Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

After a 2,000-Year Rest, a Seed Sprouts in Jerusalem
NY TIMES ^ | JERUSALEM, June 11

Posted on 06/11/2005 7:29:53 PM PDT by TheOtherOne

JERUSALEM, June 11 - Israeli doctors and scientists have succeeded in germinating a date seed nearly 2,000 years old.

The seed, nicknamed Methuselah, was taken from an excavation at Masada, the cliff fortress where, in A.D. 73, 960 Jewish zealots died by their own hand, rather than surrender to a Roman assault. The point is to find out what was so exceptional about the original date palm of Judea, much praised in the Bible and the Koran for its shade, food, beauty and medicinal qualities, but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: agriculture; animalhusbandry; archaeology; barkochba; dietandcuisine; ggg; ggggodsgravesglyphs; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; history; huntergatherers; israel; judea; judeandatepalm; letshavejerusalem; masada; methuselah; methuselahtree; romanempire
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-67 next last
To: Old Professer
I'll believe this story when this woman takes off her hate suit.

I have no idea what you are talking about, but I know who S. Crane is without google!

41 posted on 06/11/2005 9:54:39 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: glorgau

"...but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.
NT Times had to get in the obligatory shot at Christians and Western Civilisation."

Those darned Paleocons.....always were destroying the environment.


42 posted on 06/11/2005 9:57:29 PM PDT by ArmedNReady (Islam, the Cancer on Humanity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: ArmedNReady

Absolutely awesome!


43 posted on 06/11/2005 10:03:20 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("Quality of life": Another name for the slippery slope into barbarism...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne

Bump for later read


44 posted on 06/11/2005 10:06:43 PM PDT by sonofatpatcher2 (Texas, Love & a .45-- What more could you want, campers? };^)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne

To start, she claims to be an agriculturalist who became disillusion by modern means of propagation and systematic weakening of strains and somehow gleans the greening of the ancient of the ancients with only a snippet of a seed pod and a dubious leaf as evidence, but a chip on her shoulder so large that Paul Bunyan would have been mightily pressed to cleave from the signature sequoia itself.


45 posted on 06/11/2005 10:08:54 PM PDT by Old Professer (As darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good; innocence is blind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: Old Professer
To start, she claims to be an agriculturalist who became disillusion by modern means of propagation and systematic weakening of strains and somehow gleans the greening of the ancient of the ancients with only a snippet of a seed pod and a dubious leaf as evidence, but a chip on her shoulder so large that Paul Bunyan would have been mightily pressed to cleave from the signature sequoia itself.

That's a mouthful. Okay, if you say so. But I still think it's cool.

46 posted on 06/11/2005 10:11:35 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Ping!

acid for germinating a seed. Interesting.


47 posted on 06/11/2005 10:14:44 PM PDT by dervish
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: glorgau

And against men -

"But it is the female date that is considered holy, and that bears fruit. "Men are rather superfluous in the date industry", Dr. Sallon said.

HA! I'd like to see them say that about asparagus or eggplant!

(Male eggplant are preferred as they have few seeds compared to the female, & generally only all-male varieties of asparagus are grown.)


48 posted on 06/11/2005 10:26:28 PM PDT by mucrospirifer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne
"It is praised as a tonic to increase longevity, as a laxative, as a cure for infections and as an aphrodisiac..."

Two functions I would expect to be mutually exclusive.

49 posted on 06/11/2005 10:48:41 PM PDT by Fatalist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fatalist
"It is praised as a tonic to increase longevity, as a laxative, as a cure for infections and as an aphrodisiac..."

I think it was these two that were supposed to be read together.

50 posted on 06/11/2005 10:50:25 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: fso301
The point is to find out what was so exceptional about the original date palm of Judea, much praised in the Bible and the Koran for its shade, food, beauty and medicinal qualities, but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.

I never heard of crusaders destroying a species of vegetation. Can someone help me out?

Bush's fault........ The Christians' fault.

You name a problem, the New York Times will say that it's their fault.

51 posted on 06/11/2005 11:08:26 PM PDT by Polybius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne

Awesome!


52 posted on 06/12/2005 2:57:29 AM PDT by familyop ("Let us try" sounds better, don't you think? "Essayons" is so...Latin.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Alouette
Thanks for the ping. A very interesting story, if true.

Please overlook my cyber cynicism. I do truly hope the story is not a fabrication.

53 posted on 06/12/2005 3:14:31 AM PDT by Robert Drobot (Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Hilltop
An old red one...


54 posted on 06/12/2005 3:24:00 AM PDT by pageonetoo (You'll spot their posts soon enough!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne

Plant one of these in Potter's Field! That'd be cool...


55 posted on 06/12/2005 8:05:26 AM PDT by Mamzelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne
They've also reintroduced other "antique" versions of foodstuffs in the US. You can get the seeds off the internet. A recent interesting one is in the Lowcountry of SCaro and GA--a kind of black-eyed pea grown and eaten by subsistence farmers, Indians, and slaves.

Varieties of tomatoes are particularly interesting, and make for gorgeous fresh salsas. I'm trying to grow a white tomatoe this summer.

56 posted on 06/12/2005 8:08:29 AM PDT by Mamzelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FairOpinion
Thanks FairO' for the ping. Fascinating germination. Will ping the list when I get home.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest
-- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

57 posted on 06/12/2005 8:35:40 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (FR profiled updated Tuesday, May 10, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: vetvetdoug

Yes, here in California after the big rains many desert flowers bloomed that haven't in decades - they were in hibernation all that time. And the same is true in the Negev desert, when I toured in the spring of 1992 they had a lot of rain that year and seeds that had been in hibernation for over 100 years flowered in the desert. Some seeds definitely can stay protected for a long time - they are "designed" to be that way, or shall we say, they evolved to be the kind of seed that could survive - the ones that couldn't just turned to dust.


58 posted on 06/12/2005 1:50:54 PM PDT by monkeyshine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; StayAt HomeMother; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; ...
Just a bit of catch-up pinging to do from the past two or three days. Sorry for the temporary volume.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest
-- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

59 posted on 06/13/2005 10:40:13 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (FR profiled updated Tuesday, May 10, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Mamzelle
A recent interesting one is in the Lowcountry of SCaro and GA--a kind of black-eyed pea grown and eaten by subsistence farmers, Indians, and slaves.

Crowder pea?

60 posted on 06/13/2005 11:19:05 PM PDT by dread78645 (Sorry Mr. Franklin, We couldn't keep it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-67 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson