The world’s bee population is often featured in the news. In some cases, you may believe that the number is stable or increasing. More often we are warned that collapsing colony and the large-scale ecological disaster that may result. As with most high-stakes matters, it can be difficult to know what to believe. But even if you don’t have the time to invest in understanding the science behind the complex relationship between birds and human welfare, knowing how long honey bees have played a role in our civilization makes it easier to understand their importance.
as Elana Spivak writes on History.com:“Cave paintings depicting humans harvesting honey in northeastern Spain date back to the Neolithic period, 7,500 years ago. Research published in journals in 2021 prehistoric trabajos” Just last year, paper inside Journal of the American Chemical Society Researchers confirmed that a bronze vessel found in the crypt of a 6th century BC Greek settlement not far from Pompeii contained honey residue. We have long known about ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting bees and their husbandry. According to ” 2022 papers published in journals animalThe use of bees in the Nile basin can be traced back to the early Egyptian kingdom. ”
In the 21st century, most of us think of honey as nothing more than a relatively healthy sweetener. It was used in ancient Egypt to improve the taste of bread and beer, but it also had important medical uses. “It is very thick, rejects any kind of growth, and contains hydrogen peroxide, so it forms the perfect barrier against wound infection.” I will write smithsonian museumNatasha Geiling. “The ancient Egyptians made ointments to treat skin and eye ailments, and regularly used medicinal honey.” They may not have been the first to do so, given that the earliest known use of honey was recorded on Sumerian clay tablets, but they took their reverence for honey to a whole new level, explaining that bees were born from the tears of the sun god Re (formerly known as Ra in English-speaking countries).
Certain parts of this myth are recorded in the Egyptian papyri. Others reveal how much honey was rationed to workers, at least those directly employed by the pharaoh. At the time, the substance’s golden color reflected its loveliness, and ordinary workers and their families could live their entire lives without tasting a single spoonful. Of course, today we take for granted that we can go to the supermarket and buy cheap value-sized honey that never goes bad. But ancient Egyptian honey never went bad either. Because it has the same chemical and biological properties that make it therapeutic, a sealed jar of honey could theoretically still be eaten 3,000 years later. Pour it over real Greek yogurt and you’ve got a hearty taste of civilization’s history in breakfast form.
via Boing Boing
Related content:
Try the oldest known toothpaste recipe: from ancient Egypt, around the 4th century B.C.
How Egyptian papyrus is made: Observe the artisans who keep a 5,000-year-old art alive
3,000-year-old ancient Egyptian painter’s palette retains traces of original colors
How scientists recreated ancient Egypt’s long-lost pigment ‘Egypt Blue’
Discover 1,600-year-old Egyptian socks made with narbindning, the archetypal ancient knitting technique.
How did the Egyptians make mummies? An animation introducing ancient mummification techniques
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures. he is the author of the newsletter books about cities books as well Home page (I won’t summarize Korea) and korean newtro. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
