Ancient Seeds Spark Botanical Discovery.
About 30 years ago, an American botanist discovered 1,000-year-old lotus seeds in the mud of a dried-up lake in China. After careful study, she placed the seeds in a pot on her lab’s windowsill, where they sprouted just a few weeks later. Inspired by this success, Dr. Sarah Sallon, a pediatrician at Hadassah Medical Center, decided to explore ancient seeds herself. Twenty-five years ago, she established the Natural Medicine Research Center and began a journey that led her to grow date palms from ancient seeds. This endeavor ultimately raised questions about biblical plants such as myrrh and persimmon.
The story takes a fitting turn with the planting of a date seed named Methuselah. In 2005, Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies planted this seed, found during an archaeological dig at Masada. Methuselah grew into a date palm. Sallon and Solowey later planted six more seeds, resulting in a female palm named Hannah, which was fertilized with Methuselah’s pollen. In 2020, the two scientists tasted the first fruits from these ancient seeds.
To confirm the age of these seeds, they sent the husks to the University of Zurich for carbon-14 dating. The results showed that Methuselah and Hannah were based on seeds that were 2,000 years old, while some other seeds were slightly younger. Subsequent gene sequencing revealed that the DNA of these date palms did not match that of modern varieties.
Fourteen years after the initial success with dates, Sallon sought access to findings from a cave in Nahal Makuch, located in the northern Judean Desert. The remains and artifacts found in this cave date back to the Chalcolithic period, about 6,000 years ago, and include the skeleton of a man along with his belongings, making it one of Israel’s significant archaeological finds.
In another cave, researchers uncovered skeletons from 6,000 years ago, as well as 2,000-year-old Roman-era artifacts that included large, dry seeds. Despite her efforts to identify the seeds, Sallon turned to Solowey for help. Solowey placed the seeds in warm water and various chemical solutions to stimulate growth. After five weeks, one seed successfully sprouted.
Sallon sent this husk to Zurich for carbon-14 dating, but the result was somewhat disappointing; the seed was only 1,000 years old. When the plant grew, Sallon was unable to identify it and sought help from botanists worldwide. Eventually, a colleague from Arizona identified it as a species of Commiphora.
Commiphora belongs to a large plant family of about 200 species, including valuable ancient perfume plants like frankincense and myrrh, which are mentioned in the Bible. Today, however, no Commiphora species can be found in Israel.
A critical question arises: Did Commiphora ever grow in Israel? Sallon noted that this is the first identification of Commiphora from excavations in the country. However, determining which species it is proved to be a challenge. Sallon sent a sample to Professor Andrea Weeks at George Mason University, who has the largest collection of Commiphora DNA. The plant matched none of the known species. Weeks noted that it bore similarities to Commiphora found in South Africa and Madagascar.
Sallon held out hope that this sprouted plant was the legendary persimmon (afarsemon in Hebrew). The persimmon has a rich history in botany and archaeology, with Hebrew and Greek sources detailing its significance. It was a major crop in the Holy Land for 1,000 years, particularly during the Maccabean and early Islamic eras, mainly cultivated in Ein Gedi and around the Dead Sea. Many scholars argue these were the only regions where the persimmon was domesticated, providing prosperity during King Herod’s reign.
Interestingly, researchers believe the Romans sought control over Masada partly to protect the persimmon groves. The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts a victory parade over the Great Jewish Revolt, showing three women carrying persimmon branches. However, the exact identity of this persimmon remains unknown.
Since the 18th century, scholars have posited that the persimmon was an extinct species of Commiphora, resembling frankincense and myrrh and possessing strong aromatic properties. Yet, the precise species and its fate remain a mystery.
Sallon named the sprouted plant Sheba after the Queen of Sheba, who, according to the Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, gifted persimmon seeds to King Solomon. This connection is highlighted in the Book of Kings, which describes the Queen’s offerings to Solomon.
The resemblance of the sprouted Commiphora to varieties found in Madagascar, close to Sheba, fuels Sallon’s hopes that it may be the elusive persimmon that vanished from history in the 8th century. However, the plant produced no aroma despite years of growth.
“We waited several years hoping that it might become fragrant,” Sallon explained. “We also sent specimens to chemists at the University of Western Australia and the University of Strasbourg. They found few compounds associated with fragrance but many medicinal ones, including anti-inflammatory compounds.”
Sallon raises several crucial questions regarding the persimmon. How could a plant that thrived for 1,000 years at the Dead Sea disappear without a trace? Why have no persimmon seeds been found in archaeological excavations across the region?
“In Qumran alone, we found 4,000 seeds,” Sallon noted. “It’s puzzling that no one has asked about these unknown seeds.”
Another area of inquiry is the relationship between the persimmon and myrrh. Myrrh is mentioned in the Bible and Talmud as a healing plant, first appearing in Genesis, where the Ishmaelites transporting Joseph carried it. In some texts, myrrh is referred to as a synonym for persimmon.
Unlike persimmon, myrrh is valued for its medicinal properties. It is believed to have originated in Gilead, east of the Jordan River. Historical descriptions of the persimmon also differ over time. Early sources depict it as tree-sized, while first-century accounts describe it as a bush or vine.
Sallon tentatively proposes a hypothesis to address these mysteries. She suggests that the plant she discovered is a Commiphora native to the Dead Sea region and may be related to the myrrh mentioned in the Bible, known since the time of the Patriarchs.
She speculates that, during the Queen of Sheba’s visit, new, aromatic Commiphora seeds were introduced. Local farmers may have struggled to cultivate this new plant due to harsh desert conditions. The introduction of grafting techniques from Greece around the first century B.C.E. could have allowed farmers to combine the roots of resilient plants with the branches of aromatic ones.
Sallon believes that Sheba represents a local Commiphora species that ancient farmers used as rootstock for aromatic varieties, potentially creating the legendary persimmon. This theory could explain the absence of persimmon seeds in archaeological sites, as grafted plants often do not produce seeds.
Plants can evolve and shrink over generations, which may account for the changing descriptions of persimmons over time. After the communities growing persimmons in the Dead Sea region declined, their fields vanished as well. The Commiphora population likely suffered as well, possibly due to climate change.
Sallon theorizes that one seed ended up in the Nahal Makuch cave, perhaps carried by an animal like a bird or hyrax. It lay dormant for a thousand years until its rediscovery.
“It’s challenging for scientists to claim I’ve solved this mystery,” Sallon stated. “I can only suggest that there is a mystery. What we’ve grown is a Commiphora with a unique genetic fingerprint.”
She proposes the possibility that this plant is the biblical tsuri, not the persimmon itself, but perhaps close enough to have contributed to the legendary afarsemon that faded from history.
Related topics: