The start of the world’s annual date harvest begins at the lowest point on earth.
The Dead Sea is the unlikely location for the start of the world’s annual date harvesting – and this year is no exception. The salty, mineral-rich earth imparts a special aroma and sweetness to the fruit grown at the lowest point on earth.
Dates are harvested at different stages of ripening and the varieties Hiani and Barhi are picked at the first stage, and often used to decorate the tables at the Jewish New Year celebrations in Israel. The other date varieties (including the popular Medjool date which was considered to be the one of the finest date varieties at the time of Jesus) are picked as they go ripe and start to dry. The later they are harvested, the sweeter and finer the fruit.
Dates are one of the first crops to have been grown at the Dead Sea, with many date seeds found in the ruins of Qumran. Dates are one of the seven species of the Holy Land(‘A land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates, a land of olive-trees and honey”Deuteronomy 8:8).
The Dead Sea is one of the finalists in the New7Wonders of Nature online global competition. Voting for the Dead Sea as one of the New7Wonders of Nature takes place via the Tourism Ministry’s dedicated website: www.votedeadsea.com or via the Facebookgroup.