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Having delivered many talks to non/new beekeepers on honeybees and their importance, the Egyptian tomb honey question is asked more often than not.
Now Georgia (in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, not the US.) appears to trump Egypt by more than 2000 years!
Georgians have long laid claim to being the first winemakers in the world, but could they also be pioneer beekeepers? After a thorough examination of some five-millennia-plus-old jars unearthed in Georgia, archeologists have declared that the artifacts contain the world’s oldest honey.
The honey stains found in the ceramic vessels, found 170 kilometers west of Tbilisi, are believed to be made by bees that buzzed around in Georgia 5,500 years ago — some 2,000 years older than the honey found in Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb, which had been considered the oldest before, Rustavi2 proudly pointed out.
As in ancient Egypt, in ancient Georgia, honey was apparently packed for people’s journeys into the afterlife. And more than one type, too — along for the trip were linden, berry, and a meadow-flower variety.
Read the entire article at: The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life — BEEKeeperTom’s Blog
