After 2,000 years, the formerly extinct Judean date palm was brought back to life by two women scientists in 2005. After devising a method to sprout them, Solowey succeeded in sprouting seeds found in other places such as the Qumran caves in the area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Researchers revived a 2,000-year-old palm from seeds found inside an ancient Judean jar. Throughout the history of civilization, the concept of the apocalypse has been ever present, in one way or another. In ancient times, date palms were used for their supposed medicinal properties to cure many diseases and infections, promoting longevity and acting as a mild aphrodisiac. Sign up to our free daily newsletter today to get all the most important stories directly to your inbox. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. ( Marcos Schonholz ). Dr. Solowey - and that at least one is a female! (Guy Eisner) Scientists have cultivated plants from date palm seeds that languished in ancient ruins and caves for 2,000 years. Both Adam and Jonah have produced flowers. But these werent ordinary dates. The Pindo Palm Tree is cold tolerant to USDA Zone 7. The remaining 32 seeds were planted in a quarantined site at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. The other date palms to have sprouted from these ancient seeds are known as Adam, Hannah, Judith, Jonah, Boaz and Uriel. 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. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. Mudlarker Finds Bronze Age Shoe on a UK Riverbank Dated 2,800 Years Old! Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. Make sure to buy dates that haven't been pitted. Available at: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/6/eaax0384, Whelan, E. (2020) Fabled Palm Trees Reborn From Ancient Seeds In Israel. Ancient Origins. A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey. I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds, about Herod the Greats Alabaster Bathtubs, about Seleucid Sling Stone Sheds New Light on Jewish Hannukah Story, about Rogue Priest Second Temple Silver Coin Found By Girl in Jerusalem, about Evidence of Hannukah Story Found in Razed Hellenistic Fortress, about New Study Reveals How Legendary Assyrian Siege Ramp Overcame Lachish, about Mesopotamian Superpowers Laying Waste To The Ancient Near East, For Sale In Britain: A Small Ancient Man With A Colossal Penis, Sacred Marvels: 17 Cathedrals That Will Take Your Breath Away, In Pictures, Egyptologists Reveal a Lost Chamber in the Great Pyramid With Cosmic Rays, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Unleashing the End of the World. So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. About 100 ripe, tasty dates were cut from Hannah. Photo: Marcos Schonholz, What Do 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Judean Dates Taste Like? Its mentioned in the Bible as one of the seven species found in the ancient Land of Israel. Phoenix dactylifera and over 1000 other quality seeds for sale. The first of the ancient date seedlings, Methusaleh, is named for the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. Of these, six of the seeds successfully sprouted. 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. Israel365 News is the only media outlet reporting on it. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and intentional destruction. They were widely used for different kinds of diseasescancers, TB [tuberculosis]all kinds of problems., Harvested dates grown on the ancient Judean date palm. 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. Now you say well, but we see dates all the way along here, palm trees and all the kibbutzim are growing plants. Yes, the New York Times justbroke the storyof the children of Methuselah and Hannah, biblical date trees (that didnt meet on JDate) with some impressive history and something to teach at this perilous time as a lead up to the Jewish New Year., Just 30 miles north of the Red Sea, in the Negev Desert, scientists from the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies travelled back in time two millennia, becoming the first people to pick and sample dates from trees with roots stretching back to the days of Jesus and the Maccabees., Dr. In ancient times, the classical writers described in detail, the dates of ancient Judea. Very much like the lyrics of the famous She may be ancient Egypts most famous face, but the quest to find the eternal resting place of Queen Nefertiti has never been hotter. A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. According to the researchers, they look similar to the Medjool date, but have a sweeter, honey-like flavor. Israeli scientists found out, The Resurrection of 2000-Year-Old Ancient Date Seeds: New Fruit Sprouts from Bible Times Source. And here we are actually planting history at the Arava Institute. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade. The date palms are named for Biblical figures. In the paper published by Science Advances, the scientists say the genetic relationships between the ancient date and current varieties show Methuselah and Adam close to eastern modern varieties Fardh4 and Khalass, respectively, assigned to current Arabian Gulf varieties; Hannah and Judith related to modern Iraqi varieties Khastawi and Khyara, respectively; and Uriel, Boaz, and Jonah, the most western genotypes, related to modern Moroccan varieties, Mahalbit, Jihel, and Medjool, respectively.. Sallon says the dates seem to offer hope in todays world of uncertainty. Nature has this immense power to renovate itself, to rejuvenate itself. 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. The seeds were held in storage for 40 years at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan.[10][11]. You can help bring hope today! Younger Methuselah. Judith and Boaz date back to approximately mid-second century BCE. Benjitheijneb/CC BY SA 3.0 (Creative Commons ) A tree grown from a 2,000-year-old seed may bring its sub-species back to Israel, where it once flourished, after a . But I will secretly plant one of the seeds from Hannah here and hope that in another 20 years, it will produce fruit.. A team led by Sarah Sallon, which planted these six trees, first tried in 2005 to germinate a 2,000-year-old seed from the . For the next four decades, the ancient seeds were kept in a drawer at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. Date palms generally thrive in hot arid regions and in Biblical times, were cultivated in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea region. Judean date palms were wiped . Judean date palms are praised in the Bible. In March of this year, she was pollinated using pollen from Methuselah. [8] Asaph Goor, in his 21-page article History of the Date through the Ages in the Holy Land, never mentions any such Roman devastation of the date palms, but rather cites numerous contemporary accounts attesting to the continuing extent of date cultivation through the Roman period. Germinated ancient Judean date seedlings. Uriel and Jonah date back to the first to second centuries CE. Thanks Jo. They were then dosed with Gibberellic acid, a growth-promoting plant hormone, and enzymatic fertilizer. reported that Methuselah was over ten-feet tall and had been used to pollinate a wild modern female date palm. The Bible is our guidebook of ancient species, Sallon told CBN News. Plants have been produced from date palm seeds that have been buried for 2,000 years in old ruins and caves. One was separated out as a control. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. her team just so happens to have one other Judean date palm on hand in . In February of this year, the latest scientific paper published about the germination of these seeds inScience Advances,revived new interest in these dates, says Sallon. The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 years but hundreds of seeds of. Dubbed Methuselah it was the oldest seed ever grown attracting wide international attention. Germination of 2000-year-old seeds of Phoenix dactylifera from Judean desert archaeological sites provides a unique opportunity to study the Judean date palm, described in antiquity for the quality, size, and medicinal properties of its fruit, but lost for centuries. Thank God for the faithfulness of his people though the ages - to leave these seeds, and to find and nurture one to grow. They selected 34 seeds they thought were the most viable. Genesis 5:25-27 says that Methuselah lived 969 years! During Yigal Yadins excavations of Masada in the mid 1960s, ancient date seeds were discovered beneath rubble at the Northern Palace approach. For conservation, Sallon, who moved from England to Israel, tells NoCamels. 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). The date palm is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world and is highly symbolic in parts of the Middle East, as well as the Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths. Available at: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Seed-of-extinct-date-palm-sprouts-after-2-000-2628668.php, Sallon, S. et al. The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, Film Footage Provides Intimate View of HMS Gloucester Shipwreck, Top 8 Legendary Parties - Iconic Celebrations in Ancient History, The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth Behind the Black Legend (Part II), The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth behind the Dark Legend (Part I), Bloodthirsty Buddhists: The Sohei Warrior Monks of Feudal Japan, Dizzying Inca Rope Bridges Were Grass-Made Marvels of Engineering, Two Centuries Of Naval Espionage In Europe, Research Confirms That 20% of the Neanderthal Genome Can Be Found In Modern Humans, The Curious Apparitions of Pagan Goddesses to the German Knights Templar, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend Part I, The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts, Evidence that Noahs Ark Landed on a Mountain 17 Miles South of Ararat, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. 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. In ancient times the Judean date palm was a staple source of food, shelter, and shade. The first dates to ripen came from a palm tree named Hannah, which was grown from a seed about 10 years ago. The palm tree can appear on the coin either in combination with the mourning woman, or without her. Ms. Solowey chose Methuselah to be the father, and she moved pollen from him onto Hannahs flowers. It played a significant role in the Judean economy for about two millenniaat the least from the fifth century B.C.E. This extraordinary achievement demonstrates the kernels' long-term vitality after being nestled in succulent Judean dates, a fruit variety that has been lost for millennia. Scientists Grew Palm Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds Judean dates were once renowned for their size and flavor Brigit Katz Correspondent February 7, 2020 These palms are a modern variety. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? And then I realized that many of these species had actually disappeared. SEE ALSO: Bottoms Up: Israeli Scientists Brew Beer With Resurrected Yeast From 5,000 Years Ago. 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 And though shes just nine-years-old, she carries an ancient heritage., Its possible to divide the world in two: the part that venerates the humble-seeming fruit known as the date, and the part that does not. BEST OF 2021: Forests of Judean date palm trees once covered ancient Israel, from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea. You Can at The Baobab Tree Bar, The Power of the Flying Rowan Tree, Woe of the Witches, https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/extinct-tree-resurrected-ancient-seeds-now-dad-002838, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/.premium-israeli-researchers-mate-2-000-year-old-date-seeds-hope-for-fruit-1.8503447, https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Seed-of-extinct-date-palm-sprouts-after-2-000-2628668.php, https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/6/eaax0384, https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/palm-tree-0013259, Seleucid Sling Stone Sheds New Light on Jewish Hannukah Story, Rogue Priest Second Temple Silver Coin Found By Girl in Jerusalem, Evidence of Hannukah Story Found in Razed Hellenistic Fortress, New Study Reveals How Legendary Assyrian Siege Ramp Overcame Lachish, Mesopotamian Superpowers Laying Waste To The Ancient Near East. More than 850,000 date trees grow in Israel. The harvest of the much-extolled but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. Antibiotics didnt help. [6] Andrea Moresino-Zipper contests that in the former case, it is the woman who symbolises the defeated Judaea and the towering, dominating palm stands for victorious Rome, while in the latter case the palm tree does represent Judaea.[6]. Remove the seeds from the fruit, and wash them to remove any excess fruit particles. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. In Egypt and the Land of Israel, the two species come together. I wanted to see how medicinal the flora of Israel was and what it had been used for and so on. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. Ancient Judean date palm trees resurrected from ancient seeds. Dr. Sarah Sallon, the director of the Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah University Hospital, and Dr. Elaine Solowey, who runs the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura, have so far successfully managed to germinate seven seeds, among dozens that they have attempted to revive. She has a rich and varied career, ranging from teaching Read More. 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. Read more: Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad . They became symbols of "beauty, precious shade and succulent plenty," Kershner wrote. Now that the Judean date palm has been brought back to life and its fruit has even been harvested, researchers finally have the opportunity to study if the ancient medicinal claims are true. Its possible that they brought the seeds with them on their return to Zion, she said. They called him Methuselah after the oldest person in the Bible. 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. I too wonder if this is a specific species as date palms have been cultivated forever. (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). 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. Joanna completed a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) degree in Australia and published research in the field of Educational Psychology. In Scripture, Hannah prayed and prayed for a child, promising that if God would answer that prayer, she would dedicate her child to a life of serving the Lord. 1. After all, date palms are praised in the Bible - as well as in Islam, Greek and Roman civilizations as symbols of beauty, fertility, peace, and victory. Were available 24/7. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1. And though shes just nine-years-old, she carries an ancient heritage. Years ago at Masada, archaeologists found a jar of those ancient date seeds. Scientists determined that Methuselah was of the Hayany breed originally from Egypt. It included the Jewish Sheheheyanu prayer recited on momentous occasions, as well as the traditional offering and tithing ceremony. ( The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ) So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. The genome sequences of the ancient Judean date palms were compared to those of 110 contemporary Phoenix dactylifera varieties and other wild Phoenix species . Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. In early 2019, three of the six trees named by Dr. Solowey Adam, Jonah and Hannah were moved out of their greenhouse home to be planted outdoors at the Arava Institutes Daniel Fischel & Sylvia Neil Research & Visitors Park. Long the only lonely representative of its kind, the Judean palm in now reproducing and giving researchers a unique glimpse back in time. And lo, it came to pass that out of the earth Hannah and Judith sprouted. Because they were famous. The seedlings would later be moved to Kibbutz Ketura. This remarkable feat confirms the long-term viability of the kernels once ensconced in succulent Judean dates, a fruit cultivar lost for centuries. A handful of date seeds from fruit that ripened around the time of Jesus have been successfully planted and grown in southernIsrael, researchers have revealed., The worlds most remarkable date palm trees might not exist if Sarah Sallon hadnt gotten sick while working as a doctor in India in 1986. Dates tree grown by a 2,000-year-old seed retrieved from archaeological sites in the Judean Desert, in Ketura, Israel, September 2, 2020. Hannah grew for six years, then flowered. Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings. Home Judean Date Palm Grown From 2,000 Year Old Seed Bears Fruit. 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. Masada was the last stand of a small band of Jewish rebels who held out against three Roman legions for several years before committing mass suicide in 73 AD. The ancient fruit made tonics for longevity, laxatives, and aphrodisiacs; lore claims they could cure infections. The Judean date palm was once common in ancient Judea. They selected 34 seeds they thought were the most viable. Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. Ages in months at time of photograph (AtoC) Adam (110 months), Jonah (63 months), and Uriel (54 months). A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1. www.vivaspress.com. They nicknamed the tree Methuselah after Noahs grandfather, the oldest person who ever lived. 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. ( Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ). No. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Microsatellite genotyping of germinated seeds indicates that exchanges of genetic material occurred between the Middle East . On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. Interesting Engineering reports that Recently, Hannah's fruit was harvested for the first time.. Growing in a greenhouse for the last nine years,Judith was recently transplanted in what Kibbutz Ketura calls the Ancient Judean Date Orchard. The tree and its fruit are mentioned in the Song of Songs and Psalms and featured on coins throughout the region. 3 min read. She was also interested in how plants can be used for medicine. Who would have thought seeds thousands of years old would germinate?!? After all, it took 15 years of patience, hope, anticipation, and ground-breaking agriculture techniques to make the seemingly botanically impossible feat possible. Between 2011 and 2014 Ms. Solowey planted the seeds and six more have sprouted over the years. Fancy Sipping a Pint in a 1700-Year-Old Tree? For more information and/or interview requests, please contact Institute Deputy Director Eliza Mayo. We're talking about the resurrection of 2000-year-old plus ancient date seeds that come from the Judean Desert and from Masada and which are part of a scientific experiment, said Sarah Sallon, Director and Founder of The Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem. Children today are the stewards of this planet. 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. Get email notification for articles from Nir Hasson. Some of the fruit were tasted, and some were sent for further research. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. 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. Out of the changes from natural weather shifts, new life can grow again. But then, in 2005, botanical researcher Elaine Solowey decided to plant one and see what, if anything, would sprout. Researchers hold a date tree grown by a 2,000-year-old seed retrieved from archaeological sites in the Judean Desert, in Ketura, Israel, September 2, 2020. Call us at 1 315 4971058. {amount} donation plus {fee_amount} to help cover fees. 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. until the 11th century C.E.but then it went extinct centuries ago. Spanish conquistadors couldn't believe their eyes while exploring the rugged terrain of the Andes during their invasion of Peru. [26] They may have shared the same wild ancestor. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.. Sallon has a hypothesis regarding Hannahs ancestors. Five years ago, National Geographic reported that Methuselah was over ten-feet tall and had been used to pollinate a wild modern female date palm. Phoenix dactylifera date or date palm is a flowering plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. The remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertilizer to encourage germination. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade. Stay informed with the latest from CBN News delivered to your inbox. CBN Partners provide hope to those who are suffering! The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 . Sarah M. Wells is the author ofThe Family Bible Devotionaland two collections of poems,Between the Heron and the MossandPruningBurning Bushes. 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? While waiting for the results of cross-pollination with the Egyptian 'date' ;-) I pray that more seeds be given to the researcher (and proud mama!) In this age of global warming and species loss, I thought its important to try and bring back to life these ancient varieties. Who Destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria? ***Please sign up forCBN Newslettersand download theCBN News appto ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***. Wed have to take his word for it if it werent for the hard work of two women scientists. The fruits from these seven species were the only acceptable plant offerings in the Temple and their first fruits were brought to be eaten in Jerusalem.