2000 Year-Old Judean Date Palm Sprouts

A seed found in an archaeological dig at King Herod's palace on Mount Masada in what was ancient Judea is now a date palm seedling in an Israeli greenhouse. Carbon-dated to be about 2000 years old, the seed was one of a batch found in the dig. San Francisco Chronicle foreign service writer Matthew Kalman reported in June that the seed, planted January 25, came to life in about four weeks.

Elaine Solowey, the botanist trained at UCLA who watched over the seed, runs a greenhouse on a kibbutz in Israel's Arava desert and specializes in reviving extinct or almost extinct plants.  She says the date palm is " the oldest tree seed that's ever been sprouted."

The date palm is truly the "tree of life" to people of the Middle East--it has provided food, shelter, and shade for thousands of years. And this Judea palm, dubbed Methuselah, was ancient  Israel's power plant. Today the country grows date palms derived from California stock.

Kalman's article explains: "When the Romans invaded ancient Judea, thick forests of date palms towering up to 80 feet high and 7 miles wide covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south. The tree so defined the local economy that Emperor Vespasian celebrated the conquest by minting the "Judea Capta," a special bronze coin that showed the Jewish state as a weeping woman beneath a date palm. "

Read the full fascinating story here.   ( We at The FOOD Museum have included this story in our Global Food Heritage section at www.foodmuseum.com)

Comments

[Cynthia]

Wow -- wouldn't that have been something to see, those vast forests of date palms?

I know that some domesticated grain seeds of greater antiquity have been sprouted, but was interested to note that this was the oldest tree seed yet sprouted. I wonder what makes various seeds better survivors than others.

[Bob]

very helpful, thanks!k

[Ellen Rhudy]

How about a really big photo of the ancient Judean date palm seedling? Can't see it too well now. Thanks, Ellen