Page 77 - DILMUN 13_Neat
P. 77
DILM UN
3.e lDate honey in ancient tets
In ٨١tiquity sugar, in its prcsent-day form crystalliscd from bcct or cane, was umknow3'ﺭﺭ
Suhbstitutes wcre us٥d thercfore, sometines bces' honcy, but ١ost oftcn, because of the
scarcity and high cost ٥f that product, juices cxtracted from fruits contaiing sug:ar, a١d in
particular dates in the producing areas٠ Such a juice, syrup or date honcy is oftcn metioned
in the ancient texts but it is not possible to dcfine it more prccisely bccause of a lack of dctail
on its composition and ١٥thod of production.
in Mcsopotamin? the ternm dispu (swectcning) is uscd to mcan bees' honey as wcll as its
substitute cxtractcd fron dates (dispu-suluppu)?3, 1٨ fact, although bces (nuptu) have bccn
known fron the Sumcrian age onwards and date honey a١d a '١ountain honcy' or ''pure
honey'' are ١entioned sidc by side as early as the 3rd illeiu١, it scens that this rcfers to
imported honey and that real bee-keeping was only delatedly introduced to thc rcgion. The
first known sourcc rcfcrring to this tcchnique dates from 800 3.C.3"; in that text
Samas-res-usur, governor of the middle Euphratcs arca, sets hiimsclf up as a pronoter of
bce-kceping which, he claims, was previously unknown in the country. It may be rash to rely
on such a tet in ordcr to date the introduction of bce-kecping into Mesopotamia, but
ncvertheless it scems certain that the term dispu, at least in the oldest texts, generally
indicates the date honey whose existence under this name is confirmed elsewhere by
Hcrodotus? ﺫbu٤ the mcthod of producing it is not kno٦5,ﺭ٧,
in Ancient Egypt bees' honey sccms to have been more widespread as a substitute for
sugar than in Mcsopotammi7?ﺝH,owever, among the majority of the population it was most
often replaced by substitutes cxtracted from carob fruit or date-palm and the syrup extracted
from dates was used at that tine?3, Mention of date juice (mo(u)nbenne) is made in the
Coptic Age in the text of a sermon by Shenoute, founder of the great monasteries of Upper
Egypt in the iftfh centu39.
Date honey used by the Romans as a substitute when bees' honey was scarce" is also
31 Te question of sugar and its substitutes in Antiquity has been dealth with by FORBES 1957,
٧: 78 ٢.
32 We are grateful to Mr. .ﻝBottero for his enthusiastic help in matters relating to the
Mesopotamian field.
33 CAD, vol, D (article on dispul: 162 163; Distionnaire archeologique des techniques, ١ 44
(Bee-keeping in Western Asia by ﻝBotterol. FORBES 1957 ٧; 86
34 WEISSBACH 1903: ١٧,١١, (lines 13 16), ٧.
35 HERODOTUS 1956, ١, 193: "A١١ over the plain they have palm-trees the majoriyt of which
bear fruit; from them they take food, wine, honey (mel')ﺯ
36 LﻤNDSBERGER 1967: 36 regarding the offering made by Gudea to the goddess Bau of three
types of basket made from palm leaves, he associates the "date fats' (i-2u-lum) contained in
one of these ytpes of basket with the Accadian disip-suluppi and the Arabic dibs, describing
them as a syrup squeeed from fresh rich dates.
3) FORBE6 1957, ٧: 81: top auality bees' honey was resevred for kings and temples but it
could be found commercially, no doubt at a high price.
38 FORBES 1957, ٧ 97 and not 168; WALLER٢٦962: 41 42.
39 We are grateful to Mr. G. Roquet for this information.
40 ANDRE 1961: 191 Diocletian's edict (248 305) refers to a ''miel foenicinum' sold for a fitfh
of the price of bees' honey.
44
