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Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. Theres a resurrection story you probably havent heard coming out of Judea. As soon as the ancient Judean date palm had grown into a tree, Ms. Solowey used genetic testing on it to confirm if it was indeed male and thus incapable of producing fruit. They were widely used for different kinds of diseasescancers, TB [tuberculosis]all kinds of problems., Harvested dates grown on the ancient Judean date palm. The Judean dates harvested from Hannah have a light brown skin, fibrous and chewy honey-colored flesh, and is less sweet than the popular Medjool date. until the 11th century C.E.but then it went extinct centuries ago. [5], Climatological research has proven that immediately after 1000, the climate became colder and more humid, reaching a peak around 1600, followed by a century of severe heat and drought, and then again by colder times with more rainfall. Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. Cultivation of dates in the region almost disappeared after the fourteenth century AD from a combination of climate change and infrastructure decay but has been revived in modern times. Methuselah was chosen to father the fruit and pollen from his plant was placed onto Hannah's flowers. Last week, when the first dates ripened, a harvest was organized. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? She has another goal she hopes to accomplish as soon as possible: Publishing a childrens story she wrote to encourage childrens curiosity with science. Really? Recently, Hannahs fruit was harvested for the first time. sarahmariewells.com, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. 3 min read. In 2011, the plant produced its first flowers and today, the living archaeological treasure continues to grow and thrive. Over the past decade, they grew an ancient Judean . They became symbols of "beauty, precious shade and succulent plenty," Kershner wrote. In ancient times the Judean date palm was a staple source of food, shelter, and shade. [21], As of 2019, altogether thirty-two Judean date palm seeds have been grown from locations in the Dead Sea area, and six saplings (Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, and Hannah) have survived. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. The largest and most famous so far has been dubbed Methuselah, but the plant turned out to be a male, meaning it will never bear fruit. It would be interesting if they were used back then for the same reasons, she tells NoCamels during a phone call from her Jerusalem home. It took me some time to figure out how I might do it because you only have one chance with each seed, Dr. Elaine Solowey, who runs the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura, says in an Israeli Foreign Ministry video made back in 2016 before it was known whether these trees would even bear fruit. An ancient coin design depicting a date palm and two baskets full of dates has been reused for the front side of the modern Israeli ten-shekel coin. And Solowey and Salone are hoping eventually to add the revived Judean dates to the harvest. Scientists in Israel grow date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds. The plant was nicknamed "Methuselah," after the longest-lived person in the Bible. The skin of the fruit is light brown and it is reported to be less sweet, and more fibrous and chewy than the Medjool date commonly grown in Israel today. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. You can help bring hope today! For the next four decades, the ancient seeds were kept in a drawer at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. Female plants need male pollen to produce fruit, and all six of the new date palm trees are female, Sallon explains. Scientists Resurrect Mysterious Judean Date Palms From Biblical Era Methuselah the tree was grown from a 2,000-year-old seed found at Masada. Fancy Sipping a Pint in a 1700-Year-Old Tree? Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. She lives in Ashland, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon, and their four children, Lydia, Elvis, Henry, and Izzy (their Westie). Sallon explained that the taste is very close but not exactly the same as what the residents of the country would have eaten 2,000 years ago since in ancient times dates were grown from shoots from the best producing trees rather than by pollinating date palm flowers. Now I need to buy some and try them! I think the biggest problem is hydrating them because if you hydrate them too quickly, you kill them and you only get one crack at each seed, Solowey told CBN News. [dubious discuss] Goor quotes several later, Ottoman-period travellers to the area as to the rarity of date palms, including Pierre Belon, who in 1553 scoffed at the idea that the region could have ever produced the bounty of dates reported in ancient sources. [13] She challenged her friend, Dr. Elaine Solowey from the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, with the task[14] and in 2005 Dr. Solowey managed to sprout several seeds, after slowly hydrating them in a common baby bottle warmer, then pretreating them in an ordinary solution of fertilizer and growth hormone. Seeds found in Judean desert are male and female, leading to hopes of producing dates. After eight weeks, a small green shoot emerged from one seed, producing a sapling no one had seen in centuries and becoming the oldest known tree seed to germinate. Hannah wassprouted from a 2,000 year-old seed, and pollinated by another Ancient Judean date tree. In 2005, several of these seeds were obtained by the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center of the Hadassah Medical Organization, which gave them to Dr. Elaine Solowey at the Center for Sustainable Agriculture. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. Its a childrens story about the science and what it represents., Viva Sarah Press is a journalist and speaker. [18] By May 2015, the palm was 3.0 metres (9.8ft) tall and was producing pollen. Until Sallon initiated a project aimed at germinating ancient seeds to reintroduce extinct plants previously grown in the region and learn about their qualities. The first leaves were plagued with white spots, which the researchers put down to insufficient nutrients, and it was thought that the plant would never survive. Scientists Revive Ancient Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds, Scientists successfully grew plants from 2,000- year- old seedstes Like Jesus Ate? Dr. Elaine Solowey, director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture of the Arava Institute, and Dr. Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center of Hadassah Hospital, harvested these ancient dates in the culmination of an ambitious, decades-long experiment to raise the biblical-era Phoenix dactylifera date palm from the dead. Dr. Solowey successfully germinated one of these seeds, which sprouted into a young date palm today, Methuselah has a permanent home in the Arava Institute research park on Kibbutz Ketura. How Credible Are the Superstitions Surrounding the Mystical Irish Fairy Trees? But as time progressed, the leaves began to look healthier. The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 years but hundreds of seeds of Phoenix dactylifera were collected from Judean desert archaeological sites such as an ancient palace-fortress built by King Herod and caves located in southern Israel at Masada, Qumran, Wadi Makukh, and Wadi Kelt, located in the Judean desert between the Judean Hills and the Dead Sea. Get email notification for articles from Nir Hasson. In time, Hannah gave birth to a son, Samuel, who was the nazirite that chose Saul and David, the first two kings of Israel, for Gods people (1 Samuel 1). Most of the haul is being kept for science purposes. Years ago at Masada, archaeologists found a jar of those ancient date seeds. Throughout the history of civilization, the concept of the apocalypse has been ever present, in one way or another. Israel365 News is the only media outlet reporting on it. Five years ago. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? After 2,000 years, the formerly extinct Judean date palm was brought back to life by two women scientists in 2005. Source: Haaretz, Holloway, A. Climate change, terrible typhoons, and hurricanes. I wanted to see how medicinal the flora of Israel was and what it had been used for and so on. Out of the changes from natural weather shifts, new life can grow again. It grew around the Dead Sea in the south, to the Sea of Galilee and the Hula Valley regions in the north. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. Microsatellite genotyping of germinated seeds indicates that exchanges of genetic material occurred between the Middle East . Ancient sources have suggested that the Judean date palm tree had many unique medicinal properties no longer found in todays palm varieties. In ancient times, the classical writers described in detail, the dates of ancient Judea. Israeli scientists found out, The Resurrection of 2000-Year-Old Ancient Date Seeds: New Fruit Sprouts from Bible Times Source. Methuselah is and for a long time researchers believed that this was the only Judean date palm they would ever see. Call it Canaan, the Levant or the Ancient Near East; the region has always had a troubled history of warfare and invasions. The Pindo Palm Tree is cold tolerant to USDA Zone 7. Already in the fifth century BC, Herodotus noted that the greatest importance of the Judean dates was that they were drier and less perishable than those from Egypt and thus suitable for storage and export, which is still an important distinction today. Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! Exodus 15:27. She was soon proven wrong. While the scientific and agricultural communities celebrated this landmark harvest, only Sallon, Solowey, a handful of the other scientists involved in the revival project and a few kibbutz members got to sample bits of this long-lost variety of dates, last tasted back in the times of Jesus and the Maccabees. Dr. This years harvest from Hannahproduced almost 700 dates (after 111 during last years first harvest), which were pollinated by Methuselah and two other ancient date palms named Adam and Jonah. But they're not the original date tree that grew here, Sallon said. Ages in months at time of photograph (AtoC) Adam (110 months), Jonah (63 months), and Uriel (54 months). Sponsored by the Asper Foundation and Reichman University. The first of the ancient date seedlings, Methusaleh, is named for the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. Thats why we view every news story through the lens of faith. 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Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. Of these, six of the seeds successfully sprouted. In the future, the hope is for Methuselah, a male tree, to be bred with a female to produce the same date variety eaten commonly in ancient Judea, where it was valued as much for its delicious flavor as for its medicinal properties., We all know the resurrection story from 2,000 years ago described in the pages of the Christian bible. So far, we have five males and two females seven altogether, and I've tried lots of seeds and most of them are deader than door nails, Solowey said. were collected from Judean desert archaeological sites such as an ancient palace-fortress built by King Herod and caves located in southern Israel at Masada, Qumran, Wadi Makukh, and Wadi Kelt, located in the Judean desert between the Judean Hills and the Dead Sea. What cured here, she thinks, were some traditional herbal remedies., The date palm has a historical distribution stretching from Mauritania in the west to the Indus Valley in the east. Date palm cultivation is thought to be up to . A date harvest from 2000-year-old seeds. Researchers revived a 2,000-year-old palm from seeds found inside an ancient Judean jar. ( The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ). [17] By November 2011 it was 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) high, having been transplanted from pot to earth. Once the Roman Empire took control of the kingdom in 70 AD, the date palms were destroyed in an attempt to cripple the Jewish economy. It is interesting to note that the Ezekiel prophesied that in the Messianic era, a river would flow from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, revitalizing the saline water, transforming it into a thriving ecosystem. References to it are made in the Bible, the Koran, and other ancient literature. Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword? Morphology of six germinated ancient Judean date seeds before planting. (2015) Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds is now a Dad. Ancient Origins. Radiocarbon dating of the fragments of the seed shells still clinging to the roots of the plants confirmed the seeds date back to between 1,800 and 2,400 years ago. 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. Most people know of the great construction achievements of the dynastic Egyptians such as the pyramids and temples of the Giza Plateau area as well as the Sphinx. [19] As of February 2020, Methuselah had reached 3.5 metres (11ft). Scientists Revive Ancient Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds, Aided by Modern Ingenuity, a Taste of Ancient Judean Dates, Scientists pick and taste ancient dates for first time since the Second Temple, Dates from time of Maccabees & Jesus are revived, bring Jewish, Arab unity, Date Seeds Unearthed From the Time of Jesus Are Revived, Adding Fruit to Jewish, Arab Unity, Scientists grow fresh dates from a 6th BCE seed, What do 2,000-year-old Ancient Judean Dates taste like? cultivation of dates in the region began to decline. In March of this year, she was pollinated using pollen from Methuselah. Phoenix dactylifera date or date palm is a flowering plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Wed have to take his word for it if it werent for the hard work of two women scientists. They selected 34 seeds they thought were the most viable. [citation needed] The tree so defined the local economy that the Roman emperor Vespasian celebrated the reconquest after the First Jewish Revolt (6670 AD) by minting Judaea Capta coinage, a series of coins sometimes depicting Judaea as a mourning woman beneath a date palm. In the middle of Israels Arava Desert, a farming community is bringing trees back to life thats bearing fruit from the time of the Bible. It is not clear whether there was ever a single distinct Judean cultivar, but dates grown in the region have had distinctive reputations for thousands of years, and the date palm was anciently regarded as a symbol of the region and its fertility.