Requiem for Methuselah

"Requiem for Methuselah" is a third season episode of the original science fiction television series, Star Trek, first broadcast on February 14, 1969. Its repeat broadcast, on September 2, 1969, was the last official telecast of the series to air on NBC (Star Trek would immediately debut in syndication on the following Monday, September 8, a full three years after its debut). It is episode No. 74, production No. 76, written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Murray Golden. It guest-stars James Daly as "Mr. Flint", and Louise Sorel as "Rayna Kapec" ("Kapec" is an anagram of Capek, after Karel Čapek, who introduced the term robot).

In this episode, the crew of the Enterprise encounters an immortal human in this science fiction variation on Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Plot

The crew of the Federation starship USS Enterprise is struck with deadly Rigellian Fever. They arrive at the remote planet Holberg 917-G in search of the mineral Ryetalyn, used to manufacture a cure. Sensors detect no humanoid life.

Methuselah

Methuselah (Hebrew: מְתוּשֶׁלַח / מְתוּשָׁלַח, Modern Metušélaħ / Metušálaħ Tiberian Məṯûšélaḥ / Məṯûšālaḥ ; "Man of the dart/spear", or alternatively "his death shall bring judgment") is the man reported to have lived the longest at the age of 969 in the Hebrew Bible. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656AM (Anno Mundi, after Creation), seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood. Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah.

In the Bible

Methuselah is mentioned in one passage in the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 5:21–27, as part of the genealogy linking Adam to Noah. The genealogy is repeated, without the chronology, at 1Chronicles 1:3, and at Luke 3:37. The following is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The verses are available in three manuscript traditions, the Masoretic, the Septuagint and the Samaritan Torah. The three traditions do not agree with each other. The differences can be summarized as follows:

Methuselah (tree)

Methuselah is a 7003484700000000000♠4,847-year-oldGreat Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. For many years it was the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism, until superseded by the discovery in 2012 of another bristlecone pine in the same area with an age of 7003506500000000000♠5,065 years (germination in 3050 BC).

Geography

Methuselah is located between 2,900 and 3,000 m (9,500 and 9,800 ft) above sea level in the "Methuselah Grove" in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest within the Inyo National Forest. Its exact location has not been publicly disclosed.

Status as oldest known tree

Methuselah was 4,789 years old when sampled (likely in 1957) by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan, with an estimated germination date of 2833 BC. Methuselah was for many years considered the world's oldest living tree, until 2012 when an older bristlecone pine was discovered and later announced in 2013.

Other ancient trees

Methuselah (disambiguation)

Methuselah, a Biblical figure, was known for living a long time. Methuselah may also refer to:

Arts, entertainment, and media

Fictional characters and creatures

Films