Sallon has a hypothesis regarding Hannahs ancestors. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. 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. Ages in months at time of photograph (AtoC) Adam (110 months), Jonah (63 months), and Uriel (54 months). 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. People are disturbed. While the scientific and agricultural communities celebrated this landmark harvest, only Sallon, Solowey, a handful of the other scientists involved in the revival project and a few kibbutz members got to sample bits of this long-lost variety of dates, last tasted back in the times of Jesus and the Maccabees. Long the only lonely representative of its kind, the Judean palm in now reproducing and giving researchers a unique glimpse back in time. It takes time for seedlings to become seed-bearing trees, but eventually, that time came. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. Most of the haul is being kept for science purposes. [16] Methuselah flowered in March 2011 and is male. Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. At the heart of the ceremony was a small package of dates. 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. During 19631965, excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada, Israel, revealed a cache of date palm seeds preserved in an ancient jar. Ancient Judean date palm trees resurrected from ancient seeds. Its a childrens story about the science and what it represents., Viva Sarah Press is a journalist and speaker. Thats why we view every news story through the lens of faith. They were then dosed with Gibberellic acid, a growth-promoting plant hormone, and enzymatic fertilizer. So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and intentional destruction. This seed, among others, was found during the excavations of Masada in the mid 1960s. [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. And then I realized that many of these species had actually disappeared. It included the Jewish Sheheheyanu prayer recited on momentous occasions, as well as the traditional offering and tithing ceremony. 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. Ancient sources have suggested that the Judean date palm tree had many unique medicinal properties no longer found in todays palm varieties. I think thats why weve got such a tremendous response to bringing these dates back from extinction, she says. 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. See how the latest updates in Jerusalem and the world are connected to the prophecies we read in the Bible. So, for the kibbutz, it's a big venture, Sallon said. Really? Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. Credit: Sarah Sallon Ruth Schuster May 6, 2021 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. These unique dates are currently being kept cool in storage. They selected 34 seeds they thought were the most viable. Thanks Jo. 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. Uriel and Jonah date back to the first to second centuries CE. 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. The seedlings would later be moved to Kibbutz Ketura. On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. [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. Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies with the tree named 'Judith. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Nature has this immense power to renovate itself, to rejuvenate itself. Israeli Scientists Found Out, Bottoms Up: Israeli Scientists Brew Beer With Resurrected Yeast From 5,000 Years Ago, Israeli DNA Study Unveils Reconstructed Face Of Mysterious, Long-Lost Human Relative. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. 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. Available at: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Seed-of-extinct-date-palm-sprouts-after-2-000-2628668.php, Sallon, S. et al. 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). By June 2008, the tree had nearly a dozen fronds and was nearly 1.4 metres (4ft 7in) tall. 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. [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. I wanted to see how medicinal the flora of Israel was and what it had been used for and so on. The researchers conducted a series of tests to verify the age of the seeds, and it was confirmed through carbon 14 dating that they were more than 2,000 years old. But these werent ordinary dates. ', 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. Scientists determined that Methuselah was of the Hayany breed originally from Egypt. The remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertilizer to encourage germination. Because they were famous. 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. Between 2011 and 2014 Ms. Solowey planted the seeds and six more have sprouted over the years. You can view our live recording of the harvesthere. 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. Methuselah, Adam, and Hannah date back to the first to fourth centuries BCE. 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. The same is true for date palms. . [22][23], As of June 2021, dates have grown from the pollination of Hannah, one of the female specimens, by Methuselah. You can use the pits from any fresh dates bought from the grocery store to grow a flourishing date palm. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. www.vivaspress.com. 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. Especially now, I think that people need that. And we knew what there was, because it's mentioned in the Bible. There are two groups of date species eastern and western. Over the past decade, they grew an ancient Judean . Out of the changes from natural weather shifts, new life can grow again. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade. The remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertilizer to encourage germination. The remaining 32 seeds were planted in a quarantined site at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. 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. Ancient Judean date palm trees resurrected from ancient seeds. This week the Arava Institute celebrated the first Judean Dates ever to be grown into fruit since the time of King Herod." Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. 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. Now you say well, but we see dates all the way along here, palm trees and all the kibbutzim are growing plants. As part of this endeavor, Dr. Solowey succeeded in germinating one of these ancient date seeds in 2005, initially thought to be botanically impossible. As a result, the tithing ceremony was held on Friday. The Judean Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is known from historical accounts for its sweet, large fruit, which even had medicinal properties. (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value, said Solowey. 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. Methuselah is and for a long time researchers believed that this was the only Judean date palm they would ever see. 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. [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]. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? Genesis 5:25-27 says that Methuselah lived 969 years! [10] The plant was nicknamed "Methuselah" after the longest-lived person listed in the Bible. 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. Female plants need male pollen to produce fruit, and all six of the new date palm trees are female, Sallon explains. Later this fall, the Arava Institute plans to offer a limited number of dates for sale at the Kibbutz Ketura guesthouse. 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. After the successful germination of the first seed, Dr. Solowey and Dr. Sallon took to replicating the experiment. And though shes just nine-years-old, she carries an ancient heritage. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there beside the water. 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). 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. Who Destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria? How could it be?" 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. ( The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ) So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. 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. Learn more here. 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. An ancient Israeli coin depicted a palm tree with two baskets of fruit beneath. But 800 years ago, crusaders destroyed the last Judean palm and rendered the plant extinct. This is the second year of harvesting fruit from this previously extinct tree, brought back to life by Dr. Elaine Solowey. 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. They are similar in taste and form to the modern day zahidi dates. 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. The Judean date disappeared entirely, and this site is also in terrible danger of destruction. In Egypt and the Land of Israel, the two species come together. 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. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. Its mentioned in the Bible as one of the seven species found in the ancient Land of Israel. Hannah wassprouted from a 2,000 year-old seed, and pollinated by another Ancient Judean date tree. Its possible that they brought the seeds with them on their return to Zion, she said. They dont read science journals, she tells NoCamels, noting that her friend, Jane Goodall, wrote the introduction to her unpublished childrens book. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. For the next four decades, the ancient seeds were kept in a drawer at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. Holy Land Uncovered on location special from Kibbutz Ketura, where 2 female scientists created a Miracle!! Thick forests of the ancient date palms towering up to 80 feet (24.38 meters) and spreading for 7 miles (11.27) covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south. 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. I clicked on the link from Facebook because I remember date palms being grown and harvested in the San Diego area in the early 60's. 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. Throughout the history of civilization, the concept of the apocalypse has been ever present, in one way or another. The two researchers pollinated the flowers from Hannah with those of Methuselah to reconstruct the taste of ancient date palms to the maximum extent possible. 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. Dubbed Methuselah it was the oldest seed ever grown attracting wide international attention. Those date palms of modern day Israel are modern and they were imported after the founding of the State in the 1950s. In biblical times, the Judean date palm was revered throughout the region for its medicinal qualities. Scientists Revive Ancient Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds, Aided by Modern Ingenuity, a Taste of Ancient Judean Dates, Scientists pick and taste ancient dates for first time since the Second Temple, Dates from time of Maccabees & Jesus are revived, bring Jewish, Arab unity, Date Seeds Unearthed From the Time of Jesus Are Revived, Adding Fruit to Jewish, Arab Unity, Scientists grow fresh dates from a 6th BCE seed, What do 2,000-year-old Ancient Judean Dates taste like? Two beautiful bathtubs Hanukkah or the Jewish Festival of Lights is celebrated in memory of the recovery of the Second Temple in Jerusalem from the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC. CBN News got its first look ten years ago when Methuselah was still in the lab. Both seeds have been dated to between the 4th and 2nd centuries B.C.E. Like Methuselah, they have all been given Biblical names. The harvested fruit is currently being analyzed for its nutritional value. 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. Dates tree grown by a 2,000-year-old seed retrieved from archaeological sites in the Judean Desert, in Ketura, Israel, September 2, 2020. On Friday, an unusual ceremony was held on a hilltop overlooking the Old City in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood. Phoenix dactylifera date or date palm is a flowering plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. 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. Photo: Marcos Schonholz, What Do 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Judean Dates Taste Like? Source: Haaretz, Holloway, A. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there existcountless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts thathave yet to be discovered and explained. 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. Luckily two of the subsequent. Available at: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/6/eaax0384, Whelan, E. (2020) Fabled Palm Trees Reborn From Ancient Seeds In Israel. Ancient Origins. By Benjitheijneb (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons Get out the cigarsMethuselah, a. 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. Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, led a team that included Elaine Solowey, and Nathalie Chabrillange. Microsatellite genotyping of germinated seeds indicates that exchanges of genetic material occurred between the Middle East . Scientists Revive Ancient Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds, Scientists successfully grew plants from 2,000- year- old seedstes Like Jesus Ate? But it takes a lot of hard work, time, and money to do what we do. 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. Buried beneath the rubble, Yadin unearthed a small stockpile of seeds stowed in a clay jar dating back 2,000 years. Growth and development of the seedling over 26 months was compatible with normal date . Two of . Why? Thank God for the faithfulness of his people though the ages - to leave these seeds, and to find and nurture one to grow. (2015) Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds is now a Dad. Ancient Origins. [13][15] Three of the seeds were subsequently planted at Ketura, Israel, in the Arabah in southern Israel. The eastern ones are all the species from Arabia and Iraq, and the western ones are from North Africa, Sallon explained. Shes the fifth such tree to be planted there after Methuselah, Adam, Jonah and Hannah. If you dont look back to the history you will not see the future. Solowey planted some three thousand of them on Kibbutz Ketura, where each tree produces around 350 pounds of dates a year. Groves of Judean dates once flourished in Israel, as described by Pliny and Josephus, and were famous across the Roman Empire. During the Byzantine and Arab periods (4th to 11th century AD) the Judean date palms were barely holding on and the continued waves of conquest and destruction meant that by the 19th century, no traces of these historic plantations remained, according to a study conducted about the trees in 2020. [17] By November 2011 it was 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) high, having been transplanted from pot to earth. Of these, six of the seeds successfully sprouted. The harvest of the much-extolled but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. Spanish conquistadors couldn't believe their eyes while exploring the rugged terrain of the Andes during their invasion of Peru. 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. 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 Until Sallon initiated a project aimed at germinating ancient seeds to reintroduce extinct plants previously grown in the region and learn about their qualities. And it is blossoming on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava region, 40 minutes north of Eilat. 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. Recently, Hannahs fruit was harvested for the first time. Plants have been produced from date palm seeds that have been buried for 2,000 years in old ruins and caves. Submitted by escamp on August 31, 2015 - 3:04pm. Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword? In addition to its honoured place in the history of Judea, the palm may contribute useful characteristics, such as environmental tolerance and disease resistance, to modern date cultivars. The findings suggest that it might be a good option for examining the lifetime of plant seeds. God is everywhereeven in the news. 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. Most people know of the great construction achievements of the dynastic Egyptians such as the pyramids and temples of the Giza Plateau area as well as the Sphinx. Why does Judaism matter and how is it connected to Christianity?