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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/04/international/i130320D88.DTL&tsp=1">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/04/international/i130320D88.DTL&tsp=1</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Archaeologists
Discover Ancient Beehives<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tuesday,
September 4, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
id=articlebody>(09-04) 15:52 PDT <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">JERUSALEM</st1:City>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> (AP) -- <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Archaeologists
digging in northern <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>
have discovered evidence of a 3,000-year-old beekeeping industry, including
remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they believe are the oldest
intact beehives ever found.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
findings in the ruins of the city of <st1:City w:st="on">Rehov</st1:City> this
summer include 30 intact hives dating to around 900 B.C., archaeologist Amihai
Mazar of <st1:City w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:City>'s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Hebrew</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
told The Associated Press. He said it offers unique evidence that an advanced
honey industry existed in the <st1:place w:st="on">Holy Land</st1:place> at the
time of the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Beekeeping
was widely practiced in the ancient world, where honey 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. While bees and beekeeping are
depicted in ancient artwork, nothing similar to the Rehov hives has ever been
found before, Mazar said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
beehives, made of straw and unbaked clay, have a hole at one end to allow the
bees in and out and a lid on the other end to allow beekeepers access to the
honeycombs inside. They were found in orderly rows, three high, in a room that
could have accommodated around 100 hives, Mazar said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Bible
repeatedly refers to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>
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 new find shows that the <st1:place w:st="on">Holy Land</st1:place> was
home to a highly developed beekeeping industry nearly 3,000 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"You
can tell that this was an organized industry, part of an organized economy, in
an ultra-organized city," Mazar said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>At the
time the beehives were in use, Mazar believes Rehov had around 2,000 residents,
a mix of Israelites, Canaanites and others.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ezra
Marcus, an expert on the ancient Mediterranean world at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Haifa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
said Tuesday the finding was a unique glimpse into ancient beekeeping. Marcus
was not involved in the Rehov excavation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We
have seen depictions of beekeeping in texts and ancient art from the <st1:place
w:st="on">Near East</st1:place>, but this is the first time we've been able to
actually feel and see the industry," Marcus said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The finding
is especially unique, Marcus said, because of its location in the middle of a
thriving city — a strange place for thousands of bees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This
might have been because the city's ruler wanted the industry under his control,
Marcus said, or because the beekeeping industry was linked to residents'
religious practices, as might be indicated by an altar decorated with fertility
figurines that archaeologists found alongside the hives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
<p id=url><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/04/international/i130320D88.DTL<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>Jennifer Tsang<br>
<a href="http://coevolution.org">Coevolution Institute</a><br>
<st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">423 Washington St.</st1:address></st1:Street>
5th Fl.<br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94111-2339</st1:PostalCode></st1:place><br>
T: 415.362.1137</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>F: 415.362.3070</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.nappc.org">www.nappc.org</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.pollinator.org">www.pollinator.org</a></span></font><font
color="#004000"><span style='color:#004000'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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