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

Skip to comments.

Tree From 2,000-Year-Old Seed Doing Well (Methuselah)
Physorg ^ | 6-12-2008 | RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

Posted on 06/12/2008 5:51:19 PM PDT by blam

Tree from 2,000-year-old seed is doing well

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID , AP Science Writer
June 12, 2008

(AP) -- Just over three years old and about four-feet tall, Methuselah is growing well. "It's lovely," Dr. Sarah Sallon said of the date palm, whose parents may have provided food for the besieged Jews at Masada some 2,000 years ago.

The little tree was sprouted in 2005 from a seed recovered from Masada, where rebelling Jews committed suicide rather than surrender to Roman attackers.

Radiocarbon dating of seed fragments clinging to its root, as well as other seeds found with it that didn't sprout, indicate they were about 2,000 years old - the oldest seed known to have been sprouted and grown.

Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel, updates the saga of Methuselah in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

One thing they don't know yet is whether it's a boy or girl. Date palms differ by sex, but experts can't tell the difference until the tree is six or seven years old, Sallon said.

She hopes there's a chance to use it to restore the extinct Judean date palm, once prized not only for its fruit but also for medicinal uses.

The researchers have had a look at the plant's DNA, however, and found it shares just over half its genes with modern date cultivars.

"Part of our project is to preserve ancient knowledge of how plants were used," Sallon said in a telephone interview. "To domesticate them so we have a ready source of raw material."

Her Middle Eastern Medicinal Plant Project is working to conserve and reintroduce plants to the region where they once lived.

"Many species are endangered and becoming extinct. Raising the dead is very difficult, so it's better to preserve them before they become extinct," she said.

The oldest documented seed to be grown previously was a 1,300-year-old lotus, Sallon said.


TOPICS: Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2000; agriculture; animalhusbandry; barkochba; dietandcuisine; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; huntergatherers; israel; judea; judeandatepalm; letshavejerusalem; masada; methuselah; methuselahtree; romanempire; seed; tree
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

1 posted on 06/12/2008 5:51:23 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 06/12/2008 5:52:18 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
Date palms differ by sex, but experts can't tell the difference until the tree is six or seven years old, Sallon said.

Tell it a joke.
If he laughs it's a male.
But if she laughs it's a female.

3 posted on 06/12/2008 5:57:44 PM PDT by curmudgeonII
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
Palm resurrected from 2,000-year-old seed

Guy Eisner / Courtesy of Science Magazine

The resurrected Methuselah, shown at age 26 months when it had reached a height of about four feet, is named after the oldest person in the Bible.

4 posted on 06/12/2008 5:57:56 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam

One of a handful of 2,000-year-old seeds (top) from the fortress of Masada in present-day Israel grew into a date palm plant (bottom) called Methuselah in 2005. A study released in June 2008 confirms the plant is the oldest sprouted seed in the world. Photos by Guy Eisner/Courtesy of Science Magazine

5 posted on 06/12/2008 5:58:26 PM PDT by cabojoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Life always finds a way.

Nice post.
Thanks.


6 posted on 06/12/2008 5:59:14 PM PDT by fanfan ("We don't start fights my friends, but we finish them, and never leave until our work is done."PMSH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

I lived in Israel for two years and visited Masada in 2006 - incredible place and with the dead sea just up the road.... Imagine looking down from Masada upon the actual squares that were occupied by the Roman Legions, still and a silent tribute to those for whom, Never Again, is a slogan and national pledge.


7 posted on 06/12/2008 6:00:43 PM PDT by Jumper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam

“and found it shares just over half its genes with modern date cultivars.”

Which half?


8 posted on 06/12/2008 6:02:57 PM PDT by patton (cuiquam in sua arte credendum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden
9 posted on 06/12/2008 6:04:12 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Quite cool.


10 posted on 06/12/2008 6:04:31 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jumper
" Imagine looking down from Masada upon the actual squares that were occupied by the Roman Legions..."

Must have been a moving experience.

11 posted on 06/12/2008 6:05:31 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: blam

All the seeds from that planet wil be worth more than the dates.. I can see it now.. groves of date palms from that little tree.. Growing dates under the MASADA brand name..


12 posted on 06/12/2008 6:05:55 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jumper

If it does produce seeds I wonder if it’d be possible to get some. I’d like to try and grow a few plants to help spread out the species so they aren’t all located in one area.


13 posted on 06/12/2008 6:06:05 PM PDT by Duke Phelan ((Who are you?) " I'm Olo.....Hans Olo" - Daniel Jackson SG1)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: blam

Cool..


14 posted on 06/12/2008 6:08:31 PM PDT by xcamel (Being on the wrong track means the unintended consequences express train doesnt kill you going by)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Fascinating


15 posted on 06/12/2008 6:23:55 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
God will resurrect the dead. They will live again... including palm trees!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

16 posted on 06/12/2008 6:25:46 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Masada is awesome...


17 posted on 06/12/2008 6:29:32 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gabz

gardening ping.


18 posted on 06/12/2008 6:33:46 PM PDT by girlangler (Fish Fear Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cabojoe

Maybe the Cabinet should eat a few of the dates produced by this tree and meditate on the future of the State...


19 posted on 06/12/2008 6:39:50 PM PDT by rahbert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: blam; Ezekiel
They're so cute when they're little!


20 posted on 06/12/2008 7:32:37 PM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 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