Sisters Olive Trees of Noah

The Sisters Olive Trees of Noah are a grove of sixteen olive trees in the Lebanese town of Bcheale.^[1]

Three of the Sisters Olive Trees of Noah.

According to local folklore, the trees are at least 5,000 years old, perhaps even 6,000 years old or older.^[2][3] However in 2024 a study using carbon dating found the oldest tree to be only 1,162 years old, plus or minus 131 years. This makes it the oldest known olive tree in the world.^[4]

Folk legend also ascribes The Sisters as the source of the olive branch returned to Noah's Ark at the waning of the Biblical Flood.^[5][6] The trees still produce olives, and a preservation effort was undertaken by the non-profit organization Sisters Olive Oil, which marketed oil from these olives.^[6]

See also

• List of individual trees
• List of oldest trees