Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T01:22:41.043Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Iron Age beehives at Tel Reḥov in the Jordan valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Amihai Mazar ,
Dvory Namdar ,
Nava Panitz-Cohen ,
Ronny Neumann  and
Steve Weiner
Amihai Mazar
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Dvory Namdar
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel
Nava Panitz-Cohen
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Ronny Neumann
Affiliation:
Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Steve Weiner
Affiliation:
Department of Structural Biology and Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Beehives were discovered in a densley built area in the Iron Age city of Reḥov (tenth-ninth century BC). They consisted of hollow clay cylinders, each with a little hole at one end (for the bee) and a removable lid at the other (for the bee keeper). These beehives, the earliest found in the Near East, were identified by analogy with examples pictured on Egyptian tombs and in use by traditional peoples. The suggested identification was confirmed by chemical analysis.

Keywords

IsraelJordanSouthern LevantIron Agebeehivesapiaryhoney
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 82 , Issue 317 , September 2008 , pp. 629 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Artzy, M. 2000. Cult and recycling of metal at the end of the Late Bronze Age, in Astrom, P. & Surenhagen, D. (ed.) Periplus, Festschrift für Hans-Günter Buchholtz zu seinem achtzigsten Geburstag am 24. Dezember 1999 (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 127): 27–32. Jonsered: Paul Astrom.Google Scholar
Avitsur, S. 1976. Man and his work. Jerusalem: Carta & Israel Exploration Society [in Hebrew].Google Scholar
Bruins, H., Van Der Plight, J. & Mazar, A.. 2003. 14C dates from Tel Rehov: Iron Age chronology, pharaohs, and Hebrew kings. Science 300 (5617): 315–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bruins, H., Vander Plicht, J., Mazar, A., Ramsey, C. Bronk & Manning, S. W.. 2005. The Groningen Radiocarbon series from Tel Rehov: OxCal Bayesian computations for the Iron IB-IIA boundary and Iron IIA destruction events, in Levy, T. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and Radiocarbon dating. Archaeology, text and science. Proceedings ofa conference at Yarnton Manor, Oxford: 271–93. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Charters, S., Evershed, R. P., Goad, J. L., Leyden, A., Blinkhorn, P. W. & Denham, V.. 1993. Quantification and distribution of lipid in archaeological ceramics: implications for sampling potsherds for organic residue analysis and the classification of vessel use. Archaeometry 352: 211–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, E. 1983. The Archaeology of beekeeping. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Crane, E. & Graham, A. J.. 1985. Beehives of the Ancient World. Bee World 66: 25-41; 148–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dothan, T. & Ben-TOR, A.. 1983. Excavations at Athienou, Cyprus, 1971-1972 (Qedem: Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 16). Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Evershed, R. P., Heron, C. & Goad, J. L.. 1990. Analysis of organic residues of archaeological origin by high-temperature Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Analyst 115: 1339–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evershed, R. P., Dudd, S. N., Anderson-Stoianovic, V. R. & Gebhard, E. R.. 2003. New chemical evidence for the use of combed ware pottery vessels as beehives in ancient Greece. Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gitin, S. 1989. Incense altars from Ekron, Israel and Judah: context and typology. Eretz Israel 20: 52–67.Google Scholar
Heron, C., Nemcek, N., Bonfield, K. M., Dixon, D. & Ottaway, B. S.. 1994. The chemistry of Neolithic beeswax. Naturwissenschaften 81: 266–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Havakook, Y. 1985. Cave dwellers of the Hebron Mountains. Tel Aviv: Misrad Habitation [in Hebrew].Google Scholar
Karageorghis, V. 1973. Contribution to the religion of Cyprus in the 13th and 12th centuries BC, in Herscher, E., Astrom, P. & Christodoulou, A. (ed.) Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium ‘The Mycenaeans in the Eastern Mediterranean’: 105–9. Nicosia: Department of Antiquities.Google Scholar
Kolattukudy, P. E. 1969. Plant waxes. Lipids 52: 259–75.Google Scholar
Kritsky, G. 2007. The Pharaoh's apiaries. Kmt 18 (1): 163–9.Google Scholar
Kueny, G. 1950. Scènes apicoles dans l'ancienne Egypte. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 9: 84–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, T. & Higham, T. (ed.). 2005. Radiocarbon dating and the Iron Age of the Southern Levant. Archaeology, text and science. Proceedings of a conference at Yarnton Manor, Oxford. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1999. The 1997-1998 excavations at Tel Rehov: preliminary report. Israel Exploration Journal 49: 1–42.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2003. The excavations at Tel Rehov and their significance for the study of the Iron Age in Israel. Eretz Israel 27: 143–60 [in Hebrew].Google Scholar
Mazar, A. inpress. Tel Reh. ov, in Stern, E. (ed.). The new encyclopaedia ofarchaeological excavations in the Holy Land (Supplementary Volume). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.Google Scholar
Mazar, A., Bruins, H., Panitz-Cohen, N. & Van Der Plight, J.. 2005. Ladder of time at Tel Rehov: stratigraphy, archaeological context, pottery and radiocarbon dates, in Levy, T. & Higham, T. (ed.) Radiocarbon datingand the Iron Age of the Southern Levant. Archaeology, text and science. Proceedings ofa conference at Yarnton Manor, Oxford: 193–255. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Mellor, J. E. 1928. Beekeeping in Egypt. Bulletin de la Société entomologique d'Egypte 12: 17–33.Google Scholar
Namdar, D., Neumann, R., Sladezki, Y., Haddad, N. & Weiner, S.. 2007. Alkane composition variations between darker and lighter colored comb beeswax. Apidologie 38: 453–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Namdar, D., Neumann, R., Goren, Y., Haddad, N., Sladezki, Y., Gilead, I. & Weiner, S.. Submitted. The content and use of enigmatic ceramic vessels (‘cornets’) from the Chalcolithic period (6000 years ago), Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science.Google Scholar
Regert, M., Colinart, S., Degrand, L. & Decavallas, O.. 2001. Chemical alteration and use of beeswax through time: accelerated ageing tests and analysis of archaeological samples from various environmental contexts. Archaeometry 434: 549–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothenberg, B. 1988. The Egyptian mining temple at Timna (Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies). London: Institute of Archaeology, UCL.Google Scholar
Salvy, M., Martin, C., Bagneres, A. G., Provost, E., Roux, M., Le Conte, Y. & Clement, J. L.. 2001. >Modifications of the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of Apis mellifera worker bee in the presence of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni in brood cells. Parasitology 122: 145–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Serpigo, M. & White, R.. 2000. Oil, fat and wax, in Nicholson, P. T. & Shaw, I. (ed.) Ancient Egyptian materials and technology: 418–29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tullogh, A. P. 1970. The composition of beeswax and other waxes secreted by insects. Lipids 52: 247–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tullogh, A. P. 1971. Beeswax: structure of the esters and their component hydroxy acids and diols. Chemistryand Physics of Lipids 6: 235–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tullogh, A. P. & Hoffman, L. L.. 1972. Canadian beeswax: analytical values and composition of hydrocarbons, free acids and long chain esters. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 49: 696–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zertal, A. & Mirkam, N.. 2000. The Mansasseh Hill Country Survey 3. From Nahal ‘Iron to Nahal Shechem. Tel Aviv: Misrad Habitachon and Haifa University.Google Scholar