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Methuselah is a Judean date palm tree that was grown from a 2,000 year old seed found from the remains of Masada, an ancient fortification perched on a rock plateau in southern Israel. This Judean date palm is the sole representative of his kind: Methuselah’s variety was reportedly wiped out around 500 A.D.. Methuselah sprouted back in 2005, when agriculture expert Dr. Solowey germinated this antique seed. She has been growing date palms from ancient seeds discovered in the region with a wish to understand exactly what earlier peoples of the region were eating and how it tasted. Methuselah is a male date tree, and his flowers produce the pollen, whereas one needs the flowers of the female to bear the fruit. However, 10 years ago, a few Judean date seeds from other ancient sites, including Qumran (the site associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls) were sprouted, and one of these trees, a female dubbed Hannah, was planted a few feet away from Methuselah. When the time came, Hannah (whose seed was dated even 200 years earlier) was pollinated with Methuselah’s pollen. That year Judean dates were eaten for the first time in millennia.