Today.Az » Society » The clay pot story: Oldest Earth inhabitant was a shepherd from Azerbaijan
02 April 2010 [12:36] - Today.Az
When a 90-year old passes away, we think he/she lived quite a long life. What should we say when a 170-year old passes away then?
That's the age of the oldest inhabitant of our planet Shirali Muslimov (according to UNESCO). If he lived to this day, he would have turned 205!
Shirali Muslimov was a shepherd from Azerbaijan of Talysh nationality, who lived 170 years, setting an unprecedented record of longevity in history. Muslimov’s passport indicated that he was born on March 26, 1805.
Shirali Muslimov was featured on the pages of the press for so many years. The press and movies often described him seated among many descendants, on horseback and while working in the garden or reading books and newspapers.
Muslimov's 150th birthday in 1955, became truly a national holiday for the Azerbaijani people. The Guinness Book of Records did not record his name due to lack of documents certifying the exact date of his birth. The clay pot was the only thing to determine his date of birth. According to local traditions, a child's name and year of birth were written on the clay pot and then buried in the ground.
Even in his record-senile years, he had an excellent memory, and remembered the times when his village received news on end of the Persian rule. It happened in the first quarter of the 19th century.
Muslimov was born and lived in the Barzavu village of Azerbaijan’s Lerik region. He worked as a shepherd for more than 150 years stalking a herd for 10-15 kilometers every day. He ate fresh cheese, fruit, vegetables and honey. He drank only spring water and tea of various plants in the last years of his life.
All date about him was recorded in January, 1973: height - 161 cm, weight - 56 kilograms, breathing - 16 breaths per minute, pulse - 76 beats per minute, pressure - 60. Shirali did not drink, did not smoke and neither did he overeat.
He used to say: "We should always work. Idleness morphs into laziness and laziness, in turn, results in death."
Shirali married a 57-year-old Khatoun when he was 136 years, and on the same year a baby girl was born to his family. This is the most advanced age in the whole world history which saw a man to become a father. His father lived for 110 years, mother - 90, and his last - third wife - 104 years outliving her husband for 15 years.
Azerbaijani record long-liver Shirali Muslimov passed away in 1975.
/Trend Life/
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