The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life or Sharajat-al-Hayat as it's known locally, is an ancient tree of almost mystical proportions found in Bahrain. The solitary tree is found growing all alone near the highest point of Bahrain — surrounded by empty desert and occasional oil wells.

With no sign of water and virtually no rain, the tree has thrived for over 400 years and continues to be covered in healthy glossy leaves — while nothing else grows in the immediate region.

Sharajat-al-Hayat is a ghaf (Prosopis Cineraria) tree, known for their incredible hardiness and huge tap roots that are able to find underground water at over 50m depth. This is probably how the Tree of Life survives — tapping into an unseen water supply it is able to lift upwards.

Other more mythological answers for the tree's existence and longevity assert that Enki, an ancient god of water in Babylonian and Sumerian mythology, protects the tree. Another credible theory is the site is the historical location of the biblical Garden of Eden.

While billions is spent annually on irrigation to try to (largely unsuccessfully) establish trees in desert conditions, we should look to the local species like the ghaf that have evolved to survive in the extreme conditions. Even better would be plant seed harvested from genetically strong trees such as Sharajat-al-Hayat.