THE ANCIENT HISTORY
OF
HONEY
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE HUMBLE BEE
HONEY COMPANY
HONEY
• WHEN THE SUN WEEPS A SECOND TIME, AND LETS FALL WATER FROM HIS EYES, IT IS
CHANGED INTO WORKING BEES; THEY WORK IN THE FLOWERS OF EACH KIND, AND HONEY
AND WAX ARE PRODUCED INSTEAD OF WATER.PSALT 825, FIRST MILLENNIUM BCE [29]
• ONE DOES NOT BUILD A ROYAL PALACE FOR THE HONEY BEE. A HIVE OF DUNG IS BETTER
THAN A HIVE OF STONE [LIKE A BARN]...THE HOUSE OF THE BEE IS EFFECTIVELY AN
ARRANGEMENT OF COMBS, A PLACE SUITABLE FOR STORING HONEY...IT IS MORE PLEASANT
FOR THE BEES BENEATH THE HONEY COMBS.MYTH OF THE EYE OF RE, LEIDEN CAT, I 384 [32
ANCIENT HISTORY OF HONEY BEES AND HONEY
• THE HISTORY AND USES OF HONEY GOES BACK AS FAR AS RECORDED TIME.
• BEES HAVE BEEN PRODUCING HONEY FOR AT LEAST 150 MILLION YEARS
• A CAVE PAINTING DEPICTING AN ANDROGYNOUS FIGURE ROBBING HONEY OUT OF THE HIVE WAS
FOUND IN THE CAVE OF THE SPIDER IN VALENCIA, SPAIN. IT IS ESTIMATED TO BE 15,000 YEARS OLD.
• THE EARLIEST RECORD OF KEEPING BEES IN HIVES WAS FOUND IN THE SUN TEMPLE ERECTED IN
2400BC NEAR CAIRO. THE BEE FEATURED FREQUENTLY IN EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS AND, BEING
FAVORED BY THE PHARAOHS, OFTEN SYMBOLIZED ROYALTY.
A GIFT OF THE GODS
HONEY WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE HEALING POWERS
• GIFT OF THE GODS
• THE GREEK PHYSICIAN HIPPOCRATES CURED SKIN DISORDERS WITH HONEY
• USED ON ROMAN WARRIORS TO HEAL WOUNDS
• ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTIES
• VESSELS OF HONEY WAS FOUND IN 14TH CENTURY EGYPTIAN TOMBS CRYSTALIZED BUT
STILL GOOD.
• HONEY WAS ALSO USED IN THE EMBALMING PROCESS FOR MUMMIFICATION DURING
THE 14TH CENTURY
• HONEY APPEARS IN ANCIENT RELIGIOUS TEXTS
• HEBREW BIBLE
• NEW TESTAMENT
• QUR’AN
BUDDHISM
THE BEE WAS THE SIGN OF THE KING OF LOWER EGYPT DURING THE FIRST DYNASTY
(3,200BC)
HONEY
THE FIRST OFFICIAL MENTION RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF HONEY DATES FROM THE FIRST
DYNASTY, WHEN THE TITLE OF "SEALER OF THE HONEY" IS GIVEN [11];
•
THE OLDEST PICTURES OF BEE-KEEPERS, THE OLD KINGDOM:
•
IN NIUSERRE'S SUN TEMPLE BEE-KEEPERS ARE SHOWN BLOWING SMOKE INTO HIVES AS
THEY ARE REMOVING THE HONEY-COMBS.
•
AFTER EXTRACTING THE HONEY FROM THE COMBS IT WAS STRAINED AND POURED INTO
EARTHEN JARS WHICH WERE THEN SEALED.
•
HONEY TREATED IN THIS MANNER COULD BE KEPT YEARS.
[8
ANCIENT COINS
In the third century BC, the bee was
the
emblem used on coins in the Greek
city of Ephesus.
HONEY, THE ELIXER OF MEDITERRANIAN SOCIETIES
Minoan Gold Bee pendant from
Crete, circa 2000 BC
THE ROMAN EMPEROR AUGUSTUS ONCE ASKED A MAN WHO LIVED TO BE 100 YEARS OLD WHAT HIS SECRET WAS AND
THE MAN REPLIED “OIL WITHOUT AND HONEY WITHIN”.
THE GREEK SEA GOD GLAUCUS, THE SON OF MINOS AND PASIPHAE, WAS RESTORED TO LIFE WHEN BURIED IN A JAR OF
HONEY. THIS IS WHY ALEXANDER THE GREAT WAS WRAPPED IN HONEY AS PART OF HIS BURIAL PREPARATION
THE MINOANS WERE EXPERT BEEKEEPERS WHO TAUGHT THE CRAFT OF APICULTURE TO THE GREEKS. GREEKS BELIEVED
THAT BEES WERE INTRICATELY ENTWINED IN THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF THEIR GODS. ZEUS “GREEK KING OF THE GODS”
WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN BORN IN A CAVE AND RAISED BY BEES, EARNING HIM THE TITLE MELISSAIOS, OR BEE-MAN.
THE TITLE MELISSAIOS - OR BEE-MAN, HAS A FEMININE COUNTERPART IN MEDITERRANEAN CULTURES CALLED MELISSA, OR
THE BEE.
HONEY IS USED AS THE SYMBOL OF LIFE AND THE SYMBOL OF DEATH. THE BEE REPRESENT THE CYCLE OF EXISTENCE . THE
BEGINNING IS THE END AND THE END IS THE BEGINNING.
HTTP://ANDREWGOUGH.CO.UK/BEE2_1.HTML.
NAPOLEON
NAPOLEON'S FLAG CARRIED A SINGLE LINE OF BEES IN FLIGHT, AND HIS ROBE WAS
EMBROIDERED
WITH BEES.
THE SYMBOLS OF EMPIRE
THE BEE
SYMBOL OF IMMORTALITY AND RESURRECTION, THE BEE WAS CHOSEN SO AS TO LINK THE NEW
DYNASTY TO THE VERY ORIGINS OF FRANCE. GOLDEN BEES (IN FACT, CICADAS) WERE
DISCOVERED IN 1653 IN TOURNAI IN THE TOMB OF CHILDERIC I, FOUNDER IN 457 OF THE
MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY AND FATHER OF CLOVIS. THEY WERE CONSIDERED AS THE OLDEST
EMBLEM OF THE SOVEREIGNS OF FRANCE.
NAPOLEON
NAPOLEON’S ROBE WAS EMBROIDERED WITH BEES.
FRENCH HISTORY
TWO EXAMPLES OF FRENCH HERALDRY BEE SHIELDS: MAZAMET AND LA MEILLERAYE DE
BRETAGNE © WWW.NGW.NL
BEES AND THE SUN
POPE URBAN VIII (MAFFEO BARBERINI 15681644) USED THE BEE AS HIS EMBLEM
BIBLIOGRAPHY ANCIENT HISTORY
[ ] PHOTOS COURTESY OF DR. KENNETH J. STEIN [17] AND JON BODSWORTH
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ROGER S. BAGNALL, RAFFAELLA CRIBIORE, EVIE AHTARIDIS, WOMEN'S LETTERS FROM ANCIENT EGYPT, 300 BC-AD 800, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS, 2006
S. BIRCH (ED.), RECORDS OF THE PAST, VOL.6, 1876
J. H. BREASTED, 1906, ANCIENT RECORDS OF EGYPT, CHICAGO
ALAN HOUGHTON BRODRICK, 1972 ANIMALS IN ARCHAEOLOGY, PRAEGER
PATRICIA BROTHWELL, 1998 FOOD IN ANTIQUITY: A SURVEY OF THE DIET OF EARLY PEOPLES, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS
ERNEST ALFRED WALLIS BUDGE, THE MUMMY: CHAPTERS ON EGYPTIAN FUNEREAL ARCHAEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1894
EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND, THE JOURNAL OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY VOL. 63, EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND, 1977
EVA CRANE, 1999, THE WORLD HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING AND HONEY HUNTING, TAYLOR & FRANCIS
SIGRID HODEL-HOENES, 2000 LIFE AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT: SCENES FROM PRIVATE TOMBS IN NEW KINGDOM THEBES, CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
ANDREW B. KIDD, BERTHOLD SCHRIMPF, "BEES AND BEE-KEEPING" IN R. BLENCH, KEVIN C. MACDONALD (EDS.), THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN LIVESTOCK:
ARCHAEOLOGY, GENETICS, LINGUISTICS AND ETHNOGRAPHY, ROUTLEDGE, 2000
PANAGIOTIS KOUSOULIS, "NINE MEASURES OF MAGIC; PART 3: 'OVERTHROWING APOPHIS': EGYPTIAN RITUAL IN PRACTICE" IN ANCIENT EGYPT MAGAZINE: ISSUE NINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 [2]
MIRIAM LICHTHEIM, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LITERATURE, VOLUME I, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS 1973
MIRIAM LICHTHEIM, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LITERATURE, VOLUME III, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS 1980
PAUL T. NICHOLSON, IAN SHAW, 2000 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
HILDA M. RANSOME, 1937, THE SACRED BEE IN ANCIENT TIMES AND FOLKLORE, COURIER DOVER 2004
IAN SHAW, PAUL NICHOLSON, THE BRITISH MUSEUM DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. BRITISH MUSEUM PRESS 1995
W. VOGEL, "BEES AND BEEKEEPING IN EGYPT" IN GEORGE W. JOHNSON, ROBERT HOGG (EDS.), JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE, COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY
GENTLEMEN, VOL. XII, NEW SERIES, G. W. JOHNSON, LONDON 1867
FOOTNOTES:
[3] ON HIS FIFTH CAMPAIGN THUTMOSE III EXACTED FROM DJAHI (A REGION IN CANAAN) I.A. 470 (MN-)JARS OF HONEY, AND THE TRIBUTE FROM SYRIA IN THE YEAR 39 OF
HIS REIGN INCLUDED AMONG OTHER THINGS:
HONEY 264 [+X JARS]J. H. BREASTED ANCIENT RECORDS OF EGYPT, PART TWO, § 462 AND § 518