Ancient date seeds were discovered in the 1960’s during Professor Yigal Yadin’s archaeological excavations of Masada, King Herod’s famous palace on the shore of the Dead Sea. The seeds were completely buried under rubble for centuries. Discovered at the entrance to the Northern Palace close to ancient food stores, the seeds were radio-carbon dated to approximately 2000 years ago; perhaps they were consumed by the rebels who took refuge at Masada during the Great Revolt against the Romans in the 1st Jewish War (66-73 AD).
For over 40 years the seeds were kept in storage, until in 2005 an opportunity was created to try the unbelievable. Dr. Sarah Sallon, Director of the Louis L Borick Natural Medicine Research Center of Hadassah Hospital, initiated and designed this project aimed to germinate ancient seeds found on archaeological sites in an effort to reintroduce extinct plants previously grown in the region. Dr Sallon explained, “Other researchers have grown plants from ancient seeds before, including a 1000 year old Lotus, but these seeds from Masada were the very oldest ever to be germinated.”
Dr. Elaine Solowey, founder of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Research, took on the challenge of sprouting the seed. The seeds were first soaked in enzymatic water and fertilizer, then planted in sterile potting soil.
What had seemed impossible came to be! In March 2005; one of the ancient date seeds germinated, becoming the oldest seed in the world successfully sprouted. Dr. Sallon named the seedling “Methusaleh,” after the oldest person mentioned in the Bible.
Following publication of the research project in the prestigious journal “Science,” in June, 2008, Methuselah attracted international attention and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
In November 2011, Methuselah was transferred from its pot in the greenhouse and replanted in its current site at Kibbutz Ketura during a special ceremony.
