Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. 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. 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. Tree Grown From 2,000-Year-Old Seed Has Reproduced SEE ALSO: Bottoms Up: Israeli Scientists Brew Beer With Resurrected Yeast From 5,000 Years Ago. The genomes of ancient date palms germinated from 2,000 y old seeds - PNAS Date palm cultivation is thought to be up to . Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. For the next four decades, the ancient seeds were kept in a drawer at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. These unique dates are currently being kept cool in storage. Sponsored by the Asper Foundation and Reichman University. Submitted by escamp on August 31, 2015 - 3:04pm. I too wonder if this is a specific species as date palms have been cultivated forever. 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. And lo, it came to pass that out of the earth Hannah and Judith sprouted. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. [17][20] By 2015 Methuselah had produced pollen that has been used successfully to pollinate female date palms. The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 years but hundreds of seeds of. 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. This has been reissued in recently years as a 10 shekel coin. In ancient times the Judean date palm was a staple source of food, shelter, and shade. 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. Its fruit was a staple of the Judean Desert and grew in thick forests along the Dead Sea and Jordan River valley. What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? 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. Need prayer? Growth and development of the seedling over 26 months was compatible with normal date . Learn more here. [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. And though Sallon compares the taste of these ancient Judean dates to the Medjool, she reiterates that she is not a food expert and simply happens to eat the Medjool variety. The Judean dates from the time of Christ had long been considered extinct. (Guy Eisner / Sciencemag). The findings suggest that it might be a good option for examining the lifetime of plant seeds. In daily prayers, we note how the righteous (tzadik) will grow. The harvest of the much-extolled but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. According to the researchers, they look similar to the Medjool date, but have a sweeter, honey-like flavor. After 2,000 years, the formerly extinct Judean date palm was brought back to life by two women scientists in 2005. 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. Architecture of the Floating (Or Sinking) City: How Was Venice Built? 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. Especially now, I think that people need that. The Judean Date Palm: Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds (2023) In ancient times, the classical writers described in detail, the dates of ancient Judea. The proud parents are date palms grown from ancient seeds uncovered in archeological excavations in Israel., Not as sweet as the Medjool date, 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., So what do 2,000-year-old dates taste like? 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. . {amount} donation plus {fee_amount} to help cover fees. A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey. Elaine Solowey, Desert Plant Pioneer, successfully grew an extinct Judean Date Palm tree from a 2000 year old seed. Its a childrens story about the science and what it represents., Viva Sarah Press is a journalist and speaker. 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. 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. She lives in Ashland, Ohio, with her husband, Brandon, and their four children, Lydia, Elvis, Henry, and Izzy (their Westie). Joanna completed a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) degree in Australia and published research in the field of Educational Psychology. Dates were one of the seven species listed as special to the land of Israel, described in the bible as honey., A land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; Deuteronomy 8:8. It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran, and ancient literature for its diverse powers. 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. Genesis 5:25-27 says that Methuselah lived 969 years! Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist of the 1st century AD, wrote that Jericho's dates were known for their succulence and sweetness, though he distinguished a considerable variety of them and discussed several different varieties by name. During 19631965, excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada, Israel, revealed a cache of date palm seeds preserved in an ancient jar. 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. 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. Judean Date Palm 'Bears Fruit" and Comes Out of Extinction 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. The ancient fruit made tonics for longevity, laxatives, and aphrodisiacs; lore claims they could cure infections. 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 . Really? Why? The remaining 32 seeds were planted in a quarantined site at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. Scientists Grew Palm Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds 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! SEE ALSO: Israeli DNA Study Unveils Reconstructed Face Of Mysterious, Long-Lost Human Relative. Antibiotics didnt help. 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. Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, "New Life, From an Arctic Flower That Died 32,000 Years Ago", "After 2,000 Years, These Seeds Have Finally Sprouted", "2000-Year-Old Date Pit Sprouts In Israel", "2,000-Year-Old Seed Sprouts, Sapling Is Thriving", "Extinct Judean Date Palm Grows After 1500 Years", "1.4.8 The Crusader period and Little Ice Age, 1.0 ka to 0.4 ka BP, and 1.4.9 The Moslem-Ottoman period, 0.4 ka to 0.1 ka BP", "From Extinction to Resurrection: The Judean Date Palm Tree", "Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies", "Researchers confirm age of "Methuselah" tree", "2000-Year-Old Date Pit Sprouts in Israel", "Medicinal date palm from oldest known seed planted", "Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed is a dad", "Israeli researchers grow new date plants from 2,000-year-old seeds", "The genomes of ancient date palms germinated from 2,000 y old seeds", "Scientists Resurrect Mysterious Judean Date Palms From Biblical Era", "Extinct tree from the time of Jesus rises from the dead", How King Solomon and the Romans Shaped the Judean Date Palm, "Germination, Genetics, and Growth of an Ancient Date Seed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judean_date_palm&oldid=1142182782, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2018, Articles with disputed statements from July 2018, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from December 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 23:58. In March of this year, she was pollinated using pollen from Methuselah. Watch the video below to learn more about the resurrection of this formerly extinct Judean date palm tree. Sallon has a hypothesis regarding Hannahs ancestors. Call (800) 700-7000 or request prayer. 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. Scientists determined that Methuselah was of the Hayany breed originally from Egypt. Israel365 News is the only media outlet reporting on it. Most of the haul is being kept for science purposes. (DtoF) Boaz (54 months), Judith (47 months), and Hannah (88 months). BEST OF 2021: Forests of Judean date palm trees once covered ancient Israel, from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea. 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. Judean Date Palm Revived from Extinction by Emily Frances - i24, Sept. 14th, 2020 "Dr. Elaine Solowey, Desert Plant Pioneer, successfully grew an extinct Judean Date Palm tree from a 2000 year old seed. She has another goal she hopes to accomplish as soon as possible: Publishing a childrens story she wrote to encourage childrens curiosity with science. 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade.