Petty Honeybees

Editions de Boccard
Chapter Title: So Work The Honeybees

Chapter Author(s): Alice Petty
Book Title: Les produits de luxe au Proche Orient ancien, aux ges du Bronze et du Fer
Book Author(s): Michle CASANOVA and Marian FELDMAN
Published by: Editions de Boccard. (2014)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt175x30j.17
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So Work The Honeybees

1
Alice Petty*
So Work the honey-bees,

Creatures that by a rule of nature teach the act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts;
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home,
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad,
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, make boot upon the summers velvet buds,
Which pillage they with merry march bring home to the tent-royal of their emperor;
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold,
The civil citizens kneading up the honey,
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,
The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum, delivering oer to executioners pale
The lazy yawning drone.
William Shakespeare (1599), Henry V, Act I, scene 2.
Abstract
This paper concerns a stele inscription attributed to ama-re-Uur, an eighth century bc
governor of Suu and Mari, in which he claims to have introduced apiculture to the Middle
Euphrates region. This claim of technical mastery sheds light on the history and nature of
honey and wax production in ancient Syria, while additionally falling within the realm of those
descriptions of building and military achievements that typically appear in commemorative
inscriptions and annals. Furthermore, a keeper of bees, familiar with their ecology and behavior,
might observe a specialization of labor, the construction of monumental architecture and of
course a social hierarchy and craft specialization, as well as the presence of a supreme ruler,
presumably a king. Its a provocative possibility that this motif may have been understood as a
metaphor for power over a complex society. The inscription therefore illustrates the transmission
of technical knowledge and symbolic language as luxury commodities in Iron Age Syria.
Keywords: Honeybees, apiculture, honey, wax, kingship, symbolic language, technology.
Rsum
Ce document porte sur une stle prsentant une inscription attribue ama-re-Uur, qui tait
gouverneur de Suu et Mari au viiiesicle av.J.-C. Dans ce texte, il affirme quil a introduit
lapiculture dans la rgion du Moyen Euphrate, ce qui nous claire sur lhistoire et la nature de
la production de miel et de cire dans lancienne Syrie. Cette affirmation de matrise de techniques
sinscrit aussi dans le genre des descriptions de ralisations architecturales et militaires qui apparaissent
typiquement dans les inscriptions commmoratives ou les annales.
*
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA [aapetty@stanford.edu].

Les produits de luxe au Proche-Orient ancien, aux ges du Bronze et du Fer,
CasanovaM. et Feldman M., d., 2014, p.185-192 (Travaux de la MAE, Ren-Ginouvs, 19)
MEP_Travaux de Luxe.indd 185
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186
So Work the Honeybees
En outre, un apiculteur, qui est familier avec le mode de vie des abeilles et leur comportement, peut
observer dune part, une spcialisation du travail, la construction dune architecture monumentale,
et bien sr lexistence dune hirarchie sociale et dune spcialisation artisanale, mais aussi la prsence
dun dirigeant suprme, probablement un roi.
Nous sommes face lhypothse provocatrice que ce thme puisse tre compris comme une mtaphore
sur le pouvoir dans une socit complexe. Si cest le cas, cette inscription montre alors la transmission
dun savoir technique et dun langage symbolique, considrs comme des produits de luxe lge du
Fer en Syrie.
Mots-cls: Abeilles, apiculture, miel, cire, royaut, langage symbolique, technologie.
2
Introduction
In a text inscribed on a stele recovered from the ruins of Nebuchadnezzars north palace at Babylon1 and currently in the collection of the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul,
ama-re-Uur, an 8th century ruler, claims to have introduced apiculture to the middle
Euphrates region. This first known reference to beekeeping in an Akkadian text sheds
light on the history of honey and wax production in the ancient Near East, and raises the
provocative possibility that ama-re-Uurs claim may function as a metaphor; furthermore, it suggests that knowledge itself, in the form of technology or symbolic language,
may have been exchanged as a luxury good in Iron Age Syria.
ama-re-Uur was a governor (LU.GAR, or aknu) of Suu and Mari on the Middle
Euphrates. While the dates of his reign are disputed, it likely fell during the early part of the
eighth century bc during the period of decentralization following the death of Shalmaneser
III in 824 bc2. In an inscription recovered at Sur Jana, ama-re-Uur identifies himself
as a descendant of Hammurapi3 and this invocation of a royal Babylonian genealogy is
arguably a critical aspect of his assertion of legitimacy as a ruler. According to inscriptions
of ama-re-Uurs son, Ninurta-Kudurri-Uur, the territory of Suu had been governed
by Assyria for some fifty years prior to the reign of his father. Their ancestor, Kudurru,
is mentioned as a troublesome governor of Suu during the reign of AurnairpalII. It
appears that Kudurru was defeated and removed from power by the Assyrians, despite
an attempted intervention by the Babylonian king Nabu-apla-iddina. The governance of
the territory of Suu by ama-re-Uur may therefore be read as a return to power by a
former and legitimate Babylonian dynasty4.
The Stele of ama-re-Uur

The stele itself is carved into white limestone. It measures 118x132cm and features
a depiction of a crowned figure wearing a long tunic. In his left hand he holds a weapon,
and his right arm is raised in a position of prayer, fist clenched. He stands before the god
Adad, who holds bolts of lightning and wears a feathered crown. Behind Adad stands
Ishtar. In the field between these two gods are the symbols for Nabu, Marduk, ama and
Sn. Behind the supplicating figure stands the goddess Anat5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Oates 1979, pp.151-152; Frame 1995, p.278.

Frame 1995, pp.275, 278; Grayson 1996.
Frame 1995, pp.282-284.
Ibid., pp.275-276.
Borker-Klahn 1982; Frame 1995, p.278; Conteneau 1931, p.1303; Gressmann 1927, p.94.
15/05/14 08:33
Alice Petty
187
The stele inscription, written in the Babylonian dialect, falls comfortably within the
tradition of royal Assyrian annals and commemorative inscriptions. It features a description
of ama-re-Uurs military campaigns and building projects, followed by a brief curse
formula. Although the text then apparently reaches its original conclusion: this document was sealed in the thirteenth year of ama-re-Uur, governor of the land of Suu
and Mari there then follows an additional block of text:
I, ama-re-Uur, Governor of Suu and Mari, brought down from the mountain of the people
of abu6 the bees which gather honey which my forefathers had not seen and had not brought
down to the land of Suu and I installed them in the gardens of the town Al-gabbari-bani. They
collect honey and wax. I know how to melt honey and wax, and the gardeners, they know.
Thus in his inscription, ama-re-Uur claims to have personally mastered the skills
of acquiring honey from the hive and melting, which is a means of extracting, the wax.
Honey and wax

Honey and wax were both highly desirable, symbolically charged luxury commodities
in the Iron Age Near East, and by claiming to have introduced apiculture ama-re-Uur
is taking credit for providing reliable and self-reliant access to these desirable commodities.
In addition to being a valued food product, honey was used medicinally, as a vehicle
for applying topical medicines and also as an ingredient of medicines taken internally; it
was also used ritually, as an offering to the gods, for anointing a priest, anointing a door
lock, and in Assyrian rituals relating to the consecration of buildings, where it was mixed
into the brick or mortar. Honey also may have been used in the preparation of perfumes7.
There is some dispute regarding the history of honey acquisition in Mesopotamia; this
discussion, which concerns the meaning of the Akkadian term dipu, and whether it refers
to actual honey or a sweet syrup made from dates, is a digression which is beyond the
scope of this paper. Suffice it to say that the identity of the substance called dipu appears
to vary depending on the time and geography, and that honey was a prized commodity
that seems to have been imported, in antiquity as it is today, from peripheral regions of
the north into Mesopotamia proper8.
Wax was also used medicinally, as a vehicle for medicines applied topically; additionally,
it was used by skilled craftsmen for casting metal art objects. It was also used for coating
the wooden writing tablets used by scribes. Like honey, wax was also used ritually, as it
could be modeled into figures used for apotropaic or sympathetic magic9. Bees are also
ecologically beneficial. They pollinate plants and aid in plant reproduction, although it
is unclear if this was recognized in antiquity. Furthermore, they are able to provide their
own food and do not over-graze like other domesticated animals such as sheep or goats.
Honeybee behavior and ecology

The apicultural practice of acquiring honeycomb and separating the honey from the
wax is well known and documented. The honey should be well ripened, and an indication
of this is when two-thirds of the comb is capped over. To access the honey and wax, the
6.
7.
8.
9.
abu is located around Lake Van, and is mentioned in the annals of Aurnasirpal II; see Liverani 1992.
CAD vol.3, pp.161-162.
Volk 1999.
CAD vol.7, p.252.
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188
beekeeper prepares a clay pot with live coals and dried dung and a funnel shaped cover.
He then floods the hive with smoke and drives out any bees that are present in the combs
about to be extracted. Approaching the hive with two long knives one with a sharp cutting edge on both sides; the second curved, sharp on one side and with a scraping surface
on the other he slices the comb off the top of the hive, where it is attached, with the first
and scrapes the remaining fragments with the curved blade10.
The combs are then carried to a secondary location for the separation of honey and wax.
One method of separation requires that the combs be crushed, and the honey is drained
through a sieve. The remaining substance, a sticky, waxy sludge with impurities, is heated
and melted. Any foreign matter that is present will sink to the bottom, while the wax rises
to the top and can be skimmed off. In another method the entirety is simply heated and
it is the honey and impurities that sink to the bottom and the wax rises to the top. The
honey can then be drained through a sieve to remove any foreign matter11. In either case,
it is clear that when the inscription states that ama-re-Uur knows how to melt honey
and wax, what is meant is that he knows a process for separating the two.
The extraction of honey and wax generally takes place twice, in midsummer and in
autumn. For the first cultivation, the keeper can leave as little as one-fifth of the comb,
because there is still food in the fields and the colony will have an opportunity to replenish
their food supply. At the second taking, the keeper should be more conservative so that the
colony can survive the winter. It is vital at this stage for the beekeeper to understand the
ecology of the hive, to know how much to take, and to leave, so that the colony is fully
exploited but left intact. Thus successful use of this technology requires a familiarity with
honeybee ecology. Similarly, an assessment of whether this claim may have functioned on
a symbolic level also relies on a basic knowledge of hive ecology.
The worker bees, which come from fertilized eggs, form the foundation of the hive.
The life of a worker bee is divided into three distinct stages. In the first stage, the task of a
newly emerged bee is to crawl into a brood cell and prepare it for the reception of a new
egg. These youngest workers also maintain the proper level of warmth12. Within a few
days, the salivary gland in the head of the worker bee develops and it produces a secretion
which is used to feed the larvae13.
The second stage begins with the full development of the wax gland, and the worker
takes on the task of building. Honeycomb is made from this beeswax. If the colony needs
more comb, the worker bees form curtains by hanging on one another from the top of
the hive, which raises the temperature to about ninety-seven degrees Fahrenheit. In a few
hours, wax scales form on the abdomens of the hanging bees; these scales are then removed
and manipulated by the bees thatuse them to build new comb14. This construction may
be seen as an entomological parallel to monumental architecture. Building a typical nest
requires over 1200 grams of beeswax, which is synthesized from sugar. The amount of
sugar needed to construct the comb is the equivalent of one third of the colonys winter
food supply a considerable sacrifice15. Also during this second stage, some of the worker
10. Phillips 1949, pp.300, 352; Volk 1999.

11. Phillips 1949, pp.300, 352; Volk 1999.
12. Frisch 1953, pp.33-34, 36.
13. Ibid., pp.36-37; Phillips 1949, p.117.
14. Phillips 1949, pp.118-119.
15. Seeley 1985, p.76.
15/05/14 08:33
Alice Petty
189
bees begin collecting and digesting nectar which they store in the larder cells16 while others
maintain the hive, removing refuse; still others serve as guards17.
During the third and final stage of life, the worker bee collects nectar, pollen and water.
The collection of each of these substances is a specialty, and if not for this division of labor,
one would find an overabundance of one substance and a lack of another18.
A honeybee colony reproduces by swarming. Toward the end of the winter, the size of
the community increases dramatically; when this happens, the colony rears drones. Drones
are the male bees that come from unfertilized eggs. At this time, new queens emerge and
when one is nearly adult she will swarm, leaving the primary hive and taking about half the
adult workers with her. The swarm flies to a branch or other support and clusters together.
From the cluster, a few specialized worker bees, called scouts, will seek out a new nest site,
which needs to have a volume between 20 and 100 liters. The scouts communicate this
newly discovered location to the colony, and the bees then follow the scout to the site and
begin to build comb19.
Back in the original hive, one dominant queen remains, having killed off her competitors. When she is a few days old she leaves the hive and mates with perhaps a dozen
drones in flight. The sole function of the drones within the colony is their role in the
reproductive process20.
In order to exploit a colony of bees, all manipulations must be based on these natural
behaviors. Bees are instinctive creatures, and their ability to adapt to changes in their
environment is limited. It is therefore more important for a keeper of bees to observe and
understand normal behavior of the hive than if their behavior were more adaptive21. The
timing of the harvests is an example of this. The summer honey must be taken after it
has ripened, which requires an observation of the comb building process; an indication
of when the honey is ripe for cultivation is when two-thirds of the comb is capped over.
Furthermore, the beekeeper needs to observe and understand the dynamics of brood-rearing
and population growth within the colony so that he does not postpone the harvest for
so long that the colony gets too large and a swarm is issued. A second example concerns
the actual cultivation of the honey and the wax. The beekeeper must be able to gauge the
needs of the colony in his care, leaving enough food for winter use. If the amount of food
left behind is insufficient to sustain the remaining population, the colony will not survive
the winter22.
Observation and symbolic language

Just as observation is required in order to successfully exploit hive ecology, observation
is also the foundation of symbolic language. Essentially, symbolic language applies a parallel phrase or term to something wherein the application is not literal, in order to suggest
a resemblance. Implicit in this practice is the act of comparing, which relies upon both
observation and the interpretation of that which is observed. Among the earliest description
16. Frisch 1953, pp.37-38.

17. Phillips 1949, p.126.
18. Frisch 1953, pp.37-38.
19. Crane 1999, p.197.
20. Crane 1999.
21. Phillips 1949, p.41.
22. Crane 1999, p.197.
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190
of honeybee ecology in the ancient literature is Hesiods Theogony, composed c.700 bc and
featuring a critique of women in which he compares them to drones:
...as when the bees in their roofed hives feed the drones, which conspire to evil deeds. Every
day the bees work eagerly all through the day till sundown and set the white combs, while the
drones stay within the roofed hives and gather into their bellies the toil of others. Just so highthundering Zeus has made women to be an evil for mortal men.23
If the basis of symbolic language is observation, and observation is a prerequisite for

the successful exploitation of domesticated honeybees then it is a provocative possibility
that ama-re-Uurs claim may in fact have two levels of meaning. The first is literal,
concerning the introduction of apiculture to the middle Euphrates and documenting the
means by which this technology was transmitted into the region. On a secondary level,
the claim may have functioned as a metaphor.
The foundation of this metaphor rests on the identification of the queen bee as ruler of
the hive, and the vital role she plays in sustaining the hive population. When breaking into
the hive to take the honeycombs, the keeper would surely observe her larger size, unique
shape, and the fact that she is the focus of hive attention and activity. In antiquity, the
people who kept bees were governed by a king or other male ruler and therefore assumed,
unsurprisingly, that the single large bee in the hive was the male ruler, or king, of the rest.
In fact, it was not until 1599 that Luis Mendez de Torres of Spain asserted that the ruler
of the hive was the female who produced all the other bees in the colony24. This news
was apparently not brought to the attention of one Reverend Charles Butler who, having
observed that this bee had a shorter sting than his subjects, wrote in 1609: The spear is
but little, and not half so long as the other Bees; which like a Kings sword, is borne rather
for show and authority, than for any other use.
Ancient Egyptians seem to have made a similar symbolic association between bees and
kingship. The hieroglyphic sign for bt, written with the form of a bee,was used both in
the spelling of the word for honey, and the word for bees, and was indicative of the red
crown of Lower Egypt, worn by the king. Furthermore, one of the main components of
the pharaonic titulary is the prenomen, nsw bty meaning, he-of-the-reed-and-the-bee
the reed and the bee being the emblems of Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively25. This
part of the kings title is also written with the bee-shaped hieroglyph, creating a visual and
symbolic association between the writing of the royal titulary and the image of the bee.
Aside from the identification and observation of the queen, there are other features of
honeybee ecology that a beekeeper would recognize. First, the division of labor within the
colony must be understood. One only needs to approach a hive to realize that some of the
bees serve as guards, while others will continue to forage nearby. Second, the age distinction would also be noticed. When harvesting the honey the beekeeper would observe the
actions of the nursemaids, tending to the larvae still in the nest cells. The beekeeper would
not want to take the cells with larvae in them, because the larvae would be considered an
impurity. He would also want to spare the lives of the youngest workers who are critical
to maintaining the population of his valuable resource. Finally, he must understand that
the bees themselves construct the combs out of natural materials available to them, and
23. Crane 1999, p.196 citing Theogony, lines 594-599.
24. Ibid., p.569.
25. Redford 2001, pp.172-173.
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Alice Petty
191
he would assess that some of the bees must be building while the others are performing
these aforementioned tasks; he may even observe the building process as he monitors the
colony in order to time the harvests and to oversee the health and the well being of the
colony in his care.
Conclusion
ama-re-Uurs claim to have introduced apiculture to the land of Suu is not merely
anhistorical footnote placing the Middle Euphrates within the greater context of beekeeping in the ancient world. It indicates that knowledge, in this case technological knowledge,
may be understood as a luxury commodity. It is noteworthy that this technical knowledge
of which there is no other textual, art historical or archaeological evidence within the
middle Euphrates region at this time and which the inscription itself states was unknown
appears to have passed not among pastoralists or agriculturalists but to ama-re-Uur,
an elite political office holder, who shares it only with his gardeners so that they can put
it into practice.
If one accepts his claim to have possessed personal knowledge of this technology, this
suggests that the text may have functioned on a secondary level, beyond that of the descriptions of building and military achievements that typically appear in commemorative inscriptions and annals. A keeper of bees, familiar with their ecology and behavior, might observe
a specialization of labor, the construction of monumental architecture, a social hierarchy
and specialization of activity, as well as the presence of a supreme ruler, presumed to be a
king. It is a provocative possibility that this claim to have mastered this technology may
have also been intended as an allusion to dominion over this complex society; specifically,
a symbolically charged metaphor for a kingship that could not be asserted outright.
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Editions de Boccard

Chapter Title: So Work The Honeybees

So Work The Honeybees

So Work the honey-bees,

Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA [aapetty@stanford.edu].

So Work the Honeybees

The Stele of ama-re-Uur

Oates 1979, pp.151-152; Frame 1995, p.278.

MEP_Travaux de Luxe.indd 186

Honey and wax

Honeybee behavior and ecology

MEP_Travaux de Luxe.indd 187

So Work the Honeybees

10. Phillips 1949, pp.300, 352; Volk 1999.

Observation and symbolic language

16. Frisch 1953, pp.37-38.

So Work the Honeybees

If the basis of symbolic language is observation, and observation is a prerequisite for

So Work the Honeybees

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