“Ancient Seeds of Perseverance: How 2,000-Year-Old Discoveries from the Dead Sea Scroll Caves Are Breathing Life into Today’s Forests”
Elaine Solowey, a collaborator who grew the seeds in the kibbutz, soaked the old seeds in water and applied commercial plant hormones and fertilizer. Interestingly enough, the protocol for planting them wasn’t that much different from planting modern seeds.
Out of the 32 seeds that were planted, six of them blossomed into date palm trees. Five of the successful seeds came from either Masada or the Qumran Caves, where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The sixth seed came from caves at Wadi Makukh.
Wikimedia CommonsMethuselah, the first date palm tree germinated from ancient seeds in 2005.
“It’s quite remarkable this team of researchers managed to germinate seeds of that age,” said Oscar Alejandro Pérez-Escobar, who studies ancient dates at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. “These ancient seeds might represent lost genetic diversity we don’t see anymore.”
There are a myriad of benefits from the result of this study. For one, it will enable modern scientists to better understand how Judean farmers cultivated the lands to grow these date palms, which were once plentiful in the area up until the 19th century.
The longevity of Judean dates was so well-known that the ancient Greek historian Herodotus raved about the fruit in his writing and gifted them to the Roman emperor every year.
There’s also untapped potential from exploring the genetic makeup of these plants that were born from ancient seedlings. Next, Sallon and her team plan to mate Methuselah’s pollen to Hannah, which is expected to grow flowers within the next two years. Sadly, their baby dates likely won’t resemble those that were farmed 2,000 years ago.
Post Comment