They were stored in a very dry and sheltered space.
Radiocarbon dating was performed at the University of Zurich and it revealed that the seeds dated from between 155 B.C.E. to 64 C.E.!
They were subsequently held in storage at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, until in 2005.
Three of the seeds were planted after being pretreated in a fertilizer and hormone-rich solution and eight weeks later, one of the ancient seeds sprouted.
Three years later, in 2008, the tree was nearly four feet tall and had nearly a dozen leafs.
The tree is now the only living tree of its kind because the Judean date palm was extinct for more than 1800 years until this seed germinated. This type of palm tree used to be a major food source and an export crop of ancient Judea.
It was decided to name the tree Methuselah, after the longest-lived character in the Bible and it grows at Kibbutz Ketura in the Arabah desert in southern Israel.
In 2011 Methuselah flowered and it was established that it is a male.
