Mariam Amash, who lives in the predominantly Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa in northern Israel, listed the year of her birth as 1888 when she filled in an application form for a new identity card. If confirmed, this would make her the world’s oldest person by a whopping six years. The Guinness Book of World Records names 114-year-old American Edna Parker as the current title holder.

But Mrs Amash’s entry into the hallowed pages of the Guinness Book of Records is by no means certain. Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, confirmed that Amash is listed in the population registry as having been born in 1888 but added “we're just not sure it's correct."

Amarilis Espinoza, a Guinness spokeswoman in London, said she was not familiar with Amash's claim, and added that multiple documents would need to be produced to back up a birth certificate, like the birth certificates of a spouse and children, death certificates, school certificates and medical examinations.

Legend of longevity

Regardless of whether or not Mariam Amash becomes an official record breaker, the size of her family certainly suggests she has lived for an impressive number of years. She has 10 children, 120 grandchildren, 250 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren.

Mrs Amash also revealed that the secret of her long life is a healthy diet of lots of vegetables. She rises at 5am every morning for prayers and insists on drinking a glass of olive oil every day. A devout Muslim, she has made five journeys to Mecca, the last in 1990 when she was a sprightly 102. If her age is officially verified, she would only have to live until 2010 to become the world’s oldest person in history.