6,000 year old olive trees
On a recent trip to Lebanon. I was taken to see the oldest trees in the world. They have been investigated in detail and are now considered by those that know, to be approx 6,000 years old.
Below is a photo of me in front of an actual 6,000-year-old olive tree. It was awe inspiring. Can you believe it?
The trees are high up on Mount Lebanon in a town called Bcheale They are as legend tells us, descended from the olive branch that the dove returned to Noah after the great biblical flood.
Yes I did say trees as there are in fact many of them. As you can see in the photos.
They are so old that they have in many places split into separate pieces and form a circle of tree stems that look like separate trees.
It's not until you step back that you realise that they are all a part of a one tree.
They are known locally as the Sister's olives trees of Noah and are a great source of pride in the local village. The plague below states that the trees are 4000 BC in other words 6000 years old considering we are in 2017.
The olive grove is still tended today by nuns who harvest the olives every year and crush them into olive oil. At night the trees are illuminated with floodlights.
Standing beside the oldest tree in the world is humbling. It gives one pause for thought in this, mad million mile an hour world.
Now these are what you could really call #oldtimers. Just discovered #treetuesday so this is my contribution.
If you liked this post share it with your friends, enemies etc lol
What a priviledge to get to see those in person! That's amazing that they have been on this earth for so long witnessing all the amazing things that God has done!
It was indeed a huge honor to walk amongst these venerable olive groves. And to think Jesus himself must have seen them too. I was speechless and in awe.
Great comment! Plus you are new so Welcome to Steemit. Feel free to ask any questions. I upvoted your comment!
Well done on the upvote. This is like ping pong lol
Yes! I think I covered them all now lol.
Yep that'll about cover it all lol
Amazing pics and story! Thanks for sharing! :)
It was entirely my pleasure. Thank you for commenting.
Thanks for commenting! Here is a little upvote for you :)
Great shots of an ancient tree. I'd like to buy some olive oil of that tree.
I did too but forgot to ask. Can you imagine. 6,000 year old olive oil. That's gonna be some dinner party conversation.
I would too. I love good olive oil. Did you find any for sale while you were there?
Unfortunately not. As you may tell from the light it was golden hour and there was no one around to talk to. I would have bought some just for the craic lol It's just incredible.
Too bad. You'll have to go again!
Just FYI I'm upping comments in the #oldtimers! So thanks for commenting!
Did you see I put the #oldtimers in the thumbnail? To give it a bit of publicity. Hope it helps.
Exactly! Well done!
Don't know how but I completely missed this old-guy-photos I won't miss it again. lol
They do sell it but you would have to know someone in the area. Which I do. I'll ask my friend what the details are.
I think it would be prohibitively expensive as
it's run by a non profit organisation that tends to the trees and they wouldn't sell this stuff cheap.
I imagine they know how to make the most of it.
Oh wow, those are ancestor trees :D I adored seeing them...thank you! I have about a dozen baby trees and I love them even more after seeing these great #oldtimers :D
I was bowled over seeing these majestic olive trees and just to think they were around 4,000 years old when Jesus walk these lands. Incredible to imagine. Thanks for the comment. I just love to follow tree lovers. Wow, I just pushed the button and shot your comment to the top. So cool.
Neat! Awe inspiring.
Thanks, David. I was totally blown away to see these ancient olive trees. Imagine what they have seen? (if they had eyes of course lol)
What an amazing story. I bet you will never forget this experience...biblical. Great photographs too.
It was quite a trip all around. We saw some incredible sights. I've made a few videos already but still have a lot of footage to edit. Lebanon is an amazing country with fantastic places to see. I would go back in a heartbeat.
Looking forward to watching the video!
Holy wow!! Olive trees are so interesting. They remind me of the Juniper trees here in Central Oregon, all knotted and twisted. I'm really happy you shared this with us! How did it FEEL there? I feel like I'd feel something inside me - very unique. I feel the indescribable feeling just reading and looking at these photos! Thank you!
I saw quite a few olive trees in Greece but the thought never occurred to me about their age and life span! Nowadays you buy trees that are estimated only to live maybe 70 years! That's nothing compared to 6,000!! Wow
PS! I know you said you didn't expect a follow but this solidified my want and need to follow you! That and you're a teacher! I know I will learn from you!
And you'll be pleased to know that I've been made an honorary oldtimer! ;) :)
That's marvellous and thank you for the follow. I too am very particular in who I follow. And you've been inducted into the #oldtimers group. Brilliant. They are a great group and very supportive. We have people that know their way around steemit like @old-guy-photos There is not much he doesn't know and is always helping me lol
Thanks for your warm comments and welcome.
He was very kind to me also!! One of my steemie besties is @whatisnew, just love her. Haha.
I follow @whatisnew too. Snap! looks like we both have good taste when it comes to online buddies. I used to be on tsu. There are a lot of familiar names here from that website. All great people and I'll be hooking up with them when I get a spare minute. Did you ever write on tsu?
No, I never did! I only actually learned of it today from @the-bitcoin-dood lol!
It had a very similar way of looking at the world of content creators. That they should get 90% of the income generated from their content with just 10% retained to run the website. It gained 5 million contributors in no time at all. If they would have had a link to a crypto like steem then I guess they would still be around. I never did find out why they folded but it was a great community.
It really does sound like it was! Maybe they'll bring it back, or merge with Steemit somehow, never know what could happen! :)
You never know? The tsu network did a lot of fundraising for all sorts of causes and I'm happy to have been a part of it. It must have been a bit of a strain on the originator. It took off so fast. It was almost viral in uptake.
I recently joined #oldtimers and happened on your wonderful post about the 6,000 year old olive trees. Isn't it amazing how long these trees have survived? It must have been amazing to stand among such ancient beauty. The California Redwoods also have long living tress and I love how they too stand tall and strong throughout our history. I do believe as we age, we grow wiser and more grounded. You did a terrific post and I just wish more people saw it! I will put you on my follow list because I believe age and wisdom is golden. Have a great week ahead!....Cabbagepatch
Thank you so much for your warm and welcome comments.
It was amazing to see these really ancient trees. If only they could speak I wonder what stories they could tell us. The colours of them was so deep, rich and warm. They almost glowed in the sunset.
Awesome pictures and history of these very old trees. Up voted.
Thanks for the upvote. I'm glad you liked these trees. They are incredible to witness up close.
I LOVE those trunks!
They are stunningly beautiful. I love the rich depth of colour.
It was golden hour and they just lit up.