The Samson Effect is a “first class thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.”- Clive Cussler
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2000 Year Old Extinct Tree Resurrected
When Fact and Fiction Collide
In June of 2008, Dr. Sarah Sallon of The Louis L .Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, Israel announced that she had successfully grown an extinct tree from 2000 year old dormant seeds found in Masada, Israel. The high quality Date Palm of the first century, important to the region and prominent in biblical history, became extinct over the next two millennia.
Masada was the location where a small band of Israelis made their famous last stand against the Roman Empire. When it became apparent that Rome would breach their defenses, the surviving rebels committed suicide rather than surrender. The Date Palm seeds that Dr. Sallon successfully germinated came from a storehouse found in an archeological excavation in Masada
Until Dr. Sallon’s successful cultivation of the Date Palm, the oldest known dormant seeds to successfully germinate were those of a Lotus Seed found in a Manchurian dry lake bed. At the time The Samson Effect was published, Dr. Sallon’s research had not been published.
The Samson Effect deals at the center of its story with the possibility that 3000 year old dormant seeds can still be viable. You can read a bonus excerpt of The Samson Effect where the main characters—Dr. Thomas Hamilton and Dr. Michael Sieff—banter about the possibility of 3000 year old seeds being viable. Thomas, a biblical archeologist, believes the viability of 3000 year old seeds is possible. Michael is a little skeptical. It’s important in the story because they are searching for seeds responsible for The Samson Effect that were lost to history over three thousand years ago.
Dr. Sallon’s success at germinating the Date Tree, dubbed Methuselah (named after the oldest living person recorded in the Old Testament), puts science 800 years closer to the fiction I created. Who knows, maybe one day we will actually see seeds dormant for 3000 years or longer germinate. If so, it will not be the first time fiction has preceded science.
Dr. Sarah Sallon and the date Palm, Methuselah
(Photo used by permission)
Additional Resources about Dr. Sallon’s research with the Date Palm:
AP news story announcing the germination of the date Palm
Press Release issued by Dr. Sallon’s research center
Bonus excerpt of The Samson Effect