History of Honey in Egypt

The history of honey dates back to 3000 BC. At that time Lower Egypt was called Bee Land while Upper Egypt was Reed Land. Honey was first recorded as being used in medicine for basic cuts and scrapes. The Ebers Papyrus of the Ancient Egyptians around 1550 BC uses honey as the primary medicinal agent more than 147 of its healing formulas. The bee is featured frequently in Egyptian hieroglyphs and was favored by the pharaohs, often used as a symbol of royalty. The ancient Egyptians used honey as a sweetener, as a gift to their gods and even as an ingredient in embalming fluid. Honey was used to preserve the pharaohs that were mummified as a symbol of royalty. Honey cakes were baked by the Egyptians and used as an offering to the gods. The oldest know contraceptive was used in Egypt around 1500 BC. The women used a barrier of crocodile dung mixed with honey.

Sources:

http://www.health-benefits-of-honey.com/historyofhoney.html

http://www.natural-honey.org/history_of_honey.htm

http://www.honey-for-health.com/history-of-honey.html

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/RHE309/birthcontrlhist/