In 1965, a handful of Judean Date Palm seeds were found in the ruins of Masada, in Israel. Scientists knew the seeds were old, but didn’t know how old. They feared that the process of radiocarbon dating would harm the seeds, and decrease the odds that one of them might germinate. Rather than just planting them to see what happened, the seeds were placed in cold storage.
Four decades later, the seeds were removed from the fridge and finally planted in 2005 with the help of Dr. Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura. Fortunately, one sprouted, and Dr. Solowey is now the proud mother of a bouncing, 4 foot tall Date Palm sapling named Methuselah, after the oldest person in the Bible.
It was not until after Methuselah germinated and its future was secured that Solowey was able to examine
vestigal fragments of the seed’s shell and properly date the date tree. Results confirm that the seed dates back to somewhere between 60 B.C. and 95 A.D, making the seed that spawned Methuselah the oldest documented seed ever to germinate. The previous record was held by a Chinese lotus that came from a 1300 year old seed. Apparently, the Chinese were too stoic to name their lotus.
Researchers like Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem are hopeful that Methusaleh and it’s descendents become a source for new medicines. Given the confirmed age on the seed, Sallon ponders the possibly that the pit of a date that was actually eaten during the infamous Roman siege of the fortress at Masada in 73 A.D. (This seems quite unlikely to Paulano. ) The siege ended when the 1000 Jewish occupants of the fortress
committed suicide, rather than surrendering to the Romans.
It is not clear if any of the seeds that come from Methusaleh in the future will be shipped north to the Global Seed Vault in Norway for safe keeping. I’m betting that they will, and I’m sure that Cary Fowler, seed preservation expert and director of the Seed Vault has already been in touch.
Perhaps you know a senior who is not quite as old as the biblical character Methuselah. Do something nice and get them something nice to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or holiday. Kyle Design has a lot of very nice gifts that seniors would like, including personalized pill boxes, pill organizers, glasses cases, and stylish beaded lanyards.
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Filed under: Israel, Jewish Gifts, Judaica, Kyle Design, Lanyards, Personalized design, Science, ceiling fan pulls, glasses cases, health, history, key chains, pill boxes, wood boxes | Tagged: Gifts, Kyle Design, personalized gifts, glasses cases, key chains, Judean Date Palm, Masada, Israel, seeds, radio carbon dating, germinate, Dr. Elaine Solowey, Avara Institute, Methuselah, Chinese lotus, Sarah Sallon, Louis L. Borick, Jerusalem, Global Seed Vault, Cary Fowler, natural medicines, seniors, pill organizers, beaded lanyards, ceiling fan pulls, gumstick holders, toothpick holders, caduceus, Jewish Gifts, Judaica, Doctors gifts, wood jewelry boxes, Hadassah Medical Center
