Yea! UTEP Historical Anthropology 2311!

"Beehive find suggests Israel was a land of honey long ago"

Adapted from: the Associated Press - San Antonio EXPRESS - NEWS, Wednesday, September 5, 2007.

"JERUSALEM -- Archaeologists digging in northern Israel have discovered evidence of a 3,000 - year - old beekeeping indutry, including remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they believe are the oldest intact beehives ever found.

"The findings in the ruins of the city of Rehov this summer include 30 intact hives dating to about 900 B.C., said archaeologist Amihai Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

"He said it offers unique evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.

"Beekeeping was widely practiced in the ancient world, where honey was used for medicinal and religious purposes as well as for food, and beeswax was used to make molds for metal and to create surfaces to write on.

"Although bees and beekeeping are depicted in ancinet artwork, nothing similar to the Rehov hives had been found, Mazar said.

"The beehives, made of straw and unbaked clay, have a hole at one end to let the bees in and out and a lid on th eother end to give beekeepers access to the honeycombs inside.

"They were found in orderly rows, three high, in a room that could have accommodated about 100 hives, Mazar said.

"The Bible repeatedly refers to Israel as a land of milk and honey, but that's believed to refer to honey made from dates and figs: there is no mention of honeybee cultivation.

"But the find shows that the Holy Land was home to a highly developed beekeeping industry nearly 3,000 years ago."

PHOTO CAPTION:

"An archaeologist examines an opening to one of the 30 ancient beehives found in the ruins of the city of Rehov in northern Israel, along with beeswax and remnants of honeycombs.

PHOTO CAPTION'S INTERIOR QUOTE / SOUND - BITE:

You can tell that this was an organized industry, part of an organized economy, in an ultra - organized city, said Amihai Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University."

¡Adelante, DESTINO!