"Sprouting Methusala"; the germination of a  2000 yr old Date seed from Masada

Ancient seeds have occasionally been germinated, either deliberately as in the case of a 1200yr old Lotus seed from China, or accidentally after a fire that devastated the Natural History museum,  London in  World War Two.

 In 1973 during  archaeological excavations of  Masada a desert  fortress  built by King Herod on the shores of the Dead Sea,  a number of ancient seeds were found including those of  Dates.

Considered a staple food in the Middle East, the Date (Phoenix dactylifera) was famous for  its  nutritional and medicinal qualities was one of the most important and   prized   species in ancient times .

According to the 1st century historian Josephus, Dates formed an integral part of the food supply on which the Jewish defenders of Masada, subsisted during the Roman siege of 70 CE.

In 2005 NMRC began the first serious attempt to germinate a 2000 yrs old Date seed discovered during the Masada   excavations and stored for the last 30 yrs at the Dept of Botanical Archaelogy, Bar- Ilan  

Following a lengthy pre -preparation by Dr Elaine Solowey of Kibbutz Ketura, 3 ancient Date  seeds were planted in special quarantine facilities in late January 2005.

Two mths later in March 2005 a single Date seed germinated, becoming one of  the oldest known  seeds ever to be successfully cultivated.

Codenamed “Methusala” by the researchers, DNA analysis of a leaf   is currently underway  allowing  us to compare the  2000yr old Date plant  with modern cultivated species.

NMRC believes that the germination of this ancient Date seed will enable us to learn more about the Dates of ancient Israel, once famous for their unique flavour but considered extinct for hundreds of years.

We are also interested to discover whether this precious species can again form the basis of cultivation programs as in antiquity.