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. Sign up to our free daily newsletter today to get all the most important stories directly to your inbox. And we knew what there was, because it's mentioned in the Bible. (DtoF) Boaz (54 months), Judith (47 months), and Hannah (88 months). 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. 32 additional intact seeds were chosen, out of which 6 sprouted. 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. But I will secretly plant one of the seeds from Hannah here and hope that in another 20 years, it will produce fruit.. 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. Recently, Hannahs fruit was harvested for the first time. 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. The seeds of Judean date palms turn out to have remarkable longevity. Fifteen years ago, the first tree Solowey sprouted was a male. This study, which confirms the long-term survival of date palm seeds, provides a unique opportunity to rediscover the origins of a historic date palm population that existed in Judea 2,000 years ago. You can help bring hope today! A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. 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. Shes the fifth such tree to be planted there after Methuselah, Adam, Jonah and Hannah. Dates tree grown by a 2,000-year-old seed retrieved from archaeological sites in the Judean Desert, in Ketura, Israel, September 2, 2020. 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. Nature has this immense power to renovate itself, to rejuvenate itself. 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. A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. 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. 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. Date palms generally thrive in hot arid regions and in Biblical times, were cultivated in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea region. 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. 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. 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. Submitted by escamp on August 31, 2015 - 3:04pm. 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. The Pindo Palm Tree is cold tolerant to USDA Zone 7. "I assumed the food in the seed would be no good after all that time. Available at: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/6/eaax0384, Whelan, E. (2020) Fabled Palm Trees Reborn From Ancient Seeds In Israel. Ancient Origins. In 2005, a team of scientists sprouted a preserved 2,000-year-old seed, the oldest seed germinated with human-assistance (with the claim in 2012 of a 32,000-year-old arctic flower involving fruit tissue rather than a seed). Ancient Judean date palm trees resurrected from ancient seeds. They were widely used for different kinds of diseasescancers, TB [tuberculosis]all kinds of problems., Harvested dates grown on the ancient Judean date palm. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. The Judean date palm is a date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) grown in Judea. Also available on most smart TVs and streaming services. The Judean date palm was once common in ancient Judea. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. (2015) Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds is now a Dad. Ancient Origins. It takes time for seedlings to become seed-bearing trees, but eventually, that time came. Call (800) 700-7000 or request prayer. The remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertilizer to encourage germination. Of these, six of the seeds successfully sprouted. Children today are the stewards of this planet. In 2011, the plant produced its first flowers and today, the living archaeological treasure continues to grow and thrive. [17][20] By 2015 Methuselah had produced pollen that has been used successfully to pollinate female date palms. 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. That allowed them to be exported all over the Roman empire and they had medicinal qualities, Sallon said. Hundreds of seeds were collected between 1963 and 1991. Years ago at Masada, archaeologists found a jar of those ancient date seeds. [3] Modern studies have been done in an attempt to confirm their medicinal value. Credit: Sarah Sallon Ruth Schuster May 6, 2021 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. So, for the kibbutz, it's a big venture, Sallon said. 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. I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds, about Herod the Greats Alabaster Bathtubs, about Seleucid Sling Stone Sheds New Light on Jewish Hannukah Story, about Rogue Priest Second Temple Silver Coin Found By Girl in Jerusalem, about Evidence of Hannukah Story Found in Razed Hellenistic Fortress, about New Study Reveals How Legendary Assyrian Siege Ramp Overcame Lachish, about Mesopotamian Superpowers Laying Waste To The Ancient Near East, For Sale In Britain: A Small Ancient Man With A Colossal Penis, Sacred Marvels: 17 Cathedrals That Will Take Your Breath Away, In Pictures, Egyptologists Reveal a Lost Chamber in the Great Pyramid With Cosmic Rays, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Unleashing the End of the World. To read about Dr. Soloweys work to protect other endangered plant species click here. Some of the fruit were tasted, and some were sent for further research. The date palms are named for Biblical figures. These plants are called Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, and Hannah. After this process, one seed was found to be damaged and was subsequently discarded. The tree so defined the local economy that it became a prime resource for the invading Roman army to destroy. This has been reissued in recently years as a 10 shekel coin. Sallon, a medical doctor, started this project more than 15 years ago after becoming interested in natural medicine. (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). 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. To read the full paper on Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies by Sarah Sallon et al., please refer to Science Advances. 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. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? Judith and Hannah were female, but only Hannah flowered. [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]. This is the second year of harvesting fruit from this previously extinct tree, brought back to life by Dr. Elaine 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. 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. This remarkable feat confirms the long-term viability of the kernels once ensconced in succulent Judean dates, a fruit cultivar lost for centuries. In biblical times, the Judean date palm was revered throughout the region for its medicinal qualities. However, its value was also the source of its demise and eventual extinction. 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. [19] As of February 2020, Methuselah had reached 3.5 metres (11ft). She was planted in 2019. Specimen Pindo Palm Tree can be seen on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA. {amount} donation plus {fee_amount} to help cover fees. The Judean dates from the time of Christ had long been considered extinct. 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. A previous experiment with the seeds produced a single male plant that sprouted in 2005 which the researchers named Methuselah. They are similar in taste and form to the modern day zahidi dates. The tree itself was a source of shelter, its fruit . They are drier and sweeter than the medjool date and taste like natural honey. Read more: Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad . A date harvest from 2000-year-old seeds. Wed have to take his word for it if it werent for the hard work of two women scientists. 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. After devising a method to sprout them, Solowey succeeded in sprouting seeds found in other places such as the Qumran caves in the area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. On Friday, an unusual ceremony was held on a hilltop overlooking the Old City in Jerusalems Abu Tor neighborhood. The seedlings would later be moved to Kibbutz Ketura. 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. Throughout the history of civilization, the concept of the apocalypse has been ever present, in one way or another. [4], Its likeness was engraved on shekalim, the ancient Hebrew unit of currency. 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. The Judean date palm is a date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera) grown in Judea. We are committed to delivering quality independent Christian journalism you can trust. Methuselah was chosen to father the fruit and pollen from his plant was placed onto Hannah's flowers. 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. Those date palms of modern day Israel are modern and they were imported after the founding of the State in the 1950s. But 800 years ago, crusaders destroyed the last Judean palm and rendered the plant extinct. Learn more here. They dont read science journals, she tells NoCamels, noting that her friend, Jane Goodall, wrote the introduction to her unpublished childrens book. Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). The conditions were dry and arid enough to preserve the seeds for 2,000 years. DF_JST1058_2000_Year_Old_Date_Palms_HD1080_0_273, Date palms from 2000-Year-Old Date Seeds. 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. Climatic conditions at the Dead Sea may have contributed to the longevity of this oldest, directly dated, viable seed. While waiting for the results of cross-pollination with the Egyptian 'date' ;-) I pray that more seeds be given to the researcher (and proud mama!) Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.. People are disturbed. The findings suggest that it might be a good option for examining the lifetime of plant seeds. Methuselah the Judean Date Palm is still going strong even after sprouting from a 2,000-year-old seed. [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. The Bible says that it is not good for man to be alone. Antibiotics didnt help. The date was so important to the region that it featured on ancient coinage, and even on Israel's 10-shekel coin today. 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. 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. Once the Roman Empire took control of the kingdom in 70 AD, the date palms were destroyed in an attempt to cripple the Jewish economy. So, in 2005, Sallon turned to Solowey, an expert on arid agriculture, for help. 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. 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. ***Please sign up forCBN Newslettersand download theCBN News appto ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***. Methusaleh and all the ancient date trees can be visited by contacting Keren Kolot. They all sat in storage for over 40 years. The eastern ones are all the species from Arabia and Iraq, and the western ones are from North Africa, Sallon explained. Solowey soaked the seeds in enzymatic water and fertilizer and planted them in sterile potting soil in pots in a greenhouse. Ancient sources have suggested that the Judean date palm tree had many unique medicinal properties no longer found in todays palm varieties. An ancient date seed (Phoenix dactylifera L.) excavated from Masada and radiocarbon-dated to the first century Common Era was germinated. Researchers celebrate and sample the first fruit of palm trees germinated from ancient seeds from the Judean desert. 6. The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old. The ancient fruit made tonics for longevity, laxatives, and aphrodisiacs; lore claims they could cure infections. Elaine Solowey, Desert Plant Pioneer, successfully grew an extinct Judean Date Palm tree from a 2000 year old seed. Out of the changes from natural weather shifts, new life can grow again. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. She was also interested in how plants can be used for medicine. The first dates to ripen came from a palm tree named Hannah, which was grown from a seed about 10 years ago. 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. The largest and most famous so far has been dubbed Methuselah, but the plant turned out to be a male, meaning it will never bear fruit. But these werent ordinary dates. A team led by Sarah Sallon, which planted these six trees, first tried in 2005 to germinate a 2,000-year-old seed from the . The harvested dates are undergoing study regarding their properties and nutritional values. Three weeks later, the oldest tree to be successfully germinated sprouted. One was separated out as a control. 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. Hannah was the first female tree. It grew around the Dead Sea in the south, to the Sea of Galilee and the Hula Valley regions in the north. 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. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. Joanna completed a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) degree in Australia and published research in the field of Educational Psychology. Seeds found in Judean desert are male and female, leading to hopes of producing dates. [1] The palm, a male tree, was named Methuselah (not to be confused with a bristlecone pine tree of the same name). The species has earned the new name Judean date palm, along with the scientific name Phoenix dactylifera. What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? Sallon says the dates seem to offer hope in todays world of uncertainty. 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. Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword? YWAM Founder Loren Cunningham Diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. [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. She has a rich and varied career, ranging from teaching Read More. By June 2008, the tree had nearly a dozen fronds and was nearly 1.4 metres (4ft 7in) tall. Stay informed with the latest from CBN News delivered to your inbox. Trees are like humans in that you need the pollen from a male tree to pollinate the flowers of a female plant. 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. 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. After all, it took 15 years of patience, hope, anticipation, and ground-breaking agriculture techniques to make the seemingly botanically impossible feat possible. 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. Call it Canaan, the Levant or the Ancient Near East; the region has always had a troubled history of warfare and invasions. Its mentioned in the Bible as one of the seven species found in the ancient Land of Israel. NoCamels.com is the leading news website covering breakthrough innovation from Israel for a global audience. Joanna Gillan is a Co-Owner, Editor and Writer of Ancient Origins. Photo: Marcos Schonholz, What Do 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Judean Dates Taste Like? 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. 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. Methuselah is and for a long time researchers believed that this was the only Judean date palm they would ever see. In this age of global warming and species loss, I thought its important to try and bring back to life these ancient varieties. The remaining 32 seeds were planted in a quarantined site at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. 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. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. Palm trees in the ruins of Babylon. 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. This years harvest from Hannahproduced almost 700 dates (after 111 during last years first harvest), which were pollinated by Methuselah and two other ancient date palms named Adam and Jonah. Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value, said Solowey. Like Methuselah, they have all been given Biblical names. sarahmariewells.com, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. The Bible is our guidebook of ancient species, Sallon told CBN News. 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. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. 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. Why? 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. One that disappeared centuries ago was the Judean date. And I look at the plantations on Ketura. Top Image: Methuselah is a Judean date palm grown from a 2,000-year-old seed found at Masada. The tree and its fruit are mentioned in the Song of Songs and Psalms and featured on coins throughout the region. Now you say well, but we see dates all the way along here, palm trees and all the kibbutzim are growing plants. These semi-dry dates with a reddish blonde color were recently harvested. The harvested fruit is currently being analyzed for its nutritional value. Studies indicate. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. The seeds were held in storage for 40 years at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan.[10][11]. In June of 2020, Hannah became the first Judean date palm tree, resurrected from the dust of ancient seeds, to bear fruit. The date palms are named for Biblical figures. This is something that came from the past and is still alive.. www.vivaspress.com. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Though it was disputed for many years, there is conclusive evidence that Neanderthals bred with modern humans (Homo sapiens). Methusaleh was even given the Guinness WorldRecords designation as the oldest seed cultivated. They called him Methuselah after the oldest person in the Bible. They had experienced a very dry and sheltered environment for millennia. 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. ( The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ) So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. [20] The genomes of these Judean date palms germinated from ancient seeds were sequenced and analyzed. So valued was the tree that it became recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea. We're talking about the resurrection of 2000-year-old plus ancient date seeds that come from the Judean Desert and from Masada and which are part of a scientific experiment, said Sarah Sallon, Director and Founder of The Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem.

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