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. These unique dates are currently being kept cool in storage. . The seven ancient Judean date palm accessions originate from the germination of date palm seeds collected during archaeological excavations of three sites in the Judean desert (21, 22). This week the Arava Institute celebrated the first Judean Dates ever to be grown into fruit since the time of King Herod." In daily prayers, we note how the righteous (tzadik) will grow. All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. If this is indeed a specific species, the author should make that clear and name the species. 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. In the mid-1900s, archaeologists discovered date palm seeds stored in an ancient jar in the ruins of the palace of Herod the Great in Masada, Israel. In June of 2020, Hannah became the first Judean date palm tree, resurrected from the dust of ancient seeds, to bear fruit. But then, in 2005, botanical researcher Elaine Solowey decided to plant one and see what, if anything, would sprout. CBN Partners provide hope to those who are suffering! 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. Children today are the stewards of this planet. One was separated out as a control. 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. Elaine Solowey, Desert Plant Pioneer, successfully grew an extinct Judean Date Palm tree from a 2000 year old seed. When compared with three other cultivars of date palm, genetic tests showed the plant to be closely related to the old Egyptian variety Hayani, 19% of its DNA[clarification needed] being different, and an Iraqi cultivar (16% different DNA). Buried beneath the rubble, Yadin unearthed a small stockpile of seeds stowed in a clay jar dating back 2,000 years. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. Actually, this one came from Qumran -- was found in the caves -- and much to our astonishment, she also sprouted, said Elaine Solowey, the botanist who coaxed the seeds to grow. She writes and talks about the creativity and innovation taking place in Israel and beyond. The date palm was even used as a symbol for Israel. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. Years ago at Masada, archaeologists found a jar of those ancient date seeds. 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. Specimen Pindo Palm Tree can be seen on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA. As part of this endeavor, Dr. Solowey succeeded in germinating one of these ancient date seeds in 2005, initially thought to be botanically impossible. You can view our live recording of the harvesthere. The findings suggest that it might be a good option for examining the lifetime of plant seeds. Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. Growing in a greenhouse for the last nine years,Judith was recently transplanted in what Kibbutz Ketura calls the Ancient Judean Date Orchard. So, in 2005, Sallon turned to Solowey, an expert on arid agriculture, for help. Herod the Great was renowned for his ambitious projects and extravagant tastes. After this process, one seed was found to be damaged and was subsequently discarded. 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. Government Bouncers on Your Church's Front Door? By June 2008, the tree had nearly a dozen fronds and was nearly 1.4 metres (4ft 7in) tall. Interesting Engineering reports that Recently, Hannah's fruit was harvested for the first time.. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade. Scientists in Israel grow date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds. 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. [9] A 1974 study blames the 15th-century disappearance of date palms from the Jericho-Ein Gedi region on human activity, but Goor raises the possibility that the climate change led to the springs in the area delivering less water, which harmed the water-intensive cultivation of date palms.[9]. Judith and Boaz date back to approximately mid-second century BCE. Dubbed Methuselah it was the oldest seed ever grown attracting wide international attention. The species is widely cultivated and is naturalized in . Many books and videos show depictions of vast work forces hewing blocks of stone in the hot desert sun and carefully setting them into place. 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. Uriel and Jonah date back to the first to second centuries CE. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1. [16] Methuselah flowered in March 2011 and is male. According to historical sources, the taste of them was something splendid. Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value, said Solowey. 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. Especially now, I think that people need that. For the next four decades, the ancient seeds were kept in a drawer at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. There are other types of dates in the world, but according to Pliny the Elder (writing in the first century AD), none were as succulent or as sweet as the Judean date palm. The date palms are named for Biblical figures. 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. 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. 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. I wanted to see how medicinal the flora of Israel was and what it had been used for and so on. 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. Dr. Solowey - and that at least one is a female! CBN News got its first look ten years ago when Methuselah was still in the lab. ', 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. In this age of global warming and species loss, I thought its important to try and bring back to life these ancient varieties. After the successful germination of the first seed, Dr. Solowey and Dr. Sallon took to replicating the experiment. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? The Bible is our guidebook of ancient species, Sallon told CBN News. 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. 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. Its mentioned in the Bible as one of the seven species found in the ancient Land of Israel. After all, it took 15 years of patience, hope, anticipation, and ground-breaking agriculture techniques to make the seemingly botanically impossible feat possible. More than 850,000 date trees grow in Israel. And here we are actually planting history at the Arava Institute. 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. Two of . Methuselah the Judean Date Palm is still going strong even after sprouting from a 2,000-year-old seed. As of February 2020, Adam was 1.5 meters high (1.6 yards). (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). cultivation of dates in the region began to decline. Hannah was the first female tree. 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. In 2005, Dr. Sarah Sallon challenged her friend and fellow scientist, Dr. Elaine Solowey from the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, to see if they could get any of the date palm seeds to grow. Dr. Sarah Sallon came up with the initiative to germinate some ancient seeds[12] and persuaded the archaeological storage at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to share some. Who would have thought seeds thousands of years old would germinate?!? Sponsored by the Asper Foundation and Reichman University. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. Luckily two of the subsequent. All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. After being kept in storage for over 40 years, a project initiated by Dr. Sallon, aimed to germinate ancient seeds found on archaeological sites in an effort to reintroduce extinct plants previously grown in the region. 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). 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. Other date seeds were found in caves near the Dead Sea. 3 min read. Sarah M. Wells is the author ofThe Family Bible Devotionaland two collections of poems,Between the Heron and the MossandPruningBurning Bushes. 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. Sallon has a hypothesis regarding Hannahs ancestors. 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. Shes the fifth such tree to be planted there after Methuselah, Adam, Jonah and Hannah. 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). According to the researchers, they look similar to the Medjool date, but have a sweeter, honey-like flavor. Read more: Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad . The remaining 32 seeds were planted in a quarantined site at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. According to Jewish tradition, the Children of Israel came out of Egypt with date palm saplings that were eventually planted in the land of Israel. Why does Judaism matter and how is it connected to Christianity? trees were revealed by DNA testing as females, and one of them, Hannah, has borne one bunch with 111 dates, which were harvested in early September. ( Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ). The experiment worked. Methuselah was chosen to father the fruit and pollen from his plant was placed onto Hannah's flowers. Fifteen years ago, the first tree Solowey sprouted was a male. On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. sarahmariewells.com, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. They nicknamed the tree Methuselah after Noahs grandfather, the oldest person who ever lived. 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. Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. And lo, it came to pass that out of the earth Hannah and Judith sprouted. In March of this year, she was pollinated using pollen from Methuselah. Younger Methuselah. Soak them in a bowl of cool water for 48 hours. until the 11th century C.E.but then it went extinct centuries ago. After 2,000 years, the formerly extinct Judean date palm was brought back to life by two women scientists in 2005. The harvest of the much-extolled but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. Pollinated by Methuselah, Hannah had around 100 dates last year and this year she had more than 600 dates. And Solowey and Salone are hoping eventually to add the revived Judean dates to the harvest. And then I realized that many of these species had actually disappeared. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. They dont read science journals, she tells NoCamels, noting that her friend, Jane Goodall, wrote the introduction to her unpublished childrens book. She lives in Ashland, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon, and their four children, Lydia, Elvis, Henry, and Izzy (their Westie). Last week, when the first dates ripened, a harvest was organized. The seeds were held in storage for 40 years at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan.[10][11]. Sallon says the dates seem to offer hope in todays world of uncertainty. Until Sallon initiated a project aimed at germinating ancient seeds to reintroduce extinct plants previously grown in the region and learn about their qualities. This opens the door to thousands of potential experiments. We are committed to delivering quality independent Christian journalism you can trust. Eventually, Hannah produced 111 dates weighing between 15 and 18 grams each. Date Palm Sprouted from Ancient Seed Gives Fruit Like That of Bible Times, Jerusalem Dateline: 8/4/17 How the Dead Sea Is Giving Life, Revival Goes Nationwide, Hits Theaters After 'Jesus Revolution' Film as Well as ORU, Portland, Ohio State, Teen Witch Collapses on Church Doorstep, Finds Freedom from 'Torment' After Deal with the Devil, 'Great Peace in Jesus': Kelsey Grammer Gets Real About His Faith Journey with Jesus. How Credible Are the Superstitions Surrounding the Mystical Irish Fairy Trees? 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. Germinated ancient Judean date seedlings. The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old. See how the latest updates in Jerusalem and the world are connected to the prophecies we read in the Bible. Those date palms of modern day Israel are modern and they were imported after the founding of the State in the 1950s. [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. Researchers revived a 2,000-year-old palm from seeds found inside an ancient Judean jar. As the researchers hoped would be the case with their revived date palms, plants irrigated from the Jerusalem waters would be uniquely vibrant and grant special medicinal qualities. 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. But all was not lost, because in 1963, the late archeologist Yigael Yadin began excavating Masada, a mountaintop fortress built over 2,000 years ago on the shore of the Dead Sea, where King Herod built a spectacular palace. For more information and/or interview requests, please contact Institute Deputy Director Eliza Mayo. How could it be?" AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. 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. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? Sallons near future plans include learning more about the new-old dates, how to reintroduce the Judean date to the market, and continue to research the medicinal properties of these dates. Antibiotics didnt help. www.vivaspress.com. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. Studies indicate. In coming years, the team hopes to increase the size of the grove (and the yield) so that more people can give them a try., 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. And we knew what there was, because it's mentioned in the Bible. SEE ALSO: Israeli DNA Study Unveils Reconstructed Face Of Mysterious, Long-Lost Human Relative. YWAM Founder Loren Cunningham Diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer.