THE RITUAL ROLE OF HONEY IN ANCIENT EGYPT, HATTI AND GREECE
Keywords:
Honey, ancient Egypt, Hittites, Crete, ancient Greece, kingly authority, chthonic ritual, evocatio of gods, curses, normal and abnormal ritual
Abstract
This is a comparison between the uses of honey in ritual contexts in the cultures of ancient Egypt, Hatti and Greece. Strong differences are illustrated. In Egypt, more particularly Lower Egypt, honey plays an important role in royal rituals linking the power, health and fertility of gods and pharaohs. By contrast among the Hittites honey, though involved in important rituals, especially those intended to ‘sweeten’ gods and make them appear amongst the gods or men, is only one ingredient among many. In Greece there appears to be a difference between Mycenaean times, when as far as the sparse evidence allows us to see honey was not restricted to particular types of god, and the Archaic and Classical periods, when it was very substantially confined to rites of an abnormal kind, rites evoking past ages and rites concerning the Underworld and the dead. The article ends with reflections on the limitations of such a comparison as this, and speculation on the reasons for the differences noted. Though the evidence must perforce be laid out very selectively, a range of original sources is quoted.
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References
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CTH E. Laroche, Catalogue des textes Hittites, Paris: Klincksieck, 1981.
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ID Inscriptions de Délos, 7 vols., Paris: H. Champion, 1926–1972.
Iscr. di Cos M. Segre (ed.), Iscrizioni di Cos, Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider, 1993.
KBo Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazköi.
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PHI https://epigraphy.packhum.org/.
Akkaya, H. and Alkan, S. ‘Beekeeping in Anatolia from the Hittites to the Present Day’, Journal of Apicultural Research, 46, 2007, 120–124.
Andronikos, M. Totenkult. Archaeologia Homerica III W, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1968.
Barsacchi, F.G. ‘KBo 20.64: A Hittite Invocation Ritual Mentioning the Thunder’, Altorientalische Forschungen, 43, 2016, 1–16.
Bendall, L.M. Economics of Religion in the Mycenaean World: resources dedicated to religion in the Mycenaean palace economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Borghouts, J.F. Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts, Leiden: Brill, 1978.
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Bryce, T, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
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Crane, E. ‘History of Honey’, in: Crane 1975: 438–488.
______. (ed.) Honey: a comprehensive survey, London: Heinemann, 1975.
Derchain, P. Le Papyrus Salt 825 (BM 10051), rituel pour la conservation de la vie en Égypte, Brussels: Palais des académies, 1965.
Detienne, M. ‘Orphée au miel’, Quaderni urbinai di cultura classica, 12, 1971, 7–23.
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______. ‘Leopard und Biene im Kulte ‘hethitischer’ Göttinnen: Betrachtungen zu Kontinuität und Verbreitung altkleinasiatischer und nordsyrischer religiöser Vorstellungen’, Ugarit-Forschungen 13, 1981, 101–116.
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______. Alimenta Hethaeorum: food production in Hittite Asia Minor, New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1974.
______. The Laws of the Hittites: a critical edition, Leiden, New York and Cologne: Brill, 1997.
Jameson, M.H., Jordon, D.R. and Kotansky, R.D. A Lex Sacra from Selinous, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993.
Kassian, A., Korolëv, A., and Sidel’tsev, A. (eds.) Hittite Funerary Ritual šalliš waštaiš, Munster: Ugarit Verlag, 2002.
Kelhoffer, J.A. ‘John the Baptist’s ‘Wild Honey’ and ‘Honey’ in Antiquity’, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 45, 2005, 59–73.
Kritsky, G. The Tears of Re: beekeeping in ancient Egypt, New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Kuény, G. ‘Scènes apicoles dans l’ancienne Égypte’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 9, 1950, 84–93.
Kurtz, D.C. and Boardman, J. Greek Burial Customs, London: Thames and Hudson, 1971.
Le Sage, D.E. ‘The Language of Honey’, in: Crane 1975: 426–438.
Leclant, J. ‘L’abeille et le miel dans l’Égypte pharaonique’, in: Chauvin 1968: 51–60.
______. ‘Biene’, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, vol. 1, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1975, 786–789.
McCabe, D.F. Miletos Inscriptions: texts and list, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Melas, M. ‘The Ethnography of Minoan and Mycenaean Beekeeping’, in: P.P. Betancourt, V. Karageorghis, R. Laffineur, and W.D. Niemeier (eds.) Meletemata: studies in Aegean archaeology presented to Malcolm H. Wiener, vol. 2, Liège/Austin: Université de Liège Press/University of Texas at Austin Press, 1999, 485–491.
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Mouton, A. Mythes, rites et prières Hittites, Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2016.
Otten, H. ‘Eine Beschwörung der Unterirdischen aus Boğazköy’, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, 54, 1961, 114–157.
Pötscher, W. Theophrastos ΠΕΡΙ ΕΥΣΕΒΕΙΑΣ, Leiden: Brill, 1964.
Redford, D.B. (ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Rutherford, I.C. ‘Achilles and the šalliš waštaiš ritual: performing death in Greece and Anatolia’, in: N. Lanieri (ed.), Performing Death: social analyses of funerary traditions in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2007.
Schlichting, R. ‘Neit’, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, vol. 4, 1980, 392–394.
Schuster, M. ‘Mel’, in: Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, J. B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 15, 1931, 364–384.
Scullion, J.S. ‘Olympian and Chthonian’, Classical Antiquity 13, 1994, 75–119.
Sokolowski, F. Lois sacrées de l’Asie mineur, Paris: E. de Boccard, 1955.
______. Lois sacrées des cités grecques, Paris: E. de Boccard, 1969.
Simon, C., s.v. ‘Neith’, in: Redford 2001.
Stengel, P. Opferbräuche der Griechen, Leipzig: Teubner, 1910.
Usener, H. ‘Milch und Honig’, Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 51, 1902, 117–145.
Ventris, M. and Chadwick, J. (eds.) Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 2nd ed. by J. Chadwick, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
Weilhartner, J. ‘Oil and Honey on some of the Linear B-Offering Tablets from Knossos: considerations about their possible application’, Journal of the Prehistory of Religions, 16–17, 2002–2003, 46–52.
______. Mykenische Opfergaben nach Aussage der Linear B-Texte, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005.
West, M.L. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Zecchi, M. ‘On the Offering of Honey in the Graeco-Roman Temples’, Aegyptus 77, 1997, 71–83.
Ziehen, L. ‘Νηφάλια’, Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, J. B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 16, 1934, 2482–2489.
CTH E. Laroche, Catalogue des textes Hittites, Paris: Klincksieck, 1981.
Hethport https://www.hethport.uni-wuerzburg.de/HPM/index.php.
ID Inscriptions de Délos, 7 vols., Paris: H. Champion, 1926–1972.
Iscr. di Cos M. Segre (ed.), Iscrizioni di Cos, Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider, 1993.
KBo Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazköi.
KUB Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazköi.
PHI https://epigraphy.packhum.org/.
Akkaya, H. and Alkan, S. ‘Beekeeping in Anatolia from the Hittites to the Present Day’, Journal of Apicultural Research, 46, 2007, 120–124.
Andronikos, M. Totenkult. Archaeologia Homerica III W, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1968.
Barsacchi, F.G. ‘KBo 20.64: A Hittite Invocation Ritual Mentioning the Thunder’, Altorientalische Forschungen, 43, 2016, 1–16.
Bendall, L.M. Economics of Religion in the Mycenaean World: resources dedicated to religion in the Mycenaean palace economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Borghouts, J.F. Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts, Leiden: Brill, 1978.
Bowie, A.M. ‘Oil in Ancient Greece and Rome’, in: M. Dudley and G. Rowell (eds.), The Oil of Gladness: anointing in the Christian tradition, Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1993, 26–34.
Bryce, T, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Chauvin, R. (ed.) Traité de biologie de l’abeille: vol. 5 Histoire, ethnographie et folklore, Paris: Masson et Cie, 1968.
Chouliara-Raïos, H. L’abeille et le miel en Égypte d’après les papyrus grecs, Ioannina: Panepistemio Ioanninon, 1989.
Crane, E. ‘History of Honey’, in: Crane 1975: 438–488.
______. (ed.) Honey: a comprehensive survey, London: Heinemann, 1975.
Derchain, P. Le Papyrus Salt 825 (BM 10051), rituel pour la conservation de la vie en Égypte, Brussels: Palais des académies, 1965.
Detienne, M. ‘Orphée au miel’, Quaderni urbinai di cultura classica, 12, 1971, 7–23.
Dodson, A. s.v. ‘Four Sons of Horus’, in: Redford 2001.
Geden, A. S. and Ronan, S. Mithraic Sources in English, Hastings: Chthonios Books, 1990.
Gilan, A. ‘The Ewe that was a Scapegoat Bride: a new look at the Hittite Bestiality Purification Ritual KUB 41, 11+’, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, 108, 2018, 226–234.
Graf, F. ‘Milch, Honig, Wein’, in: Perennitas: studi in onore di Angelo Brelich, Rome: Edizioni dell’Ateneo, 1981, 209–221.
Guiman, M. Melissa: archeologia delle api e del miele nella Grecia antica, Roma: Giorgio Bretchneider editore, 2008.
Haas, V. Magie und Mythen im Reich der Hethiter, vol. 1, Vegetationsmythen und Pflanzenmagie, Hamberg: Merlin, 1977.
______. ‘Leopard und Biene im Kulte ‘hethitischer’ Göttinnen: Betrachtungen zu Kontinuität und Verbreitung altkleinasiatischer und nordsyrischer religiöser Vorstellungen’, Ugarit-Forschungen 13, 1981, 101–116.
______. Materia Magica et Medica Hethitica: Ein Beitrag zur Heilkunde im Alten Orient (unter Mitwirkung von D. Bawanypeck), vol. 1, Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, 2003.
Haase, R. ‘Über Bienen und Schafe in der Hethitischen Rechtssatzung’, Altorientalische Forschungen 28, 2001, 124–131.
Henrichs, A. ‘The Eumenides and Wineless Libations in the Derveni Papyrus’, Atti del xvii congresso internazionale di papirologia, Naples: Centro internazionale per lo studio dei papiri ercolanesi, vol. 2, 1984, 255–268.
Heerma van Voss, M. ‘Horuskinder’, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, vol. 3, 1980, 52–53.
Hoffner, H.A. ‘Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’Ôḇ’, Journal of Biblical Literature, 86, 1967, 385–401.
______. Alimenta Hethaeorum: food production in Hittite Asia Minor, New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1974.
______. The Laws of the Hittites: a critical edition, Leiden, New York and Cologne: Brill, 1997.
Jameson, M.H., Jordon, D.R. and Kotansky, R.D. A Lex Sacra from Selinous, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993.
Kassian, A., Korolëv, A., and Sidel’tsev, A. (eds.) Hittite Funerary Ritual šalliš waštaiš, Munster: Ugarit Verlag, 2002.
Kelhoffer, J.A. ‘John the Baptist’s ‘Wild Honey’ and ‘Honey’ in Antiquity’, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 45, 2005, 59–73.
Kritsky, G. The Tears of Re: beekeeping in ancient Egypt, New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Kuény, G. ‘Scènes apicoles dans l’ancienne Égypte’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 9, 1950, 84–93.
Kurtz, D.C. and Boardman, J. Greek Burial Customs, London: Thames and Hudson, 1971.
Le Sage, D.E. ‘The Language of Honey’, in: Crane 1975: 426–438.
Leclant, J. ‘L’abeille et le miel dans l’Égypte pharaonique’, in: Chauvin 1968: 51–60.
______. ‘Biene’, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, vol. 1, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1975, 786–789.
McCabe, D.F. Miletos Inscriptions: texts and list, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Melas, M. ‘The Ethnography of Minoan and Mycenaean Beekeeping’, in: P.P. Betancourt, V. Karageorghis, R. Laffineur, and W.D. Niemeier (eds.) Meletemata: studies in Aegean archaeology presented to Malcolm H. Wiener, vol. 2, Liège/Austin: Université de Liège Press/University of Texas at Austin Press, 1999, 485–491.
Moret, A. Le rituel du culte divin journalier en Égypte, d’après les papyrus de Berlin et les textes du temple de Séti 1er, à Abydos, Paris: E. Leroue, 1902.
Mouton, A. Mythes, rites et prières Hittites, Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2016.
Otten, H. ‘Eine Beschwörung der Unterirdischen aus Boğazköy’, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, 54, 1961, 114–157.
Pötscher, W. Theophrastos ΠΕΡΙ ΕΥΣΕΒΕΙΑΣ, Leiden: Brill, 1964.
Redford, D.B. (ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Rutherford, I.C. ‘Achilles and the šalliš waštaiš ritual: performing death in Greece and Anatolia’, in: N. Lanieri (ed.), Performing Death: social analyses of funerary traditions in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2007.
Schlichting, R. ‘Neit’, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, vol. 4, 1980, 392–394.
Schuster, M. ‘Mel’, in: Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, J. B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 15, 1931, 364–384.
Scullion, J.S. ‘Olympian and Chthonian’, Classical Antiquity 13, 1994, 75–119.
Sokolowski, F. Lois sacrées de l’Asie mineur, Paris: E. de Boccard, 1955.
______. Lois sacrées des cités grecques, Paris: E. de Boccard, 1969.
Simon, C., s.v. ‘Neith’, in: Redford 2001.
Stengel, P. Opferbräuche der Griechen, Leipzig: Teubner, 1910.
Usener, H. ‘Milch und Honig’, Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 51, 1902, 117–145.
Ventris, M. and Chadwick, J. (eds.) Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 2nd ed. by J. Chadwick, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
Weilhartner, J. ‘Oil and Honey on some of the Linear B-Offering Tablets from Knossos: considerations about their possible application’, Journal of the Prehistory of Religions, 16–17, 2002–2003, 46–52.
______. Mykenische Opfergaben nach Aussage der Linear B-Texte, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005.
West, M.L. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Zecchi, M. ‘On the Offering of Honey in the Graeco-Roman Temples’, Aegyptus 77, 1997, 71–83.
Ziehen, L. ‘Νηφάλια’, Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, J. B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 16, 1934, 2482–2489.
