones upon the tops 

 " of the upright posts, prove conclusively that the 



