Za'atar oregano, oregano, pot marjoram, wild marjoram, winter marjoram, or wintersweet. This species is also extremely common in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestine, and is used by peoples of the region to make one local variety of the spice mixture. Other Latin names for the herbs called za'atar in Arabic include "Origanum syriacum" (also known as Bible hyssop, Arabic oregano and wild marjoram) and "Origanum majorana" (sweet marjoram). Both oregano and marjoram are closely related Mediterranean plants of the Lamiaceae family, so it is unsurprising that they could be used interchangeably. Za'atar as a prepared condiment is generally made
Mediterranean cuisine head. Wheat was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, in and near the Levant some 10,000 years ago. Its ancestors include wild emmer wheat; this was hybridised, harvested and sown to create domestic strains with larger grains, in ears that shatter less readily than wild forms. It had been spread across the Mediterranean region as far as Spain by 5,000 BC. Wheat is a staple food in the Mediterranean region. Wheat bread was already critically important in the empire of Ancient Rome, which included the entire region; at that time, around 2,000 years ago, North Africa was the "breadbasket" of the