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Grown from ancient seeds found at Masada and Qumran and likely brought back to Judea from Babylon in the sixth century BC, the fresh dates symbolize the remarkable resilience of nature

Scientists grow fresh dates from a 6th BC seed



Scientists grow fresh dates from a 6th BC seed
Dates growing on Hannah, a tree germinated from ancient seeds in Israel. Photo by Marcos Schonholz
Mazal tov to Hannah and Methuselah on their 111 miracle babies! The proud parents are date palms grown from ancient seeds uncovered in archeological excavations in Israel. These dates, recently picked at the Arava Institute at Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel, are a type that hasn’t been tasted since the times of Jesus and the Maccabees.
“Dr. Elaine Solowey, our director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, grew our first ancient date tree, Methuselah, in 2005,” explained Miriam May, CEO of Friends of the Arava Institute. “He came from a 2,000-year-old seed found in excavations at Masada; his growth was an unprecedented success that no one was expecting. However, because he is a male tree, he could not produce fruit.” But then Solowey succeeded in germinating six more ancient seeds, one from Masada and five from the caves of Qumran, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls written between 150 BCE and 70 CE. One of the Qumram trees, Hannah, was pollinated by Methuselah and grew dates that ripened at the beginning of September to great international fanfare. Solowey and fellow “date grandma” Dr. Sarah Sallon could not be more pleased.-- More...

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