Posted on 06/10/2010 12:38:41 PM PDT by Red Badger
Recently discovered beehives from ancient Israel 3,000 years ago appear to be the oldest evidence for beekeeping ever found, scientists reported.
Archaeologists identified the remains of honeybees including workers, drones, pupae, and larvae inside about 30 clay cylinders thought to have been used as beehives at the site of Tel Rehov in the Jordan valley in northern Israel. This is the first such discovery from ancient times.
"Although texts and wall paintings suggest that bees were kept in the Ancient Near East for the production of precious wax and honey, archaeological evidence for beekeeping has never been found," the researchers, led by Guy Bloch of Israel's Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wrote in a paper in the June 8 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
The hives have a small hole on one side for the bees to come and go, and on the other side is a lid for the beekeeper to use to access the honeycomb.
The archeologists used carbon dating on grains that had spilled from a broken storage jar next to the hives to estimate that they were about 3,000 years old.
"The exceptional preservation of these remains provides unequivocal identification of the clay cylinders as the most ancient beehives yet found," the researchers wrote.
The scientists used a high-resolution electron microscope to study the bee remains, and found that their legs and wings suggest they belonged to a different subspecies than the bees currently found in Israel.
In fact, the ancient bees most closely resemble those found in modern-day Turkey. That suggests the ancient people may have imported a specialized bee species for its superior characteristics, such as a milder temper or better honey production.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Buzzzzzz!..............
Ping!...........
Awesome!
Cool!
I guess they could have used the wax to seal their beer jugs.
They studied the bees knees..............
IIRC, beeswax was used as a beauty treatment or cosmetic................
MSNBC can buzz off... seriously, it never ceases to amaze me that people are surprised when ancient men are found to have done things like bee keeping. Humanity isn’t stupid, even when science wasn’t advanced people did things... hell, the ancient Mayans created rubber balls for their sports! Not surprising.
3000 years ago would put it at the time of Saul-David-Solomon.............
Yeah, but the losers were executed!.........kinda hard on the old team..........
It still is.
So the Israelis have been on that land for 3000 years and others dispute their claim to it?
My mother’s recipe for honey cake is about 3000 years old.
Yes. The Israeli government needs to send out an archeological team to find Jeremiah’s deed. An odd story from the Book of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 32 (New International Version)
Jeremiah 32
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.
3 Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians [a] but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’ “
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’
8 “Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’
“I knew that this was the word of the LORD; 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels [b] of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 I took the deed of purchasethe sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy- 12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
13 “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14 ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD :
17 “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers’ sins into the laps of their children after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve. 20 You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon them.
So, Jeremiah’s Deed is buried somewhere in Israel..............
The authour should not have pointed that out, he might be labeled a racist.
“3000 years ago would put it at the time of Saul-David-Solomon.............”
About 322 years after the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. And, yes, when King Saul established the monarchy in 1000 BC which continued with David and Solomon.
That’s because it does not fit in their liberal agenda that early man was an accident, an ape, or some idiotic cave man...why do they think that all obvious records of early man do not coincide with their idiotic beliefs and actually coincide with the Biblical time periods....God did not make make as a moron.
They also performed serious surgeries, as well as the Aztecs.
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