[13][15] Three of the seeds were subsequently planted at Ketura, Israel, in the Arabah in southern Israel. Especially now, I think that people need that. 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. After six years of growth Hannah flowered and researchers got excited at the possibility of resurrecting the Judean date after 2,000 years. Judith and Hannah were female, but only Hannah flowered. They were big; they were sweet. In 2011, the plant produced its first flowers and today, the living archaeological treasure continues to grow and thrive. This is the second year of harvesting fruit from this previously extinct tree, brought back to life by Dr. Elaine Solowey. The other date palms to have sprouted from these ancient seeds are known as Adam, Hannah, Judith, Jonah, Boaz and Uriel. 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. These unique dates are currently being kept cool in storage. Some of the fruit were tasted, and some were sent for further research. But they're not the original date tree that grew here, Sallon said. After the successful germination of the first seed, Dr. Solowey and Dr. Sallon took to replicating the experiment. 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. Back in the 1960s, famed Israeli archeologist Professor Yigal Yadin discovered thousands of date seeds buried under rubble during his excavations of Masada. We are going to be testing those dates in the future to see actually what they do and whether they differ from other commercial varieties of modern dates. The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 years but hundreds of seeds of Phoenix dactylifera 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. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Were theonlyPop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. It has allegedly served as both an aphrodisiac and a contraceptive, and as a cure for a wide range of health issues including cancer, malaria, and toothache. Collect date seeds. Antibiotics didnt help. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. [1] The palm, a male tree, was named Methuselah (not to be confused with a bristlecone pine tree of the same name). Sallon, a medical doctor, started this project more than 15 years ago after becoming interested in natural medicine. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. That allowed them to be exported all over the Roman empire and they had medicinal qualities, Sallon said. References to it are made in the Bible, the Koran, and other ancient literature. 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. 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. And Solowey and Salone are hoping eventually to add the revived Judean dates to the harvest. However, its value was also the source of its demise and eventual extinction. Climatic conditions at the Dead Sea may have contributed to the longevity of this oldest, directly dated, viable seed. 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. (Guy Eisner) Scientists have cultivated plants from date palm seeds that languished in ancient ruins and caves for 2,000 years. Thanks Jo. Get email notification for articles from Nir Hasson. Great piece I had no idea about such amazing botanical work going on. Children today are the stewards of this planet. But as time progressed, the leaves began to look healthier. Israeli scientists found out, The Resurrection of 2000-Year-Old Ancient Date Seeds: New Fruit Sprouts from Bible Times Source. 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. We are planting our second, female date tree, who was sprouted from an ancient seed. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade. Dr. ( The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ). These plants are called Adam, Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, and Hannah. The tree itself was a source of shelter, its fruit . Benjitheijneb/CC BY SA 3.0 (Creative Commons ) A tree grown from a 2,000-year-old seed may bring its sub-species back to Israel, where it once flourished, after a . The species has earned the new name Judean date palm, along with the scientific name Phoenix dactylifera. The ancient fruit made tonics for longevity, laxatives, and aphrodisiacs; lore claims they could cure infections. Call us at 1 315 4971058. Also available on most smart TVs and streaming services. 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. [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]. 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. For more information and/or interview requests, please contact Institute Deputy Director Eliza Mayo. Its a childrens story about the science and what it represents., Viva Sarah Press is a journalist and speaker. Fifteen years ago, the first tree Solowey sprouted was a male. And then I realized that many of these species had actually disappeared. Hannah grew for six years, then flowered. Out of the changes from natural weather shifts, new life can grow again. But now, after 2,000 years, the Judean date palm is back and the sweet ancient fruit has been harvested once again. 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. 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. The seedlings would later be moved to Kibbutz Ketura. Researchers revived a 2,000-year-old palm from seeds found inside an ancient Judean jar. cultivation of dates in the region began to decline. She has a rich and varied career, ranging from teaching Read More. Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, Director of the Arava Institute at Kibbutz Ketura, sees this as. God is everywhereeven in the news. 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. 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. The experiment worked. A little, young-looking palm tree named Judith was planted on Kibbutz Ketura recently. 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. How could it be?" 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. Sarah M. Wells is the author ofThe Family Bible Devotionaland two collections of poems,Between the Heron and the MossandPruningBurning Bushes. Uriel and Jonah date back to the first to second centuries CE. 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. 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. 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. The two stories are related, she said, because people destroyed the trees and now the land. [26] They may have shared the same wild ancestor. Government Bouncers on Your Church's Front Door? They were widely used for different kinds of diseasescancers, TB [tuberculosis]all kinds of problems., Harvested dates grown on the ancient Judean date palm. 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. But then, in 2005, botanical researcher Elaine Solowey decided to plant one and see what, if anything, would sprout. 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. The Bible is our guidebook of ancient species, Sallon told CBN News. People are disturbed. The palm tree can appear on the coin either in combination with the mourning woman, or without her. Exodus 15:27. If this is indeed a specific species, the author should make that clear and name the species. They selected 34 seeds they thought were the most viable. 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 conditions were dry and arid enough to preserve the seeds for 2,000 years. 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. 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. Available at: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/palm-tree-0013259. She writes and talks about the creativity and innovation taking place in Israel and beyond. 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. Researchers hold a date tree grown by a 2,000-year-old seed retrieved from archaeological sites in the Judean Desert, in Ketura, Israel, September 2, 2020. But these werent ordinary dates. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and intentional destruction. SEE ALSO: Bottoms Up: Israeli Scientists Brew Beer With Resurrected Yeast From 5,000 Years Ago. 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. On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. The species of palm was thought to be extinct for 800 years but hundreds of seeds of. They all sat in storage for over 40 years. The tree and its fruit are mentioned in the Song of Songs and Psalms and featured on coins throughout the region. [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]. 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?

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