The Olive Tree on Masada

In 2021, archaeologists working near Masada in Israel discovered olive tree roots still alive in soil that hadn't seen steady rain in decades. The roots had pushed deep — impossibly deep — into hairline cracks in the limestone, finding hidden moisture that sustained them through years of drought and scorching desert wind. Meanwhile, the lavish palace that Herod the Great had built on that same mountaintop lay in ruins.…