The Honeybee in the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
In the Bible, Egypt is listed as one of the few places in the world that is flowing with ‘milk and honey’. This is not by chance, nor a depiction based solely on metaphor. Egypt was probably one of the first lands where agriculture and cattle-rearing was practiced. It was also a region ripe for bees to forage. As I described in a previous essay (The Honeybee as symbol of power in the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt), ancient Egypt was most likely one of the earliest regions where beekeeping emerged and certainly, the honeybee was venerated there as a symbol of power and prestige. Yes, Egypt was viewed metaphorically as a land of great fertility, but the reference to it flowing with milk and honey was a real representation as well.
In 2022, Kit. S. Prendergast et al., provided a useful summary of the use of the honeybee in Ancient Egypt, which seems useful to share:
“The hieroglyph for the honeybee was part of the title of the king of upper and lower Egypt, evidencing its perceived importance as a symbol for the organisation of society. In combination with other hieroglyphic symbols, the bee was also used to represent various dynasties or place names, suggesting that representations of bees entered into the formation of novel language and thus cultural concepts. The use of bee products was common in Egyptian society for both food and ritual purposes, which likely serves as the catalyst for the incorporation for bees into a variety of art, religious and design principles.’ (Prendergast, 2021, 7).
Whether or not this meant that the earliest Egyptians practiced beekeeping or simply took the honey from wild colonies, is harder to confirm. This is something that Gene Kritsky investigates further in the first and second chapters of his book The Tears of Re: Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt. The earliest written evidence confirms the importance of bees and honey and its relation to power, but it does not show how that honey was obtained. For this, Kritsky turns to archaeology, but the earliest evidence found is from the period of the Old Kingdom.
Kritsky tells how German Egyptologist, Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1938) discovered this earliest evidence of beekeeping in the remains of a solar temple dedicated to Newoserre Any, the sixth pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The temple was called Shesepibre (Delight of Re, in English), furthering the connection between the sun god Re and honeybees. Re, if you remember from the previous essay, is often called Ra, and is sometimes merged with the sky-god Horus.
The beekeeping connection can be found in a section of the temple called the Chamber of the Season. Within that chamber, there is a relief that depicts four interrelated scenes detailing a process of beekeeping and honey extraction.
In brief, these scenes depict the following (as summarised from Kritsky):
Scene One
Shows a series of nine hives with a man kneeling in front of them holding an oval object in his left hand. Part of the relief is lost, so we don’t know for certain what he is holding. Originally it was suggested that he held some kind of early smoking device, to calm the bees but it has since been suggested that the man is calling (piping) the queen with some kind of container to create an artificial swarm. The idea, here, is that the beekeeper traps the queen in the container, causing part of the colony to swarm.
Scene Two
A man is emptying the contents of an amphora into a large jug. To the right of that jug is another man, kneeling, holding a taller vessel with both hands. There is yet another man holding a smaller pot with a spout, pouring the contents into the vessel. One suggestion is that the first man was emptying honey taken from a hive into a large jug, while the other man was pouring water to dilute the contents. Another suggestion has it that the jug with a spout is being used to separate wax from the honey, thus decanting it into the large vessel.
Scene Three
There is a man kneeling and another standing. There might be a jug or vessel between them, but this (and most parts of the men) is severely damaged. The words above this image have been translated to “squeeze” or “press”, suggesting that this is an instruction, which furthers the actions in the first and second reliefs.
Scene Four
A man is tying a lid onto a spherical container. Directly above him is a shelf containing two more containers that are already tied shut. The words above this scene appear to mean “sealing honey”
These scenes together prove that the Egyptians in the Fifth Dynasty were beekeepers, and not only that, but they had a sophisticated method for extracting honey, possibly turning it into some kind of drink or mead and sealing it for future use. Kritsky builds on the work of Kueny (1950), Edel (1974), Wilson (1988), Ikram (1994), and Sagrillo (2001), to tell this story, but others have also discussed it. For instance, Rosalie A. David argued in 1997 (p. 155) that there are only four representations of beekeeping known from the earliest periods.
The scenes from the solar temple of Niuserre (as described by Kritsky).
A scene in the Tomb of Rekhmire at Thebes showing jars of honey and honeycombs
A scene showing the taking of honey in the 25th Dynasty tomb of Pa-bes at Thebes, showing cylindrical hives.
A barely visible scene in a Theban tomb (18th Dynasty).
David also highlights the existence of some literary references (but does not give details) and some analysis of jar contents, such as two found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (18th Dynasty) at Thebes. These jars were labelled as containers of ‘honey of good quality’ in Hieratic inscriptions. Tests, however, failed to prove that honey had ever been in them.
Two pots in the form of tubes have also been microscopically examined for honey by the Manchester Museum. These tube pots came from a 12th Dynasty tomb in Kahun. The results were negative for honey, but two small globules were found which contained beeswax and the metatarsus of a apis mellifera (honeybee). The Museum, it seems, had just discovered the first known beehive (David, 1997, 156).
Summary
Kritsky has more to say about Egyptian beekeeping, as do others. I will save that for another day. To end this essay, I would like to turn back to Eva Crane’s work. In her book The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting, Crane argues that hive beekeeping might have emerged in the Nile Delta during the predynastic period, and then developed and spread from there when the two Kingdoms were united (Crane, 1999, 171).
The environmental evidence supports this claim (as Crane notes). The Mediterranean climate of the Nile Delta was more hospitable to beekeeping than the hot and arid regions nearby. However, we will never be sure. As Kritsky argues, the first definite proof of beekeeping that we have comes from the Fifth Dynasty, although we know for certain that Egyptians valued honey greatly a long time before then.
Sources
Crane, Eva, The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting (New York, 1999).
David, A. Rosalie, The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce (London & New York, 1997).
Kritsky, Gene, The Tears of Re: Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 2015).
Newberry, Percy E. and Jon Garstang, A Short History of Ancient Egypt (London, 1904).
Ransome, Hilda M., The Sacred Bee In Ancient Times and Folklore (Bridgwater, 1986).
Prendergast, Kit S., Jair E. Garcia, Scarlett R. Howard, Zong-Xin Ren, Stuart J. McFarlane, and Adrian G. Dyer, ‘Bee Representations in Human Art and Culture through the Ages’, Art & Perception, 10 (2022), pp. 1-62.