Interesting Facts – Some researchers have seemingly turned back time 2,000 years just by planting ancient seeds. Amazingly, a Judean date palm seed that was unearthed at a dig site in eastern Israel in the 1960s is today a thriving tree called Methuselah, named for the long-lived biblical patriarch.

Archaeologists working at the ancient fort of Masada unearthed a handful of date palm seeds, using two for radiocarbon dating to confirm their age. The remaining excavated seeds sat in storage until 2005, when researchers at Israel’s Arava Institute took a chance on planting three of them. Continue reading →