Rehov
Encyclopedia
Rehov meaning "broad", "wide place", was an important Bronze
and Iron Age
city located at Tel Rehov , an archaeological site in the Jordan Valley
, Israel
, approximately 5 km south of Beit She'an and 3 km west of the Jordan River. The site represents one of the largest ancient city mounds in Israel, its surface area comprising 120,000 m² in size, divided into an "Upper City" (40,000 m²) and a "Lower City" (80,000 m²). The oldest known archaeological finds relating to beekeeping
were discovered at Rehov. Rehov was a joint Israelite-Canaanite city, and had an estimated population of 2,000.
, Professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and with the primary sponsorship of John Camp
.
Rehov has emerged as a site of much archaeological importance. The Iron Age II levels of the site, in particular, have emerged as a vitally important component in the current debate regarding the chronology of the United Monarchy
of Israel. Important data has also been forthcoming regarding the Early Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age and medieval occupation of the site.
Mazar's site supervisors at Rehov have included Paul James Cowie (Area E), Robert Mullins (Areas A and B), Nava Panitz-Cohen (Area C), Amir Sumaqai-Fink (Area D), Dalit Weinblatt-Krauss (Area B), Adi Ziv-Esudri (Areas F and G) and Nachum Applbaum (computers and website). The burden of the work is achieved each year by students and volunteers from universities and colleges in Israel, the United States
, Canada
, Australia
, the United Kingdom
and several other countries.
s and the remains of 100-200 more dated to the mid-10th century BCE to the early 9th century BCE were found by archaeologists in the ruins
of Rehov. The beehives were evidence of an advanced honey
-producing beekeeping
(apiculture) industry 3000 years ago in the city, then thought to have a population of about 2000 residents at that time, both Israelite
and Canaanite. The beehives, made of straw
and unbaked clay
, were found in orderly rows of 100 hives. Previously, references to honey in ancient texts of the region (such as the phrase "land of milk and honey" in the Hebrew Bible
) were thought to refer only to honey derived from dates
and figs
; the discoveries show evidence of commercial production of bee honey and beeswax
.
In addition to beehives, the remains of bees and bee larva and pupae were also found. In 2010, using DNA
from the remains of bees found at the site, researchers identified the bees as a subspecies, similar to the Anatolian bee
, found now only in what is modern-day Turkey
. It is possible that the bees' range has changed, but more likely that the inhabitants of Tel Rehov imported bees because they were less aggressive than the local bees and provided a better honey yield (three to eight times higher than Israel’s native bees).
Archaeological finds also showed evidence of widespread commerce betweent the Land of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean, and techniques for the transfer of bees in large pottery vases or portable beehives. An Assyria
n stamp from the 8th century BCE provides evidence that bees had been brought 400 kilometers south from the Taurus Mountains
of southern Turkey.
The beehives were dated by carbon-14
radiocarbon dating
at the University of Groningen
in the Netherlands
, using organic material
(wheat
found next to the beehives).
Ezra Marcus of the University of Haifa
, said the finding was a glimpse of ancient beekeeping seen in Near East
ern texts and ancient art
. Religious practice was evidenced by an altar
decorated with fertility
figurines
found alongside the hives.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
city located at Tel Rehov , an archaeological site in the Jordan Valley
Jordan Valley (Middle East)
The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, approximately 5 km south of Beit She'an and 3 km west of the Jordan River. The site represents one of the largest ancient city mounds in Israel, its surface area comprising 120,000 m² in size, divided into an "Upper City" (40,000 m²) and a "Lower City" (80,000 m²). The oldest known archaeological finds relating to beekeeping
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
were discovered at Rehov. Rehov was a joint Israelite-Canaanite city, and had an estimated population of 2,000.
Archaeological excavations
Archaeological excavations have been conducted at Rehov almost every year since 1997 under the directorship of Amihai MazarAmihai Mazar
Amihai "Ami" Mazar is an Israeli archaeologist. Born in Haifa, Israel , he is currently Professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, holding the Eleazer Sukenik Chair in the Archaeology of Israel.Mazar has directed archaeological excavations at a number of...
, Professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and with the primary sponsorship of John Camp
John Sandford (novelist)
John Sandford is the pseudonym of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling novelist John Roswell Camp. Camp was born on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He received a Bachelor's in American History and a Master's in Journalism from the University of Iowa.From 1971 to 1978,...
.
Rehov has emerged as a site of much archaeological importance. The Iron Age II levels of the site, in particular, have emerged as a vitally important component in the current debate regarding the chronology of the United Monarchy
United Monarchy
According to Biblical tradition, the united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Biblical historians date the kingdom from c. 1020 BCE to c...
of Israel. Important data has also been forthcoming regarding the Early Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age and medieval occupation of the site.
Mazar's site supervisors at Rehov have included Paul James Cowie (Area E), Robert Mullins (Areas A and B), Nava Panitz-Cohen (Area C), Amir Sumaqai-Fink (Area D), Dalit Weinblatt-Krauss (Area B), Adi Ziv-Esudri (Areas F and G) and Nachum Applbaum (computers and website). The burden of the work is achieved each year by students and volunteers from universities and colleges in Israel, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and several other countries.
Ancient beehives
In September 2007 it was reported that that 30 intact beehiveBeehive
A beehive is a structure in which bees live and raise their young.Beehive may also refer to:Buildings and locations:* Bee Hive, Alabama, a neighborhood in Alabama* Beehive , a wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings...
s and the remains of 100-200 more dated to the mid-10th century BCE to the early 9th century BCE were found by archaeologists in the ruins
Ruins
Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...
of Rehov. The beehives were evidence of an advanced honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
-producing beekeeping
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
(apiculture) industry 3000 years ago in the city, then thought to have a population of about 2000 residents at that time, both Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
and Canaanite. The beehives, made of straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
and unbaked clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, were found in orderly rows of 100 hives. Previously, references to honey in ancient texts of the region (such as the phrase "land of milk and honey" in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
) were thought to refer only to honey derived from dates
Date Palm
The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...
and figs
Common fig
The Common fig is a deciduous tree growing to heights of up to 6 m in the genus Ficus from the family Moraceae known as Common fig tree. It is a temperate species native to the Middle East.-Description:...
; the discoveries show evidence of commercial production of bee honey and beeswax
Beeswax
Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. It is mainly esters of fatty acids and various long chain alcohols...
.
In addition to beehives, the remains of bees and bee larva and pupae were also found. In 2010, using DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
from the remains of bees found at the site, researchers identified the bees as a subspecies, similar to the Anatolian bee
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, found now only in what is modern-day Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It is possible that the bees' range has changed, but more likely that the inhabitants of Tel Rehov imported bees because they were less aggressive than the local bees and provided a better honey yield (three to eight times higher than Israel’s native bees).
Archaeological finds also showed evidence of widespread commerce betweent the Land of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean, and techniques for the transfer of bees in large pottery vases or portable beehives. An Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n stamp from the 8th century BCE provides evidence that bees had been brought 400 kilometers south from the Taurus Mountains
Taurus Mountains
Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east...
of southern Turkey.
The beehives were dated by carbon-14
Carbon-14
Carbon-14, 14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with a nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues , to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological...
radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, using organic material
Organic matter
Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds...
(wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
found next to the beehives).
Ezra Marcus of the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
, said the finding was a glimpse of ancient beekeeping seen in Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
ern texts and ancient art
Ancient art
Arts of the ancient world refer to the many types of art that were in the cultures of ancient societies, such as those of ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome.-Egypt:...
. Religious practice was evidenced by an altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
decorated with fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
figurines
Figurines
Figurines is an indie rock band from Denmark, formed in the mid-1990s. The band released their first EP, The Detour, in 2001 and their first full-length album, Shake a Mountain, in 2004. The band began to receive national attention in Denmark around the time of the full-length release, and began...
found alongside the hives.
External links
- Tel Rehov Excavations - page includes volunteer information, preliminary reports and an image gallery.
- "The Beehives of Tel Rehov" (SourceFlix Productions) - A two-minute video clip concerning the discovery of a beehive industry at Tel Rehov, produced by an independent documentary film group, and includes a brief interview with Dr. Amihai MazarAmihai MazarAmihai "Ami" Mazar is an Israeli archaeologist. Born in Haifa, Israel , he is currently Professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, holding the Eleazer Sukenik Chair in the Archaeology of Israel.Mazar has directed archaeological excavations at a number of...
, director of the Tel Rehov excavations..