Sallon says the dates seem to offer hope in todays world of uncertainty. Mudlarker Finds Bronze Age Shoe on a UK Riverbank Dated 2,800 Years Old! www.vivaspress.com. Herod the Great was renowned for his ambitious projects and extravagant tastes. Elaine Solowey, Desert Plant Pioneer, successfully grew an extinct Judean Date Palm tree from a 2000 year old seed. These plants are called Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, and Hannah. CBN Partners provide hope to those who are suffering! The Judean date palm is a date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) grown in Judea. Specimen Pindo Palm Tree can be seen on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA. Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. The age of the seeds range from some of the oldest germinated seeds in the world - Methuselah, Hannah, and Adam with a carbon date to the first to fourth centuries BC, to the mid-second century BC to mid-first century AD plants known as Judith and Boaz, to the youngest of the Judean date palms - Uriel and Jonah are the youngest (first to second centuries AD). Photo: CBN News, Error: There was an internal error submitting your form. The Judean date disappeared entirely, and this site is also in terrible danger of destruction. The Romans eventually succeeded and by 500 AD the once plentiful date palm had almost completely disappeared, driven to extinction for the sake of conquest. She has grown plants and herbs used in Tibetan, Chinese, and biblical medicine, as well as traditional folk remedies from other cultures to see whether their effectiveness can be scientifically proved. The harvested fruit is currently being analyzed for its nutritional value. Shes the fifth such tree to be planted there after Methuselah, Adam, Jonah and Hannah. ( Marcos Schonholz ). The plant was nicknamed "Methuselah," after the longest-lived person in the Bible. Dr. As a result, the tithing ceremony was held on Friday. [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. Sign up to our free daily newsletter today to get all the most important stories directly to your inbox. Why? 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. [4], Its likeness was engraved on shekalim, the ancient Hebrew unit of currency. This week the Arava Institute celebrated the first Judean Dates ever to be grown into fruit since the time of King Herod." References to it are made in the Bible, the Koran, and other ancient literature. The Pindo Palm Tree is cold tolerant to USDA Zone 7. Call (800) 700-7000 or request prayer. It included the Jewish Sheheheyanu prayer recited on momentous occasions, as well as the traditional offering and tithing ceremony. They were the first dates to ripen from date palms grown from seeds that are more than 2,000 years old. Goor only detects a decline in date cultivation through the period of Early Arab rule and especially during the Crusades, when he notes that the devastation of the region was particularly hard on the palm plantations. The two stories are related, she said, because people destroyed the trees and now the land. . Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. Ezekiel 47:12. But Dr. Sarah Sallon of the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem began to look for more Judean date palm seeds and 30 of the ancient seeds were recovered from Qumran, the same location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the desert. But then, in 2005, botanical researcher Elaine Solowey decided to plant one and see what, if anything, would sprout. Children today are the stewards of this planet. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The part that does is home to hundreds of millions of people, from the Atlantic coast of Morocco across North Africa and Egypt to Mesopotamia and east to India., TEL972-8-6356618FAX972-8-6356634EMAILinfo@arava.org, 1320 Centre Street, Suite 206Newton Centre, MA 02459, USATEL1-617-266-7100EMAILinfo@friendsofarava.org, Their names are Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, and Hannah, and their ages are well, actually, this ones a bit complicated., Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Energy Security: The Role of Renewable Energy Sources, Practical Challenges of Photovoltaic Systems in the Rural Bedouin Villages in the Negev, Center for Transboundary Water Management, Evidence-based wastewater monitoring and policy for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, Decentralized Wastewater Management and Governance, Long Term Ecological Monitoring (LTER) in Wadi Shita, Offshore Zionism: Israel-Africa and Green Development, Jordan-Israel Center for Community, Environment & Research, Research in Political Ecology in the Middle East, The Last Straw: Conservation, Control, and the Eco-Political Life of Camels in the Negev Highlands, Sense of Place in an Era of Metabolic Rift, Daniel Fischel & Sylvia Neil Research & Visitors Park, Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies, The Albert B. Glickman Peace-building Leadership Seminar, Daniel Fischel & Sylvia Neil Outdoor Research & Visitors Park, Arava Alumni Peace & Environmental Network, Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy, Applied Environmental Diplomacy: Pathways to Sustainability in the Jordan River Basin, Annual Cross-Border Environmental Cooperation Conference, Annual Reports, Financial Statements & Publications, After 2,000 Years, These Seeds Have Finally Sprouted, Scientists in Israel grow date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds, Dates Like Jesus Ate? [7] However, study of contemporary sources indicates that the date industry continued in Judea throughout the Roman period and that, indeed, the Roman Imperial treasury collected a good deal of the profits. One that disappeared centuries ago was the Judean date. In the Shephelah region or the Judean foothills of south-central Israel, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Seleucid Hellenistic fortress that was burned by Hasmonean (Judean) conquerors Israeli archaeologists have revealed the secrets behind the Assyrian siege ramp that conquered the ancient Judean town of Lachish. Modern day studies have shown dates benefit digestion, lower cholesterol, improve memory, increase blood production, have aphrodisiac properties, and strengthen the nervous system. But as time progressed, the leaves began to look healthier. Judean Date Palm Grown From 2,000 Year Old Seed Bears Fruit. Recently, Hannahs fruit was harvested for the first time. Methuselah was chosen to father the fruit and pollen from his plant was placed onto Hannah's flowers. ', Israeli Researchers Mate 2,000-year-old Date Seeds, Hope for Fruit, Canaanite Palace Built on a Fault Was Destroyed by Quake 3,700 Years Ago, Scientists Find New Way Climate Change Can Ruin Life as We Know It. Dr. Sallon, who researches natural medicine, is one of the few lucky ones to have had the opportunity to taste one of the 111 ancient Judean dates harvested in September at Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. They are drier and sweeter than the medjool date and taste like natural honey. [13][15] Three of the seeds were subsequently planted at Ketura, Israel, in the Arabah in southern Israel. The remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertilizer to encourage germination. her team just so happens to have one other Judean date palm on hand in . Sallon obtained five of those original seeds and gave them to Solowey. Fancy Sipping a Pint in a 1700-Year-Old Tree? In daily prayers, we note how the righteous (tzadik) will grow. I wrote about the date, from the point of view of the date, he goes to sleep during the siege of Masada and literally wakes up in a laboratory. Buried beneath the rubble, Yadin unearthed a small stockpile of seeds stowed in a clay jar dating back 2,000 years. Between 2011 and 2014 Ms. Solowey planted the seeds and six more have sprouted over the years. For conservation, Sallon, who moved from England to Israel, tells NoCamels. Researchers revived a 2,000-year-old palm from seeds found inside an ancient Judean jar. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place As Greek mythology goes, the universe was once a big soup of nothingness. Microsatellite genotyping of germinated seeds indicates that exchanges of genetic material occurred between the Middle East . The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old. Sarah M. Wells is the author ofThe Family Bible Devotionaland two collections of poems,Between the Heron and the MossandPruningBurning Bushes. "I assumed the food in the seed would be no good after all that time. [26] They may have shared the same wild ancestor. And we knew what there was, because it's mentioned in the Bible. Learn more here. The proud parents are date palms grown from ancient seeds uncovered in archeological excavations in Israel., Not as sweet as the Medjool date, not sticky at all, and with a pleasant honey aftertaste is how Dr. Sarah Sallon describes the taste of a date sprouted from a 2,000-year-old seed., So what do 2,000-year-old dates taste like? In Egypt and the Land of Israel, the two species come together. Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. This study, which confirms the long-term survival of date palm seeds, provides a unique opportunity to rediscover the origins of a historic date palm population that existed in Judea 2,000 years ago. A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey. [17] By November 2011 it was 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) high, having been transplanted from pot to earth. Now You Can, Thanks to These Israeli Researchers Researchers celebrate - and sample - the first fruit of palm trees germinated from ancient seeds from the Judean desert Dates tree grown by a 2,000-year-old seed retrieved from archaeological sites in the Judean Desert, in Ketura, Israel, September 2, 2020. Credit: Marcos Shonholtz Nir Hasson Hannah wassprouted from a 2,000 year-old seed, and pollinated by another Ancient Judean date tree. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist of the 1st century AD, wrote that Jericho's dates were known for their succulence and sweetness, though he distinguished a considerable variety of them and discussed several different varieties by name. The tree and its fruit caused Jericho to become a major population center and are praised in the Hebrew Bible possibly several times indirectly, such as in Psalms (Psalms 92:1215), "The righteous himself will blossom forth as a palm tree does", and date clusters (Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"SBL Hebrew","SBL BibLit","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey Frank CLM","Frank Ruehl CLM","Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}) are mentioned in the Song of Songs (Song of Songs 7:8). They became symbols of "beauty, precious shade and succulent plenty," Kershner wrote. Growing in a greenhouse for the last nine years,Judith was recently transplanted in what Kibbutz Ketura calls the Ancient Judean Date Orchard. The open hilltop, which is known as the Hill of Evil Counsel, is at the center of a battle that the neighborhood residents, including Sallon, are fighting against a construction project that they say will obliterate it. Palm trees in the ruins of Babylon. Especially now, I think that people need that. They dont read science journals, she tells NoCamels, noting that her friend, Jane Goodall, wrote the introduction to her unpublished childrens book. Those date palms of modern day Israel are modern and they were imported after the founding of the State in the 1950s. Both seeds have been dated to between the 4th and 2nd centuries B.C.E. [1] The palm, a male tree, was named Methuselah (not to be confused with a bristlecone pine tree of the same name). Plants have been produced from date palm seeds that have been buried for 2,000 years in old ruins and caves. Methuselah happens to be a male Judean date palm, so the team of scientists planted a few more seeds from the cache of ancient seeds unearthed in Herods palace excavation to see if they could propagate a bride for Methuselah. The Judean dates from the time of Christ had long been considered extinct. We need a lot of data to do research on, to work out the properties, what the nutritional value is, says Sallon, a pediatric gastroenterologist who directs the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, as to why the bulk of the date harvest was taken to research labs. But these werent ordinary dates. This opens the door to thousands of potential experiments. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. Ages in months at time of photograph (AtoC) Adam (110 months), Jonah (63 months), and Uriel (54 months). Remove the seeds from the fruit, and wash them to remove any excess fruit particles. During 19631965, excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada, Israel, revealed a cache of date palm seeds preserved in an ancient jar.