An excellent article entitled "The History of the Fig in the Holy Land from Ancient Times to the Present" was written by Asaph Goor in Economic Botany 19: 124-135 (1965). The fig species discussed by Goor is the common edible fig (Ficus carica). This tree was cultivated for its fruit more than 5,000 years ago and is native to the region between the Mediterranean and Black Seas, sometimes referred to as the ancient region of Caria in Asia Minor. It is a dioecious species with separate male and female trees, and a symbiotic pollinator wasp (Blastophaga psenes) that is propagated inside the fruits (syconia) of male trees called caprifigs. It grows wild over a large area, including southern Europe and the Middle East. Goor (1965) stated that Ficus carica grew wild in the Holy Land thousands of years ago; however, this doesn't necessarily mean that it was truly native (indigenous) to the Holy Land. It may have been introduced by people to this region, either by seeds or cuttings.

According to M.E. Krislev, A. Hartmann, and O. Bar-Yosef, "Early Domesticated Fig in the Jordan Valley," Science 312: 1273-1275 (June 2006), the remains of parthenocarpic fig syconia (edible figs) have been discovered in archeological sites of the Jordon Valley that date back to 11,400 years bp. The carbonized syconia are clearly parthenocarpic because the drupelets are without embryos or seeds. Edible figs are produced on female trees only if they are pollinated by fig wasps (Blastophaga psenes) from the syconia of male trees. The male syconia contain wasps and pollen, and are generally not eaten. They were named "caprifigs" because they were commonly fed to goats. If pollinated, seeds develop inside the druplets within syconia on female trees. Without pollination, the immature figs are shed by the female trees. Parthenocarpy is produced by a single domant mutant gene. Female trees expressing this gene retain their developing figs to maturity, even though they are not pollinated and contain no seeds. Parthenocarpic trees must be propagated by cuttings because they do not produce seeds. They produce sweet fig fruits without the need for male trees that carry symbiotic fig wasps within their syconia. This is very advantageous to farmers in regions where the wild caprifigs and natural pollinator wasps do not occur. The presence of parthenocarpic figs in ancient settlements indicates that people recognized these rare parthenocarpic trees and propagated them by planting branches. Evidence of such activity may mark one of the earliest forms of agriculture. Fig trees could have been the first domesticated plant of the Neolithic Revolution, which preceded cereal domestication by about 1,000 years.

Ficus carica and its symbiotic wasp have even been introduced into California, including male and female trees that grow wild in San Diego County. The symbiotic wasps live in a caprifigs that produce three crops of inedible figs (syconia) each year, including a wasp-bearing, overwintering mamme crop that remains on the bare branches when the tree is devoid of leaves. There are several varieties of male caprifigs and hundreds of varieties of female Ficus carica trees, some of which develop delicious, seedless, parthenocarpic fruits that do not require pollination. There are also varieties in which the female trees will shed their entire crop if they are not pollinated by the symbiotic fig wasp. These varieties have been selected by people over countless centuries. The trees are readily propagated by cuttings and were transported and cultivated by people thousands of years ago. Apparently many ancient civilizations were aware of the fact that Ficus carica required pollination in order to produce edible, seed-bearing fruits, a process called caprification. In 350 B.C., Aristotle described fig wasps that came out of caprifigs and penetrated the unripe female fig fruits, thus fertilizing them. Theophrastus (372?-287? B.C.) discussed caprification in detail, and Pliny (23-79 A.D.) devoted an entire chapter to the practice of caprification in Italy. The subject of fig pollination and "gallflies" in ancient Babylonia is also mentioned by Herodotus (Book I, 485?-425? B.C.). Early horticulturists were undoubtedly aware that the seeds impart a superior, nutty flavor to the fruit, and in some varieties the fruit will not set if it is not pollinated by fig wasps. The fig referred to in ancient Babylonia was probably Ficus carica, but another species called the sycomore fig (Ficus sycomorus) was also used for food in the eastern Mediterranean region. According to Goor (1965): "The sycomore fruit is much inferior and cheaper... It is eaten by the poorer classes and by shepherds in plains where it grows alone." In addition it does not survive cold winters like Ficus carica, and Ficus carica has a much wider range, particularly in colder regions of Iraq and northward.

Another excellent article about ancient fig cultivation was written by J. Galil entitled "An Ancient Technique for Ripening Sycomore Fruit in East-Mediterranean Countries" (Economic Botany 22: 178-190, 1978). When the term "fig gashing" in the Near and Middle East is mentioned in various articles and books (including the Bible), it most likely refers to the sycomore fig (Ficus sycomorus), a species that is actually native to eastern Central Africa. Although the true East African pollinator wasp is not present in the Holy Land, an ovipositing, nonpollinator wasp does induce parthenocarpic fruits containing wasps instead of seeds. The ancient technique of gashing also induces edible, parthenocarpic fig fruits that enlarge and ripen rapidly before the wasps inside mature.