Dr. Fruit of the date palm was considered a staple food in the Judaean Desert, as it was a source of food and its tree of shelter and shade for thousands of years, and became a recognized symbol of the Kingdom of Judah. They were big; they were sweet. 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. Exodus 15:27. Home Judean Date Palm Grown From 2,000 Year Old Seed Bears Fruit. A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. Scientists in Israel grow date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds. See how the latest updates in Jerusalem and the world are connected to the prophecies we read in the Bible. [13][15] Three of the seeds were subsequently planted at Ketura, Israel, in the Arabah in southern Israel. The two stories are related, she said, because people destroyed the trees and now the land. It included the Jewish Sheheheyanu prayer recited on momentous occasions, as well as the traditional offering and tithing ceremony. But it takes a lot of hard work, time, and money to do what we do. Architecture of the Floating (Or Sinking) City: How Was Venice Built? Though it was disputed for many years, there is conclusive evidence that Neanderthals bred with modern humans (Homo sapiens). Learn more here. 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. Extensively described in antiquity, its image appeared on coins and synagogues as a symbol of the region while its fruits were famous for their taste, large size and medicinal . Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, Alleged Sighting of the Mythical Manananggal in the Philippines Causes Public Anxiety, The Green Children of Woolpit: Legendary Visitors from Another World, The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt, Caesars Savage Human Skewers Unearthed In German Fort. Microsatellite genotyping of germinated seeds indicates that exchanges of genetic material occurred between the Middle East . Were available 24/7. The same is true for date palms. God is everywhereeven in the news. Last week, when the first dates ripened, a harvest was organized. The date palms are named for Biblical figures. It played a significant role in the Judean economy for about two millenniaat the least from the fifth century B.C.E. 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1. 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. Especially now, I think that people need that. You can use the pits from any fresh dates bought from the grocery store to grow a flourishing date palm. 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. [20], As of 2012, there were tentative plans to crossbreed the male palm with what was considered its closest extant relative, the Hayani date from Egypt, to generate fruit by 2022; however, two female Judean palms have been sprouted since then. 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.. Most of the haul is being kept for science purposes. Remove the seeds from the fruit, and wash them to remove any excess fruit particles. The Israeli scientists and horticulturists are now trying to find a way to use the tissue culture and make hundreds of thousands of exact replicas of Hannah, the date-palm tree germinatedfrom a seed dating back two millennia. The plant was nicknamed "Methuselah," after the longest-lived person in the Bible. The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is an important symbol in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Methuselah represents a variety of date palm that was grown in ancient Judea but disappeared many hundreds of years ago. Dates were one of the seven species listed as special to the land of Israel, described in the bible as honey., A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; Deuteronomy 8:8. Uriel and Jonah date back to the first to second centuries CE. One was separated out as a control. Now a major discovery has come regarding these projects, from of all places, his bathtub. [26] They may have shared the same wild ancestor. The characteristics of the Judean date palm may shed light on aspects of ancient cultivation that contributed to the quality of its fruit and is thus of potential relevance to the agronomic improvement of modern dates, the authors write. 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. Long the only lonely representative of its kind, the Judean palm in now reproducing and giving researchers a unique glimpse back in time. We hope that one day these trees that came from 2,000 years ago will be the hope of peace in our region, Abu Hamed said. Recently, Hannahs fruit was harvested for the first time. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around Iraq. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. Who would have thought seeds thousands of years old would germinate?!? Specimen Pindo Palm Tree can be seen on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA. Methuselah and Hannah, which are the oldest, have more eastern DNA, while the other trees DNA is more western.. The tree and its fruit are mentioned in the Song of Songs and Psalms and featured on coins throughout the region. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. People are disturbed. They were given the names Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, Hannah, and Adam. And it is blossoming on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava region, 40 minutes north of Eilat. Researchers celebrate and sample the first fruit of palm trees germinated from ancient seeds from the Judean desert. So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. If this is indeed a specific species, the author should make that clear and name the species. References to it are made in the Bible, the Koran, and other ancient literature. 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. The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 . Photo: Marcos Schonholz, What Do 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Judean Dates Taste Like? According to the researchers, they look similar to the Medjool date, but have a sweeter, honey-like flavor. She writes and talks about the creativity and innovation taking place in Israel and beyond. Dubbed Methuselah it was the oldest seed ever grown attracting wide international attention. Its a childrens story about the science and what it represents., Viva Sarah Press is a journalist and speaker. Submitted by escamp on August 31, 2015 - 3:04pm. Get email notification for articles from Nir Hasson. They all sat in storage for over 40 years. She was soon proven wrong. The experiment seeks to rediscover the origins of the historic date palm population and confirm the date seeds long-term durability, while shedding light on ancient cultivation techniques that nurtured this unique fruit and exploring its potential relevance for modern date agronomy. 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. By June 2008, the tree had nearly a dozen fronds and was nearly 1.4 metres (4ft 7in) tall. Fancy Sipping a Pint in a 1700-Year-Old Tree? Not as sweet as the Medjooldate, 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. Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! 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. 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. Climate change, terrible typhoons, and hurricanes. Available at: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/extinct-tree-resurrected-ancient-seeds-now-dad-002838, Hassan, N. (2020) Israeli Researchers Mate 2,000-year-old Date Seeds, Hope for Fruit. Haaretz. We know from the Talmud that the Jews exiled to Babylonia [in Mesopotamia] cultivated date groves. Ms. Solowey chose Methuselah to be the father, and she moved pollen from him onto Hannahs flowers. 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An ancient Israeli coin depicted a palm tree with two baskets of fruit beneath. This remarkable feat confirms the long-term viability of the kernels once ensconced in succulent Judean dates, a fruit cultivar lost for centuries. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and intentional destruction. DF_JST1058_2000_Year_Old_Date_Palms_HD1080_0_273, Date palms from 2000-Year-Old Date Seeds. Recently, a restoration of life, in a sense, took place in the Holy Landbut with 2,000-year-old dry date seeds from the same region where the religious legends began., Mazal tov to Hannah and Methuselah on their 111 miracle babies! The fruit of the tree symbolised life and prosperity and was praised in ancient . 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. Archaeobotanical records suggest that the earliest exploitation and consumption of dates is from the Arabian Neolithic some 7000 years before the present., The plump, golden-brown dates hanging in a bunch just above the sandy soil were finally ready to pick., The answer, Im happy to say, is sweeter than you think. Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, "New Life, From an Arctic Flower That Died 32,000 Years Ago", "After 2,000 Years, These Seeds Have Finally Sprouted", "2000-Year-Old Date Pit Sprouts In Israel", "2,000-Year-Old Seed Sprouts, Sapling Is Thriving", "Extinct Judean Date Palm Grows After 1500 Years", "1.4.8 The Crusader period and Little Ice Age, 1.0 ka to 0.4 ka BP, and 1.4.9 The Moslem-Ottoman period, 0.4 ka to 0.1 ka BP", "From Extinction to Resurrection: The Judean Date Palm Tree", "Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies", "Researchers confirm age of "Methuselah" tree", "2000-Year-Old Date Pit Sprouts in Israel", "Medicinal date palm from oldest known seed planted", "Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad", "Israeli researchers grow new date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds", "The genomes of ancient date palms germinated from 2,000 y old seeds", "Scientists Resurrect Mysterious Judean Date Palms From Biblical Era", "Extinct tree from the time of Jesus rises from the dead", How King Solomon and the Romans Shaped the Judean Date Palm, "Germination, Genetics, and Growth of an Ancient Date Seed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judean_date_palm&oldid=1142182782, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2018, Articles with disputed statements from July 2018, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from December 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 23:58. 3 min read. A 15-year effort to germinate 2,000-year-old seeds from an ancient date palm is finally bearing fruit. Methuselah the Judean Date Palm is still going strong even after sprouting from a 2,000-year-old seed. 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. [22][23], As of June 2021, dates have grown from the pollination of Hannah, one of the female specimens, by Methuselah. Methuselah was grown from a seed that was discovered at the archaeological excavations at Masada, while Hannah is from a seed discovered a little further north along the Dead Sea at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Now more have been grown and genetic analysis finds a twist in the origin story of the 'Judean date' A resurrected Judean date palm tree called Adam. Those date palms of modern day Israel are modern and they were imported after the founding of the State in the 1950s. The Judean date palm is a date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) grown in Judea. Solowey has nurtured more than 100 rare or near-extinct species back to life as part of a 10-year project to study plants and herbs used as ancient cures. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. Ages in months at time of photograph (AtoC) Adam (110 months), Jonah (63 months), and Uriel (54 months). The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old. Like Methuselah, they have all been given Biblical names. Interesting Engineering reports that Recently, Hannah's fruit was harvested for the first time.. As part of this endeavor, Dr. Solowey succeeded in germinating one of these ancient date seeds in 2005, initially thought to be botanically impossible. Date Palm Sprouted from Ancient Seed Gives Fruit Like That of Bible Times In the middle of Israel's Arava Desert, a farming community is bringing trees back to life that's bearing fruit from the time of the Bible. The first of the ancient date seedlings, Methusaleh, is named for the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. During 19631965, excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada, Israel, revealed a cache of date palm seeds preserved in an ancient jar. Over the past 15 years, a project has been underway in Israels southern Arava region to revive ancient species of date palms germinated from seeds found at archaeological digs in the Judean Desert. 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. On Friday, an unusual ceremony was held on a hilltop overlooking the Old City in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. The first complete mapping of a Neanderthal genome took place about five years ago - supporting the human-Neanderthal hook-up and also showing that Neanderthal DNA in humans is a thing. The date palms are named for Biblical figures. Five years ago. Great piece I had no idea about such amazing botanical work going on. Hannah wassprouted from a 2,000 year-old seed, and pollinated by another Ancient Judean date tree. But 800 years ago, crusaders destroyed the last Judean palm and rendered the plant extinct. Judith and Boaz date back to approximately mid-second century BCE. However, despite this, extensive cultivation persisted in Jericho and Zoara, until the agrarian economy collapsed during Mamluk rule around the 14th century, which he attributes to a change in the climate. There are two groups of date species eastern and western. They dont read science journals, she tells NoCamels, noting that her friend, Jane Goodall, wrote the introduction to her unpublished childrens book. It grew around the Dead Sea in the south, to the Sea of Galilee and the Hula Valley regions in the north. 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). Available at: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Seed-of-extinct-date-palm-sprouts-after-2-000-2628668.php, Sallon, S. et al. 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. 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. 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. At the heart of the ceremony was a small package of dates. 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. By Benjitheijneb (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons Get out the cigarsMethuselah, a. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. ***Please sign up forCBN Newslettersand download theCBN News appto ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***. The first tree, Methuselah, was discovered to be male. [4], Its likeness was engraved on shekalim, the ancient Hebrew unit of currency. 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. [19] As of February 2020, Methuselah had reached 3.5 metres (11ft). To donate to Dr. Soloweys ancient dates research project, click here. It became the Jews symbol of grace and elegance and was often bestowed by them to women. For example, Davids beautiful daughter was named Tamar. Wed have to take his word for it if it werent for the hard work of two women scientists. Sponsored by the Asper Foundation and Reichman University. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. Israel365 News is the only media outlet reporting on it. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail; they will yield new fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the Temple. The seeds were held in storage for 40 years at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan.[10][11]. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Judean Date Palm symbolized ancient Judah and was mentioned in the Bible but when the nation it symbolized was conquered and sent into exile in 70 CE, cultivation of dates in the region began to decline. Growth and development of the seedling over 26 months was compatible with normal date . This week the Arava Institute celebrated the first Judean Dates ever to be grown into fruit since the time of King Herod., They were given Biblical names: Adam, Boaz, Hannah, Jonah, Judith and Uriel. . Back in the 1960s, famed Israeli archeologist Professor Yigal Yadin discovered thousands of date seeds buried under rubble during his excavations of Masada. In ancient times the Judean date palm was a staple source of food, shelter, and shade. They are drier and sweeter than the medjool date and taste like natural honey. [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. Solowey planted some three thousand of them on Kibbutz Ketura, where each tree produces around 350 pounds of dates a year. 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. [17] By November 2011 it was 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) high, having been transplanted from pot to earth. We are planting our second, female date tree, who was sprouted from an ancient seed. Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value, said Solowey. Solowey soaked the seeds in enzymatic water and fertilizer and planted them in sterile potting soil in pots in a greenhouse. [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. (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). 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. ( Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ). 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. A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey. Herod the Great was renowned for his ambitious projects and extravagant tastes. 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. ', 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. Judith and Hannah were female, but only Hannah flowered.
