Horticulturists are celebrating the growth of a 1,000 year old “Tsori” seed, discovered nearly 30 years ago, which is believed to produce a balm resin mentioned several times in the Biblical narrative.
The seed was found in a natural cave in Lower Wadi el-Makkuk by archaeologists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the northern Judean desert during cave surveys from 1986 to 1989.
The 1.8cm long seed, weighing 0.565g, was stored at the university until selected by Dr. Sarah Sallon, a member of the Middle East Medicinal Plant Project (MEMP) and founder of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Center (NMRC) at the Hadassah University Hospital-Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.
In 2010, she planted the seed, nicknamed “Sheba”, inside a greenhouse in the Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Israel and it grew into a tree, currently located in a pot, with help from her colleagues.
Sallon, a natural medicine enthusiast, told the Jerusalem Post that the ancient seed is a “strong contestant for the source of the enigmatic Tsori.”
Radiocarbon dating estimates the seed originated between 993AD and 1202AD, according to Communications Biology. Scientific analysis also involved DNA sequencing and chemical analysis, among other tests conducted. The species is identified as Commiphora, belonging to the same family as Frankincense and Myrrh.
“Several hypotheses are offered to explain the origins, implications and ethnobotanical significance of this unknown Commiphora, to the best of our knowledge the first identified from an archaeological site in this region, including identification with a resin producing tree mentioned in Biblical sources and possible agricultural relationship with the historic Judean Balsam,” stated Communications Biology.
The study “refuted” an initial approach that Sheba was linked to a Judean Balsam known to be cultivated in ancient times and so moved to a second hypothesis for the seed’s identity - that it represented the presumed extinct species of Commiphora, as mentioned above.
The species was unlikely to have been used for aromatic/smelling purposes because phytochemical analysis of the resin and leaves lacked “volatile aromatic compounds,” according to the study. However, “pentacyclic triterpenes” present in the plant mean it likely was used for medicinal purposes, such as healing wounds, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-tumoral activities.
Tsori translates from Hebrew into “balm” in English. It is mentioned in Genesis 37:25: “As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.”
It is also mentioned in Genesis 43:11: “Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.’”
Further references are in Jeremiah 8:22: “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” as well as Jeremiah 46:11: “Go up to Gilead and get balm, Virgin Daughter Egypt. But you try many medicines in vain; there is no healing for you.”
Another reference is in Jeremiah 51:8: “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.”
Lastly, this species is also mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17: “Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.”
“Biblical “tsori”, most likely the product of a local species, was associated with the historical region of Gilead in the Dead Sea-Jordan Rift valley, a mountainous, richly forested area in antiquity with a lower fertile valley (ghor) intensively cultivated throughout history,” stated Communications Biology.
“Located on the east bank of the Jordan river between the Yarmuk river and northern end of the DeadSea, Gilead today occupies the northwest region of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.”
