DAILY MAIL : Monday 18 February, 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN in Jerusalem
A WOMAN has declared herself the oldest living person after her birth certificate was uncovered, showing she is 120.
Mariam Amash rises at 5am, walks unaided and puts her longevity down to eating lots of vegetables.
She said: 'Yes, I am the oldest person in the world. I eat, drink and take showers. I hope to keep going for another ten years.'
Her Ottoman Empire birth certificate says she was born near her home in Jisr az-Zarka, northern Israel, in 1888.
Mrs Amash, who is a Bedouin Muslim, has ten children, 120 grandchildren, 250 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-greatgrandchildren.
The oldest living person in the Guinness Book of Records is Edna Parker, of Indiana, who is 114.
Mrs Amash's age came to light this month when she applied to the Israeli interior ministry to renew her ID card.
Official Moshe Hazut said: 'She was born during the Ottoman period, when the population registry was very inaccurate. It is possible she is younger – or even older.
'She was perfectly capable of walking by herself. Her hearing is impaired but she seemed fine, God bless her.'
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