The species was gone! The 2,000-year-old date tree gave fruit!

Last week, the scientific world signed a miraculous event. It was determined that the date tree, which was grown from 2,000-year-old date seeds near Ölüdeniz, gave its first fruits.

Date fruit

The historical Judean date, which was called lost, has started to grow again.

The revival of these dates, whose taste is praised in historical sources, is considered a miracle of modern science.

Date palm tree from date kernels

Sarah Sallon, a researcher at the Louis L Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, and her team managed to grow date palms from the date seeds they found in the palace built by King Herod in the 1st century BC in the Judean desert.

Hormones that support germination and rooting were added to historical seeds after soaking in water. These seeds were planted in the soil in an isolated environment after a while.

Using radiocarbon testing, scientists determined that the seeds were 2,000 years old.

What is the historically endangered Judean date palm?

Historical records show that the dates grown on trees in the region are large in size, sweet and used for medicinal purposes.

The Roman writer Plinius the Great, in his Natural History book, states that an extremely sweet juice is extracted from the dates in the region and it tastes like wine with honey. Unlike Egyptian dates, these dates could be exported to different parts of the Roman Empire, as they remained intact for a long time.

Judean dates were gradually destroyed in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD due to wars in the region. Sallon thinks the hot, dry air of the Judean desert helps keep the seeds intact.

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