Judean Date Palm

The chapter opens with the remarkable story of a 2,000-year-old date palm seed found at Masada, Israel. The seed waited through the fall of Jerusalem, the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and two World Wars. In 2005, researchers treated it with enzymatic fertilizer, plant hormones, and controlled temperature cycling. Eight weeks later, it sprouted - the first new growth from that genetic lineage in 2,000 millennia. This demonstrates the extraordinary dormancy capabilities of seeds and the importance of waiting for the right conditions.