Date palm from ancient Israel springs to life

A Judean date palm, long extinct, has been "brought back to life" by scientists who unearthed a 2,000 year-old seed of the plant and germinated it. A healthy 4-foot-tall seedling, named Methuselah after the oldest living man in the Bible, now holds the record for the oldest germinated seed.

The seed itself, perhaps the last link to the vast date palm forests that once grew in the Jordan River valley, was first discovered in 1965, as archaeologists excavated the ancient Israel site of Masada. Seeds discovered at the site were put into storage for 40 years.

Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Brock Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, then recruited Dr. Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies to help revive the dormant seeds, in hopes of discovering some of the plant's medicinal properties mentioned in historical writings.

In 2005, the date palm now known as Methuselah was planted and sprouted. After it germinated, fragments of the seed shell clinging to the roots were carbon dated, placing the age of the date seeds sometime between 60 B.C. and A.D. 95, about the age expected for a seed that could have survived the famed attack on the Masada fortress described by the ancient historian Josephus.

Following the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by Roman forces, a group of Jewish zealots retreated to the mountaintop fortress of Masada, a nearly impregnable palace originally built for Herod the Great. These resistors to Roman rule withstood siege from Caesar's army until A.D. 73, when, according to Josephus, the nearly 1,000 people bunkered there burned their remaining stores (all but one food stash, to demonstrate that they weren't starving to death) and committed mass suicide.

The discovery of these date seeds from Masada at about the same time period leads to some intriguing historical speculation.

"These people were eating these dates up on the mountain and looking down at the Roman camp, knowing that they were going to die soon, and spitting out the pits," Sallon said. "Maybe here is one of those pits."

According to researchers in the journal Science, Methuselah's rebirth breaks the record for oldest germinated seed, previously held by a 1,300-year-old Chinese lotus plant.

Now, Sallon and her colleagues hope to both learn from the record-breaker and restore it to its native region.

"We try to reintroduce those plants back into the environment," Sallon said in a podcast interview that accompanied her study of Methuselah. "So we're interested not only in the plants that grow in the Middle East now but the ones that used to grow here, like the ancient date, which was known in history not only as a source of delicious dates and a very important food, but also as a medicine."

Repopulating the date to Israel may have to wait, however, while Sallon watches Methuselah to see if "he" is a he or a she. Date palms differ by sex, but which sex Methuselah proves to be won't be discernable until the tree is 6 or 7 years old. If female, it could produce fruit for replanting. If male, more seeds from Masada may need to be germinated.

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

Special offers:

SCARY MEDICINE: Exposing the dark side of vaccines

'Vaccines: the risks, the benefits, the choices': Must-see DVD for parents on the fence about whether to vaccinate

Reclaim your health!

Read the book that started it
all: Al Gore's 'Earth in the Balance'

"GREEN WITH ENVY: Exposing radical environmentalists' assault on Western civilization"

Will hurricane
'expert' be sued for being wrong?

Light bulb ban craze exceeds disposal plans

Consumers in dark over risks of new light bulbs

Planet Earth banning common light bulbs

Gore plan would 'ban new cars and people'

Gore home's energy use: 20 times average