The tour guide identified 2 trees in the garden believed to have dated back during Jesus' time... these 2 trees have witnessed the agony in the garden. When she said this, my thought bubble was – how can a tree live more than 2,000 years?!
We also passed by the spot where Zaccheus (the tax collector) met Jesus. The guide showed us the tree believed to be the one which Zaccheus climbed to see Jesus. Wow, that's another tree that has lived for more than 2,000 years. When I got back from the trip, I totally forgot to research if trees can really live for centuries.
Then last Saturday, as I was watching BBC's Planet Earth Special (I'm on the 4th DVD), there was a segment on Seasonal Forests. It featured California's redwood trees - the world's 3 tallest trees - as tall as 100 meters or equivalent to a 30-storey building which have lived for thousands of years! Whoa...
Then there was this sequioa tree (also known as General Sherman and a relative of the redwoods) which is the biggest living thing on earth. How big? Think 10 blue whales. A blue whale is the largest animal on earth which can weigh 200 tons or twice the size of the the largest dinosaur! Whoa....
But what really amazed me were the footages of bristlecone pines - the oldest living organisms on earth. They have lived for more than 5,000 years! More than twice older than the trees I saw in Israel! As the documentary described them, the trees were there even before the pyramids were built! And they were already 3,000 years old when Jesus was born! Wow... :)
Then there was this sequioa tree (also known as General Sherman and a relative of the redwoods) which is the biggest living thing on earth. How big? Think 10 blue whales. A blue whale is the largest animal on earth which can weigh 200 tons or twice the size of the the largest dinosaur! Whoa....
But what really amazed me were the footages of bristlecone pines - the oldest living organisms on earth. They have lived for more than 5,000 years! More than twice older than the trees I saw in Israel! As the documentary described them, the trees were there even before the pyramids were built! And they were already 3,000 years old when Jesus was born! Wow... :)
