On Friday, an unusual ceremony was held on a hilltop overlooking the Old City in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood. [7] However, study of contemporary sources indicates that the date industry continued in Judea throughout the Roman period and that, indeed, the Roman Imperial treasury collected a good deal of the profits. We are planting our second, female date tree, who was sprouted from an ancient seed. The first tree, Methuselah, was discovered to be male. 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. 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. 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. "I assumed the food in the seed would be no good after all that time. People are disturbed. Judith and Boaz date back to approximately mid-second century BCE. cultivation of dates in the region began to decline. Need prayer? [22][23], As of June 2021, dates have grown from the pollination of Hannah, one of the female specimens, by Methuselah. 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. 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. For more information and/or interview requests, please contact Institute Deputy Director Eliza Mayo. {amount} donation plus {fee_amount} to help cover fees. There are two groups of date species eastern and western. [10] The plant was nicknamed "Methuselah" after the longest-lived person listed in the Bible. Soak them in a bowl of cool water for 48 hours. 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. Exodus 15:27. This week the Arava Institute celebrated the first Judean Dates ever to be grown into fruit since the time of King Herod." . An ancient date seed (Phoenix dactylifera L.) excavated from Masada and radiocarbon-dated to the first century Common Era was germinated. The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old. 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. [20] The genomes of these Judean date palms germinated from ancient seeds were sequenced and analyzed. Home Judean Date Palm Grown From 2,000 Year Old Seed Bears Fruit. [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]. She has a rich and varied career, ranging from teaching Read More. She was also interested in how plants can be used for medicine. 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. 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. Antibiotics didnt help. 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. 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[5], When the Roman Empire invaded ancient Judea, thick forests of date palm up to 80 feet (24m) high and 7 miles (11km) wide covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. Thats why we view every news story through the lens of faith. CBN News got its first look ten years ago when Methuselah was still in the lab. But I will secretly plant one of the seeds from Hannah here and hope that in another 20 years, it will produce fruit.. 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 two stories are related, she said, because people destroyed the trees and now the land. until the 11th century C.E.but then it went extinct centuries ago. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and intentional destruction. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. Studies indicate. But these werent ordinary dates. The Pindo Palm Tree is cold tolerant to USDA Zone 7. In March of this year, she was pollinated using pollen from Methuselah. 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. 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. Read more: Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad . Five years ago. They nicknamed the tree Methuselah after Noahs grandfather, the oldest person who ever lived. ', 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. 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. 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). Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, Director of the Arava Institute at Kibbutz Ketura, sees this as. Seeds found in Judean desert are male and female, leading to hopes of producing dates. 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. Cultivation of dates in the region almost disappeared after the fourteenth century AD from a combination of climate change and infrastructure decay but has been revived in modern times. Date palms generally thrive in hot arid regions and in Biblical times, were cultivated in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea region. [3] Modern studies have been done in an attempt to confirm their medicinal value. France's University of Montpellier conducted genetic testing on the Judean date and found that it shares some qualities with the Iraqi Zahidi date as well as other date varieties that were once grown in ancient Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Pakistan. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. 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. said Solowey. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and intentional destruction. Modern day studies have shown dates benefit digestion, lower cholesterol, improve memory, increase blood production, have aphrodisiac properties, and strengthen the nervous system. 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. The date was so important to the region that it featured on ancient coinage, and even on Israel's 10-shekel coin today. 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. She lives in Ashland, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon, and their four children, Lydia, Elvis, Henry, and Izzy (their Westie). 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. 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 Bible is our guidebook of ancient species, Sallon told CBN News. This is something that came from the past and is still alive.. [13] She challenged her friend, Dr. Elaine Solowey from the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, with the task[14] and in 2005 Dr. Solowey managed to sprout several seeds, after slowly hydrating them in a common baby bottle warmer, then pretreating them in an ordinary solution of fertilizer and growth hormone. 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. Dr. Solowey successfully germinated one of these seeds, which sprouted into a young date palm today, Methuselah has a permanent home in the Arava Institute research park on Kibbutz Ketura. Also available on most smart TVs and streaming services. And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there beside the water. NoCamels.com is the leading news website covering breakthrough innovation from Israel for a global audience. After this process, one seed was found to be damaged and was subsequently discarded. 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. symbolized ancient Judah and was mentioned in the Bible but when the nation it symbolized was conquered and sent into exile in 70 CE. 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. SEE ALSO: Bottoms Up: Israeli Scientists Brew Beer With Resurrected Yeast From 5,000 Years Ago. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. An ancient Israeli coin depicted a palm tree with two baskets of fruit beneath. They dont read science journals, she tells NoCamels, noting that her friend, Jane Goodall, wrote the introduction to her unpublished childrens book. Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value, said Solowey. (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). The genome sequences of the ancient Judean date palms were compared to those of 110 contemporary Phoenix dactylifera varieties and other wild Phoenix species . How could it be?" Prophecy from the Bible is revealing itself as we speak. The first dates to ripen came from a palm tree named Hannah, which was grown from a seed about 10 years ago. Submitted by escamp on August 31, 2015 - 3:04pm. The remaining 32 seeds were planted in a quarantined site at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. Were theonlyPop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. 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. Judean date palms are praised in the Bible. A 15-year effort to germinate 2,000-year-old seeds from an ancient date palm is finally bearing fruit. On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. During 19631965, excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada, Israel, revealed a cache of date palm seeds preserved in an ancient jar. And then I realized that many of these species had actually disappeared. Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. Holy Land Uncovered on location special from Kibbutz Ketura, where 2 female scientists created a Miracle!! Other date seeds were found in caves near the Dead Sea. 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 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. [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. Judean Date Palm Grown From 2,000 Year Old Seed Bears Fruit. Scientists Resurrect Mysterious Judean Date Palms From Biblical Era Methuselah the tree was grown from a 2,000-year-old seed found at Masada. 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. The Judean date palm is a date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera) grown in Judea. Judith and Hannah were female, but only Hannah flowered. Sallon is hopeful that Hannah, a female date tree, will flower this year and the plant could be pollinated by Methuselah - a tree the team grew from a 1,900-year-old Judean date palm seed in 2008. Pollinated by Methuselah, Hannah had around 100 dates last year and this year she had more than 600 dates. Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. Collect date seeds. And though shes just nine-years-old, she carries an ancient heritage. Over the past decade, they grew an ancient Judean . Long the only lonely representative of its kind, the Judean palm in now reproducing and giving researchers a unique glimpse back in time. The remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertilizer to encourage germination. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1. Spanish conquistadors couldn't believe their eyes while exploring the rugged terrain of the Andes during their invasion of Peru. 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 part that does is home to hundreds of millions of people, from the Atlantic coast of Morocco across North Africa and Egypt to Mesopotamia and east to India., TEL972-8-6356618FAX972-8-6356634EMAILinfo@arava.org, 1320 Centre Street, Suite 206Newton Centre, MA 02459, USATEL1-617-266-7100EMAILinfo@friendsofarava.org, Their names are Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, and Hannah, and their ages are well, actually, this ones a bit complicated., Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Energy Security: The Role of Renewable Energy Sources, Practical Challenges of Photovoltaic Systems in the Rural Bedouin Villages in the Negev, Center for Transboundary Water Management, Evidence-based wastewater monitoring and policy for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, Decentralized Wastewater Management and Governance, Long Term Ecological Monitoring (LTER) in Wadi Shita, Offshore Zionism: Israel-Africa and Green Development, Jordan-Israel Center for Community, Environment & Research, Research in Political Ecology in the Middle East, The Last Straw: Conservation, Control, and the Eco-Political Life of Camels in the Negev Highlands, Sense of Place in an Era of Metabolic Rift, Daniel Fischel & Sylvia Neil Research & Visitors Park, Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies, The Albert B. Glickman Peace-building Leadership Seminar, Daniel Fischel & Sylvia Neil Outdoor Research & Visitors Park, Arava Alumni Peace & Environmental Network, Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy, Applied Environmental Diplomacy: Pathways to Sustainability in the Jordan River Basin, Annual Cross-Border Environmental Cooperation Conference, Annual Reports, Financial Statements & Publications, After 2,000 Years, These Seeds Have Finally Sprouted, Scientists in Israel grow date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds, Dates Like Jesus Ate? reported that Methuselah was over ten-feet tall and had been used to pollinate a wild modern female date palm. Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. 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. 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. Credit: Sarah Sallon Ruth Schuster May 6, 2021 Its possible that they brought the seeds with them on their return to Zion, she said. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The seeds were germinated by warming and hydrating them slowly and gradually. 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). Ms. Solowey chose Methuselah to be the father, and she moved pollen from him onto Hannahs flowers. Those date palms of modern day Israel are modern and they were imported after the founding of the State in the 1950s. She was soon proven wrong. How Credible Are the Superstitions Surrounding the Mystical Irish Fairy Trees? The Iliad can provide new insights on the role of motherhood among the ancient Greek gods, and by extension, amongst ancient mortal Greek women themselves. Call us at 1 315 4971058. The dates flavor is similar to medjool, semi-dry with honey tones. Scientists in Israel grow date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds. And Solowey and Salone are hoping eventually to add the revived Judean dates to the harvest. 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). Call it Canaan, the Levant or the Ancient Near East; the region has always had a troubled history of warfare and invasions. [citation needed] The tree so defined the local economy that the Roman emperor Vespasian celebrated the reconquest after the First Jewish Revolt (6670 AD) by minting Judaea Capta coinage, a series of coins sometimes depicting Judaea as a mourning woman beneath a date palm. The first of the ancient date seedlings, Methusaleh, is named for the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. Get email notification for articles from Nir Hasson. The harvested fruit is currently being analyzed for its nutritional value. 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. 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. [13][15] Three of the seeds were subsequently planted at Ketura, Israel, in the Arabah in southern Israel. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. Specimen Pindo Palm Tree can be seen on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA. 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. 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. Now you say well, but we see dates all the way along here, palm trees and all the kibbutzim are growing plants. The Judean dates from the time of Christ had long been considered extinct. Later this fall, the Arava Institute plans to offer a limited number of dates for sale at the Kibbutz Ketura guesthouse. 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.