A team of scientists successfully grew an ancient tree from a 1,000-year-old seed found in a cave in the Judean Desert, between the West Bank and Israel, which belongs to a lineage of trees mentioned in the Bible.
While digging in the mid-1980s, researchers discovered the mysterious ancient seed. One later radiocarbon dating placed the date of the origin of the seed at a time between 993 d. C. and 1202 AD. c.
After years of attempts to grow the plant, the 1.8 centimeter long seed was planted in 2010 in an Israeli greenhouse and five weeks later it began to germinate.
14 years later, the tree was about three meters high. It belongs to Genus Commiphoraa family known for producing aromatic and medicinal resins and was unofficially named “Sheba”.
The ancient seed and Saba, the “resurrected” tree. Credit Dr Sarah Sallon / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The investigation also revealed that Sheba belongs to the family of myrrh and frankincensetwo compounds also mentioned in the Bible and closely associated with Jesus.
Today, scientists believe that in addition to being known for its “resurrection” since ancient times, the plant is the mythical “tsori”, described in biblical texts as a healing balm.
A medicinal remedy mentioned in the Bible
One of the most intriguing aspects of this discovery is its connection with the “tsori”, a substance mentioned several times in the Bible, notably in the books of Genesis, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Tsori, often translated as “balm” in English, was historically associated with the region of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, and was known for its medicinal properties.
By analyzing the substance, researchers discovered that Sheba is rich in pentacyclic triterpenoidscompounds with anti-inflammatory and potentially anti-cancer properties.
Additionally, the leaves contain high levels of squalane, a natural substance known for its antioxidant and skin-healing benefits. These findings led the team to propose that Sheba could, in fact, be the source of the biblical tsori, associated with healing in ancient texts.
Additionally, tree resin contains glycolipid compounds not described anywhere else.
An uncertain species
Although the scientific team conducted extensive genetic and chemical analyzes of the Sheba tree, the analyzes revealed that the tree is closely related to several species of Commiphorus native to southern Africa, but its exact species remains uncertain as the tree has not yet flowered.
Without reproductive material, researchers cannot definitively classify Sheba tree nor compare it with its modern relatives.
Therefore, they suggest that Sheba may represent a lost lineage of trees once native to the South Levantea region that today includes Israel, Palestine and Jordan.
Sheba, years ago at the Arava Institute’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Credit: Guy Eisner.
The resurgence of this ancient seed marks an important discovery, not only for its connection to the past, but also for its possible medicinal uses today.
The study was published in the scientific journal Communication biology.
A publication of Mysterious science. All rights reserved. – Redistribution and redistribution of this content without prior consent is expressly prohibited. Website protected by Safe Creative.
Thank you for reading us. We invite you to follow us on our Facebookto be up to date with all the news we publish daily. You can also join our community on Telegram. We are waiting for you!