olive cultivar was the indigenous Nabali, followed by the Souri. In Roman times, other olive cultivars were imported from Syria and Egypt. There is also some written information about olive oil. The Bible describes its use in relation to certain sacrifices in which olive oil is used (for example, (, ). However, these sacrificial "recipes" can be assumed to represent some of the everyday uses of oil and methods for cooking and frying. Olive oil was mixed with flour to make bread in the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath () and is also noted as a valuable product for eating (). Olive oil is also mentioned on the Samaria and Arad ostraca. The consumption of olive oil varied with social class: it was less available to the poor, but it may have become more available later in the Israelite period as the means of production improved and became more widespread. By early Roman times, the Mishna indicates that it was one of the four essential foods that a husband had to provide his wife, and it has been calculated that at a minimum, this represented about 11 percent of the overall calories supplied by the "food basket" described at that time. Grapes Grapes are another of the biblical Seven Species and were used mainly for the production of wine, although they were also eaten fresh and dried. Grapes were dried in the sun to produce raisins, which could then be stored for a long time. Raisins were also pressed into clusters and dried as cakes, which kept the interior raisins softer. Grapes were also used to produce a thick, honey-like liquid, called grape honey (dvash anavim), that was used as a sweetener. Grape honey was made by treading the grapes in vats, but instead of fermenting the liquid produced, it was boiled to evaporate its water, leaving behind the thick, grape syrup. Figs Figs were an important source of food. Figs were cultivated throughout the land of Israel, and fresh or dried figs were part of the daily diet. A common way of preparing dried figs was to chop them and press them into a cake. Figs are one of the biblical Seven Species and are frequently mentioned in the Bible (for example, , and ). The remains of dried figs have been discovered from as early as the Neolithic period in Gezer, Israel and Gilgal in