Scientists have cultivated plants from date palm seeds that languished in ancient ruins and caves for 2,000 years.
科學家從椰棗種子中培育出植物，這些種子在古老的廢墟和洞穴中枯萎了2000年。
This remarkable feat confirms the long-term viability of the kernels once ensconced in succulent Judean dates, a fruit cultivar lost for centuries.
這一非凡的壯舉證實了曾經棲息在多汁的朱迪安棗中的核仁的長期生存能力，這是一個失去了幾個世紀的水果品種。
The results make it an excellent candidate for studying the longevity of plant seeds.
這些結果使其成為研究植物種子壽命的一個極好的候選者。
From those date palm saplings, the researchers have begun to unlock the secrets of the highly sophisticated cultivation practices that produced the dates praised by Herodotus, Galen, and Pliny the Elder.
從這些棕櫚樹苗開始，研究人員已經開始揭開高度複雜的栽培實踐的秘密，正是這種做法產生了希羅多德、蓋倫和老普林尼所稱讚的棗子。
"The current study sheds light on the origins of the Judean date palm, suggesting that its cultivation, benefiting from genetically distinct eastern and western populations, arose from local or introduced eastern varieties, which only later were crossed with western varieties," the researchers wrote in their paper.
研究人員在他們的論文中寫道：“目前的研究揭示了朱地亞棗樹的起源，表明它的種植受益於東西方截然不同的群體，起源於當地或引進的東部品種，這些品種後來才與西方品種雜交。”
"These findings are consistent with Judea's location between east-west date palm diversification areas, ancient centres of date palm cultivation, and the impact of human dispersal routes at this crossroads of continents."
“這些發現與朱迪亞位於東西棗樹多樣化地區、古老的棗樹種植中心之間的位置，以及人類在這個大陸交叉路口的傳播路線的影響是一致的。”
In an ancient palace fortress built by King Herod the Great, and caves located in southern Israel between the Judean Hills and the Dead Sea, archaeologists retrieved hundreds of seeds from the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera).
在希律大王建造的一座古老的宮殿堡壘中，以及位於以色列南部猶太山脈和死海之間的洞穴中，考古學家從棗棕櫚(Phoenix Dactyicia)中取回了數百顆種子。
Then, a team of scientists, led by Sarah Sallon of Hadassah Medical Organisation in Israel, sorted through this bounty.
然後，由以色列哈大沙醫療組織的Sarah Sallon領導的一組科學家通過這筆賞金進行了分類。
They selected 34 seeds they thought were the most viable.
他們選擇了34個他們認為最有生命力的種子。
One was separated out as a control; the remaining 33 were carefully soaked in water and fertiliser to encourage germination.
其中一個被分離出來作為對照；其餘的33個被小心地浸泡在水和肥料中以促進發芽。
After this process, one more was found to be damaged, and was subsequently discarded; the remaining 32 seeds were planted.
在這個過程之後，又發現一個被損壞，隨後被丟棄，剩下的32個種子被種植。
(Sallon et al., SciAdv, 2020)
(Sallon等，SciAdv，2020)
Of these, six of the seeds successfully sprouted.
在這些種子中，有六個種子成功地發芽了。
They were given the names Jonah, Uriel, Boaz, Judith, Hannah and Adam.
他們被命名為約拿，烏列，波阿斯，猶大，哈拿和亞當。
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