Beekeeping in ancient Egypt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beekeeping  in hieroglyphics
L2 t
Z1

bit
bj.t
bee

L2 t nw
Z2

bit
bj.t
honey

L2 t
Z4
A24

biti
bj.tj
beekeeper , beekeeper , honey collector

There are indications that beekeeping existed in ancient Egypt as early as around 3000 BC. When the Egyptian Empire was founded by the union of Upper and Lower Egypt under the rule of Pharaoh Menes . The bee was a symbolic animal and was chosen as the heraldic animal in Lower Egypt. When the empire was unified, the bee was included in the inventory of Egyptian characters. Besides the rush hieroglyph, which the Upper Egyptians had chosen as the ideogram of their empire, it became the most important character of all, the royal hieroglyph, which had preceded the actual name of the respective pharaoh since the first dynasty . Literally translated, the throne name got the melodious introductory formula:
M23
t
L2
t
The one who belongs to the bulrush (Upper Egypt) and the bee (Lower Egypt).

history

Representation of the honey harvest from canes. Tomb of Pabasa in Thebes

Honey and honey wax are produced by the honey bee. In Egypt it is the Apis mellifera . This species adapts regionally. The Egyptian variant is the Apis mellifera lamarckii . She builds smaller colonies than her relatives in Europe. Bees prefer a warm climate and water. For this reason, the delta is particularly suitable for beekeeping, where water is particularly abundant.

Shortly after the founding of the empire there were signs of beekeeping. This early, potential evidence is a pot inscription from the 1st Dynasty with the note honey . It is a pot inscription that shows a bee. Reading honey is not safe. The first reliable evidence of beekeeping does not come from the 5th dynasty. It is the representation in the sun temple of Niuserre . Further representations come from a later time. It is a painting from the tomb of Rechmire (TT100), one from tomb TT73 and the last one from the tomb of Pabasa (TT279)

Because of the very highly developed beekeeping in Egypt and the numerous archaeological evidence from this period, scientists long thought that the earliest roots of domestic beekeeping lay in Egypt. It was only with more recent excavations in the 1950s and 1960s that this idea had to be corrected, as finds, especially in the area of ​​today's Turkey, show that domestic beekeeping is much older and that it has its origins in the early Neolithic village cultures of Central Asia.

Basic knowledge about keeping domestic animals, including honeybees, probably spread as early as the Neolithic Revolution in the 6th and 5th millennium BC. Chr. From. It was not until the 4th millennium, however, that beekeeping became generally widespread in the Nile Delta and, at the same time, that bees were elevated to the status of heraldic animal , which underlines their great importance at that time. But in Upper Egypt, too, there must have been some initial experience with beekeeping before the empire was founded. It is known that nomadic pastoral peoples from these cultural groups made a green eye make-up from malachite and copper spar, using honey, fat and oil as binding agents. This color paste was not only applied for cosmetic purposes, but also served as a prophylaxis against trachoma .

The fact that the development of beekeeping in Lower Egypt was driven much further is mainly due to the geographical conditions, since the large and intensively managed Nile Delta, many sources of food for the cultivated land in Upper Egypt were only narrow. With the merger of the two cultures, however, knowledge about beekeeping was quickly exchanged. From the time of the Old Kingdom , which started around 2635 BC. BC and led to a heyday in Egyptian art , there is a lot of graphic evidence of Egyptian beekeeping and shows its high standard of development. The bees were kept in clay tubes stacked on top of one another, which were sealed with Nile mud and then provided with a finger with a small entrance hole.

The honey was taken from these tubes after the colony had fumigated it without killing the bees. Finally, the honey was sealed in special jars for storage. A bas-relief from the sun sanctuary of Pharaoh Niuserre shows a very detailed beekeeping scene, in which you can see the various work steps from removing the honey from the clay tubes to cleaning the storage vessels to the final sealing of spherical pots.

mythology

In a papyrus from the 12th century BC The origin of the bees is told: The tears of the sun god Re fall on the earth and become bees that build houses and fly into the flowers. This is how wax and honey should be made.

" (...) and so Re wept again; water fell from his eye onto the earth and it (= the water) became a bee. When the bee was created, it was commissioned on the flowers of every tree . That was the creation of the wax and that was the creation of the honey from its water (= tears of Re) " . ( pLeiden I 384, VII, 9–11)

Parallels between Neith and the queen bee are also evident. Both can be understood as a demiurge : Neith, who is described by Kurt Sethe as male-female because, according to the myth, she “gave birth first when nothing else was there”. From ancient times to the Middle Ages, bees were said to have had a " virgin birth " because it was not known that the queen was mated by drones outside of her hive during the wedding flight. Bees and Neith also have a sting, the goddess in the form of an arrow or spear. With it they demonstrate their strength as well as their gentleness when they do not use it. Both Neith and the bee have a protective function in the understanding of the Egyptians.

Neith appeared as a protective deity in various situations. It saved the deceased from enemies and guaranteed his rebirth. In this context she was also used as a canopic deity for the stomach. In addition, she defended the nocturnal solar barge and appeared at birth to protect the newborn. It is precisely here that there is a close connection to the use of honey. The Egyptians gave him a power to ward off demons and diseases. That is why honey was also used in magic spells to protect newborns and children. Neith and honey as a product of the bee thus contain the same aspect. Re also indirectly connects the bee with Neith. Neith is on the one hand the mother of Re, on the other hand she appears as the "eye of Re" as his daughter.

Profession of beekeeper

The name for the beekeeper has been since the Old Kingdom bj.tj , literally: "the one belonging to the bee" . This translates into the meaning “he who takes care of the bee” .

With the beginning of the New Kingdom around 1550 BC The temple cults intensified and the associated dead sacrifices intensified, so that honey production had to be increased according to demand. It became logistically necessary to keep bee colonies close to the sanctuaries in order to ensure the uninterrupted supply of the sanctuaries with honey, which they needed as a sacrificial accompaniment. Most of the beekeepers in ancient Egypt worked in sacred institutions such as temples or treasuries. As members of the temple, they were legally protected from unauthorized access, but were illegally withdrawn in troubled times. They were organized in a kind of guild or group that had hierarchical structures. A head beekeeper was in command of the group under him. In addition, they were integrated into a larger hierarchy of the logistics chain that was responsible for the production and distribution of fats.

They also worked for the mortuary temples in Thebes , Abydos , Amarna , Heliopolis and Memphis . A daily output of around 70 grams of honey was required of the beekeeper.

Booty

The beehives of traditional beekeeping are made up of cylindrical tubes to this day.

To make the hives, woven mats were mixed with a mixture of Nile mud, chaff and cow dung. This bundle was then rolled around a bundle of bamboo sticks or palm leaf trusses and then dried in the sun. The material used from these natural materials has a poor thermal conductivity, ie the temperature in the stick remains the same and is hardly exposed to external temperature fluctuations. The finished tube is obtained by removing the bundles. The stick is created by laying rows of these tubes on top of one another. In practice, in Egyptian beekeeping, a maximum of eleven to twelve rows were laid on top of one another.

Straw was stuffed between these dried tubes and the spaces in between were plastered with mud. The apiary is therefore fixed at its location and cannot easily be moved. The entrance holes were oriented to the south or southeast in order to optimally use the warmth of the rising sun. The hives have a length of approx. 1.5 m and a uniform diameter of approx. 30 cm. The size of the entrance hole in the locking discs is 1–2 cm.

Clay was the most common material for beehives in ancient times, especially in the Mediterranean region , although it was known to be less suitable due to its good thermal conductivity. This material heats up very quickly when it is hot and cools down considerably when it is cold, which in the Egyptian climate would result in extreme temperature fluctuations inside. These differences have to be balanced out again by the workers through muscle contraction , which results in an increased need for energy and honey.

Honey harvest

In warm countries like Egypt, honey can be harvested almost all year round (approx. 8 to 10 months). The time of the honey harvest in Egypt is in April / May for the small harvest and in September to November for the main harvest.

For around 5000 years in Egypt the bees have been appeased by the people with the help of incense so that they can get to the honey more easily. The smoke suggests a fire to the bees and causes them to bring the collected honey in their honey stomachs to safety from the fire. This allows the beekeeper to work on the colony undisturbed. Except for vessels with incense, no other aids or tools are shown on ancient Egyptian depictions. Dung was probably used as the basic substance for smoking. In addition, incense with dried excrement for Egypt is documented. This material was easily available across the country. Today "sahas" , cow dung cakes (25 × 7 cm), are used.

The beehives are opened differently depending on the region. In Upper Egypt this only happens once in September for the honey harvest. In Lower Egypt, the bee colonies are checked after wintering or before wintering and at the time of the honey harvest in September / October. It can be assumed that the honey harvest always took place in the same period of time, due to the sequence of the vegetation. During the months of August / September, the fruiting land was flooded by the Nile, and the harvested vegetation had to renew itself first. Since there were fewer sources of foraging for the bees, these had been provided and the hives were full, it was a good idea to harvest the honey.

The bees create the honeycombs for the offspring in the front part of their hive, while the honey is stored in the rear part. This has the advantage that the beekeeper can open the rear part undisturbed and check or work on the rear honeycomb without worrying the bees. In western beekeeping, this concept is modeled on the horizontal hive. With the Khorab / Muftah (round iron rod, with this device you open the beehive) the tubes on the back of the hive are opened. A burning cow dung cake is placed in the opened tube to drive the bees away from the rear area.

Once the bees have left the rear section, the beekeeper removes the incense and removes the honey-filled honeycombs from the ceiling. The honeycombs are placed in a vessel and cut into fine pieces. If there is brood between the honey cells, it is cut out and put back in the tube. The honey is poured into a funnel-shaped container and filled into storage vessels.

The honey harvest was carried out with bare hands, and the honeycombs were broken from the hives. Knives or similar tools cannot be seen in the traditional pictorial beekeeping scenes. The honeycombs were then presumably placed in a sack that acted as a wax filter. The honeycombs were trodden / squeezed out so that the honey separated from the wax and could be poured off.This process is known as compressed honey and was before the invention of the honey extractor , in which the honeycomb is opened and the honey is thrown out of the honeycomb by centrifugal force , common. Even today, indigenous peoples in South America and Africa harvest honey with the help of honey presses.

According to scientific research, an average of 2 pounds of honey and 70 grams of wax were harvested per colony. The total annual production in ancient Egypt is said to have been 300 tons. Since the domestic demand was much higher, honey was imported from Israel and Syria .

In the delta region and along the Nile from the north to Assiut , honey production can be demonstrated by beekeeping. South of Thebes only Armant is occupied as a production facility. The honey was delivered to the treasure houses by various officials . In Dendera honey was collected as a tax on ships. This honey from Dendra in particular was harvested by women. In ancient Egypt, beekeeping was not a purely masculine profession. Since these records are only fragments of the entire Egyptian bee economy, there was more beekeeping that was privately run. Part of this private income from private beekeeping was passed on to the state as tax. These taxes were kept in the temples' warehouses, in the king's treasuries, and in the “mate's barn” .

While the god temples received their honey needs through taxes / duties and generous donations, they in turn provided the mortuary temples with honey. In the royal realm, a distinction was made between the royal court and the queen, because the queen's palace was specially equipped with it. Honey was also given to the temples from the king's treasury to be used in the cult of kings and the dead or in the cult of animals (embalming hall).

Honey was one of the rare luxury goods, which among other things as grade with kind for officials under Ramses II. Were introduced. For 1.5 kg of honey you had to pay as much as for 10 loaves of bread.

Use of honey

In the everyday ritual use of the temples, honey was used both for religious festivals and as a honey offering to the gods. These honey offerings could be offered to the gods by the pharaoh as well as by private persons. The amount of honey required for the celebrations was recorded in the lists of the festival calendar, the so-called victim lists / victim foundations . These were a kind of inventory list that gave information about what kind of resources and in what quantities had to be sacrificed to the gods. Honey was an expensive luxury good and was therefore not included in all sacrificial foundations. Accordingly, honey was so valuable that it was reserved for only a few gods and was only used at special festivals.

Honey played a crucial role in the mummification rite. The legend of the origin of honey from the eye of Re can be found for the first time in the daily temple ritual from the 22nd dynasty. While in the temple cult the statues of gods were anointed with a mixture of oil with honey, in the embalming ritual oil and honey were used for the back of the deceased. The use of honey in embalming is probably due to its preservative properties and the magical powers attributed to it, with which demons could be driven away. The honey therefore had the best prerequisites to protect the corpse from decay, just as it was used to heal injured or sick parts of the body in the living.

Honey was used as a sweetener in various baked goods and wine. These baked goods were also sacrificed in the temple and death cult. The festival calendar from the sun temple of Niuserre in Abu Gurob provides the oldest evidence of the use of honey in the production of pastries for the dead . There honey is listed among the ingredients for this pastry.

Honey was also used as a remedy; 1,600 recipes have been handed down in the Ebers Papyrus , 500 of which contain honey. In particular, honey was used as an antiseptic in enemas, ointments and wound dressings.

The Edwin Smith papyrus describes injuries from the head to about the middle of the body and their consequences as well as corresponding countermeasures. This is the instruction for a skull base fracture that did not expose the brain, it could be treated with a bandage to immobilize and stop bleeding. Honey is often mentioned as a medically effective substance, the bactericidal effect of which is likely to have served well. In contrast, head trauma with an exposed brain ( "when you see the brain pulsing" ) was no longer treatable.

literature

  • Ahmed Saad Abou Zeid: Studies on the Biology of the Egyptian Honeybee Apis Mellifera lamarckii Cock. Dissertation. Berlin 1989.
  • Ludwig Armbruster : Beekeeping 5000 years ago. According to an ancient Egyptian relief from 2600 BC. Chr. In: Archives for apiculture. (AfB) No. 3, Fisher, Berlin 1921, pp. 68-80.
  • Ludwig Armbruster: The bee in the Orient I. The more than 5000 years old apiary in Egypt. In: AfB No. 12, Fisher, Berlin 1931, pp. 221-273.
  • Ludwig Armbruster: The bee in the Orient II: Bible and bee. In: AfB No. 13, Fisher, Berlin 1932, pp. 1-40.
  • Hugo von Buttel-Reepen: On the way of life of the Egyptian bee (Apis mellifica-fasciata Latr.), As well as something on the history of beekeeping. In: AfB. No. 3, Fisher, Berlin 1921.
  • Eva Crane , AJ Graham: Bee hives of the ancient world. 1. In: Bee World. Volume 66, No. 1, 1985, pp. 23-41.
  • Eva Crane, AJ Graham: Bee hives of the ancient world. 2. In: Bee World. Volume 66, No. 4, 1985, pp. 148-170.
  • Birgit Sonja after work: bee and honey in pharaonic Egypt. A study based on written and pictorial sources. Dissertation. 2 volumes, Johannes Gutenberg University , Mainz 2009 ( Volume 1 as PDF file ).
  • Alfred Lucas, John Rendel Harris: Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. Dover Publications, Mineola NY 1999, ISBN 0-486-40446-3 .
  • Günther Roeder : Cults, oracles and worship of nature in ancient Egypt. Artemis, Zurich 1960.
  • Egon Rotter: The Egyptian bee. In: AfB No. 3, Fisher, Berlin 1921, pp. 1-8.
  • Margaret Serpico, Raymond White: Oil, fat and wax. In: Paul T. Nicholson, Ian Shaw (Eds.): Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, ISBN 0-521-45257-0 , pp. 390-429.
  • Friedrich Ruttner: Natural history of honey bees. 2nd edition, Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09477-4 .
  • FW Vogel: The Egyptian bee (Apis fasciata), its introduction by the acclimatization association in Berlin and its happy acclimatization and reproduction in Germany: Bred and observed, 1865 (digitized in the BSB Munich )

See also

Individual evidence

  1. a b c after Rainer Hannig: The language of the pharaohs. Volume 1. Large concise dictionary Egyptian - German (2800–950 BC). 3. Edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2001, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 245.
  2. M. Serpico, R. White In: PT Nicholson, I. Shaw (Ed.): Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge 2000, p. 409.
  3. Birgit Sonja after work: Bee and honey in pharaonic Egypt. Volume 2, p. 29.
  4. ^ JE Quibell: Archaic objects. Catalog général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire, Cairo 1904, plate 29 (online)
  5. M. Serpico, R. White In: PT Nicholson, I. Shaw (Ed.): Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge 2000, p. 410.
  6. Philippe Derchain: Le Papyrus Salt 825 (BM 10051), rituel pour la conservation de la vie en Egypte (= . Memoires de l'Academie Royale de Belgique Classe des Lettres. Volume 58, delivery la / b). Academie Royale de Belgique, Brussels 1965.
  7. P. Derchain: Le Papyrus Salt 825 (BM 10051) rituel pour la conservation de la vie en Égypte. Bruxelles 1965, p. 137, plate. 2, II, pp. 5-7; on the Salt 825 papyrus : Sydney Hervé Aufrère: Thot Hermès l'égyptien: de l'infiniment grand à l'infiniment petit (= Collection Kubaba. Série Antiquité. Volume 13). L'Harmattan / Association Kubaba, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-2-296-04639-9 , pp. 157-163.
  8. Kurt Sethe : Prehistory and the oldest religion of the Egyptians (= treatises for the knowledge of the Orient. ). Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, Leipzig 1930, p. 68 § 81.
  9. Erik Hornung : The One and the Many. Egyptian ideas of God. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1971, ISBN 3-534-05051-7 , p. 88 with note 101, pp. 164–166.
  10. Serge Sauneron : Remarques de philologie et d'étymologie (en marge des textes d'Esna) In: Auguste Mariette: Mélanges Mariette (= Bibliothèque d'Étude [BdE] Volume 32). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, Le Caire / Paris 1961, pp. 235f.
  11. Ramadan El-Sayed: La Déesse Neith de Saïs (= Bibliothèque d'Étude. [BdE] Volume 86). Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Le Caire 1982, pp. 61–65.
  12. ^ Robert Schlichting In: Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto , Wolfhart Westendorf : Lexicon of Egyptology. Volume IV (LÄ IV), Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-447-04468-3 , p. 393f., Keyword Neith. The primordial god could u. a. as the one that arose by itself (xpr Ds = f) (W. Westendorf In: LÄ VI. S. 870, keyword Urgott ). This expression can also be found in a name for honey, cf. Chapter VI.1.1. and VIII.2.2.
  13. ^ Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . Volume 3 (LGG III), p. 510c; Robert Schlichting In: LÄ IV. 392f., Keyword Neith .
  14. ^ Robert Schlichting In: LÄ IV. Pp. 392–394, keyword Neith.
  15. Ramadan El-Sayed: Documents Relatifs à Saïs et ses divinités. (= Bibliothèque d'Étude. [BdE] Volume 69). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, Cairo 1975; R. El-Sayed: La Déesse Neith de Saïs. Le Caire 1982, pp. 106-109; Neith as daughter of Re: R. El-Sayed: La Déesse Neith de Saïs. Le Caire 1982, pp. 109-111.
  16. Birgit Sonja after work: Bee and honey in pharaonic Egypt . Bed. 2, p. 36.
  17. ^ W. Helck: Materials for the economic history of the New Kingdom. 6 volumes, Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz 1960–1969, No. 1 1969 No. 4 incomprehensible bibliography
  18. ^ G. Roeder: Cults, oracles and worship of nature in ancient Egypt. Artemis, Zurich 1960.
  19. Friedrich Ruttner: Natural history of honey bees. Stuttgart 2003.
  20. L. Armbruster: The bee in the Orient I. The over 5000 year old apiary in Egypt. Berlin 1931, p. 262.
  21. ^ Eva Crane: The world history of beekeeping and honey hunting. Routledge, New York 1999, ISBN 0-415-92467-7 , p. 168.
  22. ^ AS Abou Zeid: Studies on the Biology of the Egyptian Honeybee Apis Mellifera lamarckii Cock. Berlin 1989, p. 189. (After H. von Buttel-Reepen in: AfB 3. Berlin 1921, p. 28f.)
  23. L. Armbruster: The bee in the Orient I. The over 5000 year old apiary in Egypt. Berlin 1931, p. 262f.
  24. H. von Buttel-Reepen in: AfB 3. Berlin 1921, p. 38.
  25. Malcolm T. Sanford: Reflections on Egyptian Beekeeping. In: APIS. Volume 10, No. 3, March 1992 ( Memento of June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ); M. Serpico, R. White In: PT Nicholson, I. Shaw (Ed.): Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge 2000, p. 410.
  26. ^ AS Abou Zeid: Studies on the Biology of the Egyptian Honeybee Apis Mellifera lamarckii Cock. Berlin 1989, p. 192.
  27. H. von Buttel-Reepen in: AfB 3. Berlin 1921, p. 36f., Mentions smoke plates made from goat dung.
  28. ^ AS Abou Zeid: Studies on the Biology of the Egyptian Honeybee Apis Mellifera lamarckii Cock. Berlin 1989, p. 193; L. Armbruster: The bee in the Orient I. The over 5000 year old apiary in Egypt. Berlin 1931, p. 262.
  29. Friedhelm Hoffmann : Beekeeping in ancient Egypt. In: Beekeeper friend. Volume 49, No. 8, 1994, p. 7.
  30. ^ E. Rotter: The Egyptian bee. In: AfB No. 3, 1921, p. 3.
  31. ^ AS Abou Zeid: Studies on the Biology of the Egyptian Honeybee Apis Mellifera lamarckii Cock. Berlin 1989, p. 192f.
  32. ^ W. Helck: Materials for the economic history of the New Kingdom. 6 volumes, Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz 1960–1969, No. 1 1969 No. 4 incomprehensible bibliography
  33. ^ A. Lucas, JR Harry: Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. 4th edition. Arnold, London 1962.
  34. B. After work: Bee and honey in Pharaonic Egypt. A study based on written and pictorial sources. Dissertation. 2009.
  35. ^ JJ Janssen: Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period. An Economic Study of Village of Necropolis Workmen at Thebes. Brill, Leiden 1975.
  36. pBoulaq 3, 9, 8−9 = Serge Sauneron: Rituel de l'Embaumement. Pap. Boulaq III. Pap.Louvre 5.158. Imprimerie nationale, Le Caire 1952, p. 33, pp. 1-5.
  37. Sydney H Aufrère: L'univers minéral dans la pensée égyptienne. Volume 2: Les minérais, les métaux, les minéraux et les produits chimiques (= Bibliothèque d'étude. [BdE] 105, part 2). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, Cairo 1991, ISBN 2-7247-0102-X , p. 652.
  38. ^ Jean-Claude Goyon: Rituels funéraires de l'Ancienne Égypte. Le rituel de l'embaumement, le rituel de l'ouverture de la bouche, les livres des respirations (= Littératures anciennes du Proche-Orient. Volume 4). Éditions du Cerf, Paris 1972, p. 77.
  39. Ben JJ Haring: Divine Households. Administrative and Economic Aspects of the New Kingdom Royal Memorial Temples in Western Thebes (= Egyptologische uitgaven. Volume 12). Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, Leiden 1997, ISBN 90-6258-212-5 , p. 56, note 4
  40. Wolfgang Helck: The "dedication" from the valley temple of the sun sanctuary of King Neuserre near Abu Gurob (= studies on ancient Egyptian culture. [SAK] Volume 5). Hamburg 1977, p. 63, panel II, lines 11-12
  41. ^ Nigel C. Strudwick, Ronald J Leprohon: Texts from the Pyramid Age (= Writings from the ancient world. Volume 16) Brill, Leiden, Boston MASS 2005, ISBN 90-04-13048-9 , p. 89; see. Chapter VIII.3.1.
  42. H. von Deines, H. Grapow: Dictionary of Egyptian drug names (= outline of the medicine of the ancient Egyptians. ) Berlin 1959.
  43. A. Nerlich: Archaeomedicine surgery in ancient Egypt. From: Spectrum of Science. No. 2/2002, p. 76.