Aside from the Mutiny on the Bounty , where the dissatisfied crowd cast away breadfruit overboard , I ’ve never heard such a High Seas Adventure as the one I learned last calendar month in Israel .
My wife Rose and I were on a “ Turning point of History ” cruise of ancient ruins in Israel , Greece and Turkey . Days were fill with motorcoach hitch to downfall from Caesarea – south of Haifa – to Troy in Turkey . My friend , submerged archaeologist John Hale , author of the excellentLords of the Sea , entertained us and fill in the historic gaps with on - board lectures that cut across a engrossing spectrum from Persephone to the Peloponnese .
Our Israeli guide had lots of serious stories on the drive from Capernaum to Jerusalem . The Pisces the Fishes of the Loaves and Fishes miracle was likely tilapia ; the crest of irritant might have been jujubeZiziphus jujuba(Z. spina - christi).Others on the bus tour may remember the genus Tilapia . I ’m a works guy and was more intrigued with the jujube . And my spike were pinned by the story of the date palm .
Rose Bush with Persian Dates
particular date palms ( Phoenix dactylifera ) have been cultivated in the Middle East for thousands of years . In 2005 , a two - thousand - yr - old semen found near the Dead Sea , now known as the Judean escort palm , was germinated and confine the record for nearly seven years as the oldest cum with a viable embryo . The industrial plant is now over 8 ’ magniloquent . The record was shattered to begin with this class by seed germinated by Russian scientists from a 32,000 - year - old arctic campion that was described as resemblingSilene stenophylla .
The Jordan River , near Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee , is like in size to Beargrass Creek , just down the hill , past our back yard here in Kentucky . You could pass over a stone across either . The Jordan River fall in the south for miles along the irrigated vale plant with olives , oranges , melon vine , and strawberries to hoop menage filled with cut flower . The Golan Heights rear to the east . As we come near the oasis town of Jericho , there were acres of tall date palms in prospicient square rows on either side of Highway 90 .
Sometime in the mid-1950s the Israeli “ Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations ” , known as Mossad , hatched a covert plan . Israeli farmers , some of them perhaps doing three-fold duty for Mossad , could n’t vie with their regional competitors – the tasty dates grow in Iraq . There were no diplomatic relations between the Israelis and Iraqis , so the Mossad belong to work . They direct some agents to Iran , set as French businessmen .
Rose Bush with Persian Dates
The Israeli agent spent several month in Iran , gaining the confidence of the Iranians , who eventually were uncoerced to answer as go - betweens with the Iraqis . The hole-and-corner Mossad agents buy 75,000 particular date palm “ pups ” – little offsets from mother plants – and put them on a gravy holder to France . buccaneer derive on base , somewhere in the Mediterranean , and reave the cargo . The only point miss , when the dust settled , were the appointment palm tree “ pup . ” A few days later , the stolen loot ended - up in Haifa , the Israeli embrasure city .
Rose Bush with Persian Dates
The lead goes cold after this . Were the pirated Iraki day of the month medallion “ pups ” ‘ Amir Hajj ’ , ‘ Mozafati Rotab ’ , ‘ Deglet Noor ’ or ‘ Medjool ’ ( ‘ Medjoul ’ ) ?
The Holy Land is load with improbable tales . you may pick your variant of miracles or holy Tree . The jujube(Ziziphus jujuba)isn’t the only challenger for the crown of sticker . Pollen grains from the thistle - alike Gundelia tournefortiiwere found all over the Shroud of Turin in 1998 , but Christian pilgrims were n’t all of a sudden clamoring to take home thistles . The Chinese date crown of commode is still preferred for souvenirs .
John Hale bring early civilisation to life with wonderful storytelling throughout our May sail . The cunning Themistocles and the cracking Athenian US Navy with 300 silklike triremes , outnumbered 3 - 1 , whipped King Xerxes and the Persians at Salamis in 480 B.C. Maybe the victor feasted on the sweet meat of Iranian dates .
