Botanists resurrected lost biblical plant from 1.000-year-old seed

Botanists have succeeded in resurrecting an extinct plant mentioned in the Bible from a 1.000-year-old seed they discovered in perfect condition in a cave in the Judean desert in the 1980s.

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In addition to the war in the Middle East, Israel also gives us other kinds of news. Researchers say they believe they came across a species of tree, now extinct, that could have been the source of a healing balm mentioned in the Bible and other ancient texts.

The ancient seed discovered during an archaeological dig in the lower Wadi el-Makkuk region, north of Jerusalem, was found to be in pristine condition. But scientists were unable to determine the type of tree from the seed alone.

The team, led by Dr. Sarah Sallon, a physician who founded the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, planted the seed for further investigation twelve years ago.

Sallon said it is possible that the tree is the source of the biblical "chori," a medicinal plant extract associated with the historic region of Gilead, north of the Dead Sea, in the Jordan Rift Valley, a mountainous and forested area that was heavily cultivated and now it is Jordanian territory.

The team's findings, described in a study that was published September 10 in the journal Communications Biology, unlock some of the secrets surrounding the origin of this enigmatic specimen.

unknown seed

To germinate the sample, study co-author Dr. Elaine Solowey, research emeritus at the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, used a process that had been perfected during earlier research led by Sallon involving 2.000-year-old palm seeds.

The approach involved soaking the mystery seed in water mixed with hormones and fertilizer before planting it in a pot of sterile soil.

About five and a half weeks later, the first shoot appeared. Once the sprout had grown the team used radiocarbon on the original organic matter to date the seed and found the sample to be roughly between 993 and 1202 AD.

Shortly thereafter, the tree began to produce leaves. Sallon shared images of the tree and its leaves with botanists around the world. One expert suggested that it belonged to the genus Commiphora. This genus includes about 200 species of trees found mainly in Africa, Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsula.

Sallon then shared a sample of the leaf with study co-author Dr. Andrea Weeks, associate professor in the biology department at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Weeks sequenced the tree's DNA, confirming the preliminary identification. However, the specimen did not match any of the known Commiphora species in his database.

According to the study, the unknown Commiphora species with its unique genetic imprint likely represented an extinct taxon once native to the region around the Judean Desert.

unknown tree

However, the tree, which is now over 14 years old and almost 3 meters tall, has neither flowered nor fruited. Without these more easily identifiable features, it is not possible to identify the species with certainty.

Based on historical research, Sallon believed the tree may be the source of what ancient texts from the region, including the Bible, describe as "Judas Balsam" or "Balm of Gilead," an aromatic resin collected for to make a coveted perfume that was exported around the world at the time.

Also, according to Dr Louise Colville, lead researcher in seed biology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, seeds with such incredible longevity are rare.

"What's surprising about this story is that it was just a single seed, and to have a chance to germinate is extraordinary luck," he said.

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Written by Dimitris

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