The Judean date palm is a cultivar of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). The cultivar was thought to have become extinct sometime around 1 CE, but in 2005, a preserved 2,000-year-old seed was used to grow the palm again. It is the oldest known human-assisted germination of a seed.

The date palm was considered a staple in the Judean Desert, as it was a source of food, shelter and shade for thousands of years, and became a recognized symbol of the Kingdom of Judea. The tree and its fruit caused Jericho to become a major population center and are praised in the Hebrew Bible several times, such as in Psalm 92 ("The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree… they shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing."). It was even said to have medicinal properties, supposedly curing many diseases and infections, promoting longevity and acting as a mild aphrodisiac. Its likeness was engraved on shekalim, the ancient Jewish unit of currency.

When the Roman Empire attacked the Jordan River Valley it was reported that there were giant groves of Judean date palms over seven miles across, with trees up to 80 feet high, that ran from the Sea of Galilee and Jordan River Valley in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. Because of its importance, the emperor Vespasian celebrated the victory of the Romans over the Judeans in the Great Jewish Revolt in Iudaea Province by minting the Judea Capta–a bronze coin that showed a Judean woman weeping beneath a date palm. A date palm is also featured on the ten-shekel coin of the New Israeli Shekel.