Beehives at Tel Rehov

December 10, 2007

In a Hebrew University press release, Professor Amihai Mazar, director of the excavation at Tel Rehov, “emphasizes the uniqueness of this latest find by pointing out that actual beehives have never been discovered at any site in the Ancient Near East.” Similar beehives are depicted in drawings from ancient Egypt, and clay beehives are known from the Hellenistic (333–63 BC) and Roman (63 BC–AD 330) periods. However, nothing on such an industrial scale or from biblical times has been found before.

In addition to the obvious uses of honey for food, it was also used for medicinal and cultic purposes. Furthermore, beeswax was used in the leather and metal industries and also as a writing material when coated over wood.

By Will King, Correspondent,
BFP Israel Mosaic Radio