The Quite Incredible History of Honey
March 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: The history of honey is as long and as rich as the history of the honeybee. Honeybees are believed to have preceded humans on earth by more than 10 million years, perhaps longer.
As early as 7,000 B.C. prehistoric carvings indicate that man enjoyed honey from the honeycomb, with drawings even illustrating early man risking his life against angry honey bees intent on protecting their hive.
Mentioned in ancient texts, such as the Indian Vedas, the Jewish Torah, the Koran, the Chinese Shi Jing, and depicted in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, honey directly from the honeycomb appears to have been as much a delight then as it is now.
From these ancient recordings it is clear that civilizations across the globe have enjoyed the benefits of honey throughout history. In fact, though frequently mentioned throughout the Christian Bible it is worth mentioning that when the Christian Messiah, Jesus, arose from the grave, the gospel of Luke states that he was first fed broiled fish and a honeycomb.
Julius Caesar even reportedly accepted honey as a type of currency that was used to pay taxes in place of gold. And in the 11th century German citizens actually paid their property taxes with honey and beeswax.
Widely credited as being the father of modern medicine, the Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos (460 BC – ca. 370 BC) valued honey for its medicinal properties. He is noted as using it as an expectorant and claimed that it caused heat, which was useful for cleaning ulcers, wounds and running sores.
He also believed that honey was good for the skin’s complexion. Hippocrates is noted to have encouraged the planting of seeds that had been soaked in honey, which he believed made the fruit that grew from the seedlings taste even sweeter.
After his death, the history of honey and Hippocrates continues as legends tell of a swarm of honeybees that lived in his sepulcher, which is the tomb he was buried in and continued to produce their sweet substance, which was then used to cure sick children when nothing else would.
The first century Greek philosopher, pharmacist, botanist and physician, Dioscorides, who authored one of the oldest journals of medicine, even cited honey as one of the greatest remedies ever.
As a natural food with incredible nutritional and medicinal value, Homer, Aristotle and Pythagoras all are added to the list of those in the history of honey who believed it to be a key ingredient to good overall health.
The history of honey as a celebrated medicine extends all the way to the Second World War when honey was widely touted for its use as an effective wound treatment on injured soldiers. This treatment is widely used on our brave soldiers of today also.
Prior to the production of penicillin, the history of honey shows it to have been the leading antibiotic treatment used for open wounds and lesions.
The history of honey is as old as the written word. For the longest time, it was the only sweetener that was widely available to humans before the mass production of sugar grew to replace it after the 1800s. As a food and as a medicinal agent, the history of honey is actually older than the history of man and certainly older than the history of modern medicine.
From ancient carvings and manuscripts discovered all over the world, honey appears as a delicacy and a heavily lauded medicine, it definitely deserves the recognition.
Posted in Health Is Important
