50 i Flora Unveiled
No such elaborate, urban religious symbolism is evident in the Neolithic “sacred tree” at
Çatalhüyük, which lacked the concept of a state. On the other hand, deciphering the sig-
nificance of the Çatalhüyük fruit tree may not only shed light on Neolithic society; it may
also help us to understand the origins of the sacred tree of Mesopotamia. We will have more
to say about the sacred tree motif of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Chapters 5 and 6.
As for the identity of the fruit tree, it is possible that it was meant to be generic, symbol-
izing all fruit or nut trees. Alternatively, the artist may have had a specific tree in mind,
perhaps one that was highly esteemed. The marl soil in the area immediately surrounding
the settlement was nutrient- poor and subject to seasonal flooding, rendering on- site fruit
tree cultivation difficult, if not impossible. As evidenced by the plant remains found in and
around the houses, the inhabitants of Çatalhüyük collected a variety of fruits and nuts,
presumably from steppe and mountain regions to the south, including apples, pears, plums,
acorns, pistachios, almonds, and hackberries.^42 Ian Hodder’s team also found fig (Ficus
carica) remains in the rake- out from an oven.^43 Wild figs were widely distributed through-
out the Fertile Crescent region during the Neolithic, including southeastern Anatolia and
the Mediterranean coast of southern Anatolia.^44 The fig remains at Çatalhüyük thus could
represent either wild or domesticated varieties of Ficus caria. Given the lack of easy access to
areas suitable for fig cultivation, it seems probable that domesticated figs would have been
obtained via trade routes to the Levant. Domesticated figs could have been one of the valu-
able foodstuffs for which obsidian miners and artisans traded.
In addition to its general appearance, our tentative identification of the “sacred tree” as
Ficus carica is based on two other criteria: economic value and the association with goats.
Figs, especially the domesticated varieties, would have been highly prized for their sweet-
ness, just as dates were esteemed in Mesopotamian societies during the Bronze Age. Like
dates, dried figs could have provided a portable, highly nutritious food for long- distance
journeys south to the Taurus Mountains. From a supply and demand perspective, domes-
ticated figs would have been valued precisely because they were so rare at the settlement
compared with the remains of other fruits and nuts, as the archaeological record suggests.
Figs may thus have been the costliest fruit at the settlement.
The close association between figs and goats is well- attested during the historical period.
Greeks referred to wild fig trees as “caprifigs” because the less succulent syconia (the fleshy,
hollow receptacles containing multiple carpels that comprise the fig “fruit”) were considered
suitable only for goats. It is possible that that the goat/ caprifig artistic motif actually arose
in the Levant sometime during the Neolithic, predating the Greeks by several thousands of
years. The presence of ibexes or goats among the branches of the tree is by no means fanciful,
since goats can and do climb trees. Obsidian traders from Çatalhüyük may have seen artistic
images of goats and fig trees during their trading expeditions to the Levant and brought the
motif back with them to the settlement for use in decorating the walls of houses.^45
Large Animal- Baiting Scenes: The Significance
of the Lone WomanIndividual women are sometimes depicted in the wild animal- baiting scenes found on the
wall of Çatalhüyük, but they are usually detached from the main action. For example, in
the scene of an outsized red stag being harassed by a raucous band of hunters from a wall