The 2,000-Year-Old Seed
Posted on: June 13, 2008

Israeli researchers have successfully grown a date palm from a seed found at one of King Herod’s palaces, dating back 2,000 years.

The Globe and Mail’s Anne Mcilroy reports that the seed has even more significance because it was found at Masada, “a mountaintop fortress overlooking the Dead Sea, [which] is where Jewish forces made their last stand against Roman troops after the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70.” 

What’s more, it was found near the bodies of a man, woman and small boy, leading a scientist to speculate  about the “boy eating a date and spitting out the pit as he watched the Roman soldiers prepare for their final assault.”

Read the whole Globe story here »

Â