Judean date palm
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The Judean date palm cultivar is a cultivar of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). Prized for its beauty, shade, and medicinal properties, the cultivar was thought to have become extinct sometime around 150 AD. However, in 2005, a preserved 2,000-year-old seed sprouted. It is one of the oldest known human-assisted germinations of a seed.
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[edit] Etymology
The species name dactylifera ís derived from the Greek word "daktulos", which originated from the Hebrew word "da'chel", which describes the fruit's shape.[citation needed]
[edit] History
The date palm was considered a staple in the Judean Desert, as it was a source of food, shelter and shade for thousands of years, and became a recognized symbol of the Kingdom of Judea. It grew around the Dead sea/Salt sea in the south, to the sea of Galilee (Sea of Chinnereth, Lake of Gennesaret, Sea of Tiberias) to Lake hula regions in the north. The tree and its fruit caused Jericho to become a major population center and are praised in the Hebrew Bible possibly several times indirectly, such as in Psalm 92 ("The righteous himself will blossom forth as a palm tree does."), or date cluster menetioned in Song of Solomon 5:11; 7:7, 8. * Hebrew., - tal·tal·lim′, & san·sin·nim′.
It was even said by some to have medicinal properties, supposedly curing many diseases and infections, promoting longevity and acting as a mild aphrodisiac. Its likeness was engraved on shekalim, the ancient Hebrew unit of currency. According to historical sources, the taste of them was something splendid. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist of the 1st century AD, wrote that Judæa's dates were known for their succulence and sweetness.[citation needed]
When the Romans invaded ancient Judea, thick forests of date palms towering up to 80 feet high and 7 miles wide covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south. The tree so defined the local economy that Emperor Vespasian celebrated the conquest by minting the "Judea Capta," a special bronze coin that showed the Jewish state as a weeping woman beneath a date palm. The Judean Date is even mentioned in the Qu'ran.
The date growing as a commercial fruit export stopped at the end of 70 A.D., when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans. From then, the tradition was lost. Judean date palms were wiped out by about A.D. 500.
A date palm is also featured on the ten-shekel coin of the New Israeli Shekel.
[edit] Symbol of Beautiful, in Jewish culture
The book Plants of the Bible states: “The Hebrew word for the date palm is ‘tàmâr.’ . . . It became the Jews’ symbol of grace and elegance and was often bestowed by them to women.” For example, Solomon’s beautiful half sister was named Tamar.
[edit] Germination of 2000-year-old seeds
In the 1970s, during excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada in Israel, two thousand year old Judean date palm seeds were recovered. The cache of seeds was contained in an ancient jar, in very dry conditions sheltered from the elements; this helped preserve the seeds. Radiocarbon dating at the University of Zurich confirmed the age of the seeds at 2000 ±50 years . After their discovery the seeds were held in storage for thirty years at Bar-Ilan University.
On 25 January 2005, (the Jewish festival of Tu Bishvat), Dr. Elaine Solowey, a specialist in rare and medicinal plants at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, planted three of the seeds at Kibbutz Ketura in the Arabah desert of southern Israel.[1] One of the seeds sprouted six weeks later. As of 6 February 2006, there were five fronds.
The plant has been nicknamed "Methuselah" after the oldest person in the Bible. Methuselah is remarkable in having been the oldest tree seed successfully germinated, and also in being the only living representative of the Judean date palm, which was once a major food and export crop in ancient Judea.
Date palm trees are dioecious. If Methuselah is female, it may produce fruit by 2010.
When compared with three other cultivars of date palm, genetic tests showed the plant to be most closely related to the old Egyptian variety Hayany (also Hiani, Hayani), 13% of its DNA being different.[citation needed] They may have shared the same wild ancestor.
In addition to its honoured place in Judean history, the palm may contribute useful characteristics such as environmental tolerance and disease resistance, to modern date cultivars.
Sallon wants to see if the ancient tree has any unique medicinal properties no longer found in today's date palm varieties.
"Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value," she said. "They were widely used for different kinds of diseases—cancers, TB tuberculosis—all kinds of problems."
She and her colleagues are currently comparing the structure of the sapling to modern date palms and examining DNA from one of the sapling's leaves. The team plans to publish preliminary results in a peer-reviewed journal in 2006.
Ancient literature shows it was used for everything from an aphrodisiac to a contraceptive -- and as a treatmeant, or to prevent, for a wide range of diseases including cancer, malaria & toothache.
[edit] Sources
- "An extinct biblical plant returns to life." Israel Today. August 16, 2005.[2]
- Berger, Robert. "Israeli scientists germinate 2,000-year-old seed." Voice of America News. June 13, 2005.[3]
- "Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed: Ancient variety may reveal medicinal qualities." Associated Press. June 13, 2005.[4]
- Erlanger, Steven. "After 2,000 years, a seed from ancient Judea sprouts." The New York Times. June 12, 2005.[5]
- Kalman, Matthew. "Seed of extinct date palm sprouts after 2,000 years." San Francisco Chronicle. June 12, 2005.[6]
- HaLevi, Ezra. "2,000-Year-Old Judean Date Seed Growing Successfully." Israel National News. February 6, 2006. [7]
