Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. The first dates to ripen came from a palm tree named Hannah, which was grown from a seed about 10 years ago. All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. Joanna completed a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) degree in Australia and published research in the field of Educational Psychology. In daily prayers, we note how the righteous (tzadik) will grow. Because several seedlings are female, it is hoped that it will be possible to pollinate one or more of the female Judean date palms with the pollen from Methuselah. 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. Methuselah is and for a long time researchers believed that this was the only Judean date palm they would ever see. . The eastern ones are all the species from Arabia and Iraq, and the western ones are from North Africa, Sallon explained. [13][15] Three of the seeds were subsequently planted at Ketura, Israel, in the Arabah in southern Israel. More than 850,000 date trees grow in Israel. We are committed to delivering quality independent Christian journalism you can trust. Get email notification for articles from Nir Hasson. Date palms generally thrive in hot arid regions and in Biblical times, were cultivated in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea region. The other date palms to have sprouted from these ancient seeds are known as Adam, Hannah, Judith, Jonah, Boaz and Uriel. Available at: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/.premium-israeli-researchers-mate-2-000-year-old-date-seeds-hope-for-fruit-1.8503447, Kalman, M. (2005) Seed of extinct date palm sprouts after 2,000 years. SFGATE. On Friday, an unusual ceremony was held on a hilltop overlooking the Old City in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood. [16] Methuselah flowered in March 2011 and is male. sarahmariewells.com, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. 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. 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. The species is widely cultivated and is naturalized in . And lo, it came to pass that out of the earth Hannah and Judith sprouted. 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 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. Five years ago. I wanted to see how medicinal the flora of Israel was and what it had been used for and so on. Hannahs DNA is reminiscent of that of ancient trees from Mesopotamia, todays Iraq, as is the modern zahidi variety, which is considered an Iraqi species. 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. 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. A date harvest from 2000-year-old seeds. Photo: Marcos Schonholz, What Do 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Judean Dates Taste Like? As a result, the tithing ceremony was held on Friday. Need prayer? 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. Read more: Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad . Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value, said Solowey. 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. Some of the fruit were tasted, and some were sent for further research. 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. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Modern day studies have shown dates benefit digestion, lower cholesterol, improve memory, increase blood production, have aphrodisiac properties, and strengthen the nervous system. They were widely used for different kinds of diseasescancers, TB [tuberculosis]all kinds of problems., Harvested dates grown on the ancient Judean date palm. 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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. Call it Canaan, the Levant or the Ancient Near East; the region has always had a troubled history of warfare and invasions. The two stories are related, she said, because people destroyed the trees and now the land. 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. [10] The plant was nicknamed "Methuselah" after the longest-lived person listed in the Bible. [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. Herod the Great was renowned for his ambitious projects and extravagant tastes. Climate change, terrible typhoons, and hurricanes. (Guy Eisner) Scientists have cultivated plants from date palm seeds that languished in ancient ruins and caves for 2,000 years. Germinated ancient Judean date seedlings. She was also interested in how plants can be used for medicine. A 15-year effort to germinate 2,000-year-old seeds from an ancient date palm is finally bearing fruit. The genome sequences of the ancient Judean date palms were compared to those of 110 contemporary Phoenix dactylifera varieties and other wild Phoenix species . NoCamels.com is the leading news website covering breakthrough innovation from Israel for a global audience. 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. 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. 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. (2015) Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds is now a Dad. Ancient Origins. I think thats why weve got such a tremendous response to bringing these dates back from extinction, she says. 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. Great piece I had no idea about such amazing botanical work going on. How Credible Are the Superstitions Surrounding the Mystical Irish Fairy Trees? 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. 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. 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. 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. Out of the changes from natural weather shifts, new life can grow again. She lives in Ashland, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon, and their four children, Lydia, Elvis, Henry, and Izzy (their Westie). Nevertheless, the taste and shape of these revived dates are consistent with the history of the dates that the two women have derived from their genetic research. One was separated out as a control. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. 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. 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. SEE ALSO: Bottoms Up: Israeli Scientists Brew Beer With Resurrected Yeast From 5,000 Years Ago. 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. 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. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. Nature has this immense power to renovate itself, to rejuvenate itself. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. Microsatellite genotyping of germinated seeds indicates that exchanges of genetic material occurred between the Middle East . Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? {amount} donation plus {fee_amount} to help cover fees. 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 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.