2014-10-27

Tree of Life, Bahrain | Shajarat-al-Hayat

In the desert of Bahrain, where there are no surface or groundwater sources, quite inexplicably, for 400 years, a lonely acacia tree, called by locals "Hadzharat Al Haya" or "Shajarat al-Hayah", which means "tree of life", has grown. According to biblical tradition, the tree of life is located in the paradise gardens of Eden in Bahrain, and so many call it the tree of the Garden of Eden. Lonely Acacia has become the main attraction of Bahrain; tourists pull, feel involved in the secret, and touch the symbol of survival and triumph over circumstances.

Sharajat-al-Hayat, 'Tree of Life' (Shara al-Hayat) - 400-year-old mesquite growing in Bahrain, 2 kilometers from the hill Jabal Dakhan (Jabal ad Dukhan, 'Smoke Mountain').

Sharajat-al-Hayat, 'Tree of Life' (Shara al-Hayat) – a 400-year-old mesquite tree growing in Bahrain, 2 kilometres from the hill Jabal Dakhan (Jabal ad Dukhan, 'Smoke Mountain'). A tree height of 32 feet (9.75 metres) is growing at a respectable distance from all its fellows, in the middle of the desert, on top of 25 feet (7.7 metres) of a sandy hill; this hill is located in the desert Sakhir (Sahir), 35 kilometres from the capital of Bahrain, Manama. Like all mesquite trees, Sharajat-al-Hayat pretty much feels dry in these conditions. Theoretically, this phenomenon could be attributed to going deep into the ground, leaving the root system – we know that in some cases the roots went deep into the mesquite, almost 50 metres. Alas, in this case, the tree, located on a hill, had to grow its roots longer to reach the groundwater. Extra-long roots also fail to explain why only one tree survived – and only at the top of a hill. For a while, there were rumours about some miraculous bacteria residing in the local sand and somehow helping the Tree of mine water; however, there was no official confirmation of this theory.

First Image credit: Wikipedia

Image credit: Omar Chatriwala

Largely secret, tree survival in such unfriendly conditions makes it so an impressive tourist attraction – the Ministry of Information of Bahrain claims that Shara Al-Hayat attracts about 50 thousand people annually.