The Tree of Life or Shajarat-al-Hayat, as it is called in Arabic, is a lonely mesquite tree that stands in the heart of Bahrain’s desert.

It stands alone, on top of a 25-foot-high sandy hill, at the highest point in Bahrain, miles away from another natural tree and with no apparent source of water. With 32 feet in height, it has continued growing-despite the extreme temperatures, lack of fresh water, and nutrients.

The tree is abundantly covered in green leaves. Due to its age and the fact that it is the only major tree growing in the area, the tree is a local tourist attraction and is visited by approximately 65,000 people every year. The yellow resin is used to make candles, aromatics and gum; the beans are processed into meal, jam, and wine.

It is not certain how the tree survives. Bahrain has little to no rain throughout the year. Its roots are 50 meters deep, which may be enough to reach the water. Others say the tree has learned to extract moisture from grains of sand. Some claim that the tree is standing in what was once the Garden of Eden, and so has a more mystical source of water.

In 2009, the tree was nominated to the New 7 Wonders of Nature list, but it did not finish on the list.

In October 2010, archaeologists unearthed 500-year-old pottery and other artefacts in the vicinity of the tree. A soil and dendrochronology analysis conducted in the 1990s concluded that the tree was an Acacia planted in 1582.

Here is a video if you want a closer look at it, it is in Indonesian, but they get some nice footage of the tree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-w4FwoNWU

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  • ButtBidet [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Avatar 2:

    The good : Lots of Amerikkkans died. The parallels to the Vietnam War seemed almost obvious. Like marines threatening a peaceful village with death, and burning everything.

    The bad : maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like they pushed the Native American imagery too hard

    • lascaux [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      did you notice the avatar troops had project phoenix pins on their uniforms while they were destroying the villages?

      • ButtBidet [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        No I did not! Interesting, but I'm not good with lore and details like this. Thanks for the update.