Ancient Fun Fact: The Pharaoh was the "King Bee"

Workers using smoke to remove honeycombs.

King Menes, founder Egypt's First Dynasty, called himself "The Bee Keeper."  All pharaohs after him used that phrase to describe their role as leaders of the people of Egypt.

Bees were often portrayed on tomb walls (below) and there are even tomb paintings of bee keepers using smoke to take honey from the hive (above).

Because of its antiseptic properties, honey was widely used in medicine, particularly as ointments on open wounds or cuts, and as a syrup for sore throats. So precious was it, typically only the pharaohs could afford to have jars of honey included in their tombs as burial offerings. 

Beeswax was also a big deal, but the Egyptians didn't necessarily use it for candle making. Egyptian priests used the wax to make models of their enemies which they would then ritually destroy (the original voodoo doll!). Rick Riordan does a great job of capturing the importance of magicians using wax models of servants and monsters to do their bidding in his wonderful Egyptian myth based action series, The Kane Chronicles. 

The Salt Magical Papyrus claims bees were created when the golden tears of Ra, the sun god, fell to the earth.  These magical god-tear-bugs then "work in flowers and trees of every kind and wax and honey came into being."

The next time I make my kid a peanut butter and honey sandwich, I'm gonna tell her to mind her manners--Ra cried a lot of tears for that "sammich!"

Getting Kids Excited About Ancient History

My friend and fellow docent Conway Bracket teaches Latin and ancient Greek in Atlanta. This past
summer, she joined us at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur for our week-long Camp Half-Blood, based on the best-selling Percy Jackson series. She taught the kids ancient Greek because that's what they do at Camp Half-Blood.  For the first time, she also taught Latin because Rick Riordan added a Roman element to his mythology action-adventure series.  

In The Lost Hero, the Greek demigod kids learn that they have a competing camp of demigods whose parents were Roman gods. But wait, weren't the Roman gods just Romanized versions of the Greek gods? Yes, but they were also filtered through the unique Roman world-view of honor, duty, piousness, etc. Conway was able to keep their interest as she introduced them to both languages. The fact that she kept their attention during a summer (fun) camp shows you just how engaging she is. Check out her site at www.classicalprep.com.

I've also recently learned that one of my favorite authors, Caroline Lawrence, is creating two spin-offs from her popular Roman Mysteries series, one for younger readers and one for the young adult market.  Yes!

The series for younger readers focuses on an eight year-old beggar boy in Ostia named Threptus. He was introduced in The Man from Pomegranate Street. The new series debuts in 2012. No word yet on when the YA series comes out but you can bet I'll be one of the first in line.

It's wonderful to see kids get so excited about the ancient past. It pains me that public schools in Georgia do not teach ancient history or Greek mythology at all (there's a smattering of ancient history here and there, but nothing substantial until high school).

These books demonstrate that the classical and ancient worlds continue to enthrall kids and teens. Many a kid has developed a lifelong passion for literature, history and/or art because of their early introduction to ancient history. Some of us just never outgrew it.

Ra, Riordan and Keeping Kids Reading

Today at 1:16 pm is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Perfect timing too because I'm helping to run Camp Kane at the most awesome bookstore, Little Shop of Stories in Decatur. Camp Kane is based on Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles, his series based on Egyptian mythology.

First, can I just say that  Riordan is a GENIUS? I mean, we've got almost thirty kids, most of whom have ready every one of his mythology-based, action-adventure series (now up to three series for a total of seven books). Plus, they can hardly wait for the release of the next one.

Most of Little Shop's camps fill up quickly but the Riordan-based camps fill up within minutes.

Because of the solstice, we've been talking a lot about Ra (or Re or Atum), the Egyptian sun god. Every day I tell stories based on the myths and every day I remind the kids that they must "put away their logic." None of the Egyptian myths will make sense if you try to apply logic or reason to them (probably true for most myths, but even more so here).

So, you have creation stories that say Ra came out of the the waters of "nothing"--Nun. But how can something be nothing and still be waters?

How can Ra be the creator god of all but still be tricked by Isis? How can Hathor be both a cow AND a lioness depending on her mood? How can you need your body to live in the afterlife but then have your vital organs across the room?

The Egyptians wouldn't have seen any problem with the multitude of contradictions within their stories. That's what makes them so much fun.

This morning I told the story of Ra's rage over human betrayal. Later, I'll tell the story of how Isis crafted an evil snake in order to trick Ra into revealing his secret name. And then the best part? We are having a reptile wrangler come with his critters later this afternoon. We will meet Sobek the crocodile and hiss back at Apophis the destroyer snake. Fun!

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Joyce Lansky of Tennessee who won the drawing for the signed Rick Riordan book, THE RED PYRAMID!

I'm sure there is some cool way on the computer to mix up the names and pull one but I did it the old fashioned way--with little paper strips. I even had a disinterested party (trust me, she's 12--she's VERY disinterested) pick the winner. Joyce, aka Aphrodite, please contact me with your address so I can send the book along.

This was fun. Can't wait until I can do it with my own book.

Win a Signed Copy of Rick Riordan’s latest!

THE RED PYRAMID is filled with action, adventure and mythology, only this time, Riordan’s characters take on Egyptian gods and monsters.

Like King Midas, Riordan has the magic touch. Kids have simply gone cuckoo for his Greek myth-based LIGHTNING THIEF series and everybody is expecting this book and series to do the same.

Leave a comment letting me know what Greek or Egyptian god, goddess or monster you would want to be and you’ll be entered to win a free autographed copy of THE RED PYRAMID.

As for me, because I’ve been writing about Cleopatra VII, I want to walk like an Egyptian. I’m thinking of sticking with Shezmu, god of the underworld that crushes the heads of bad guys in a wine press.

But then again, I do like Amut the Destroyer, the crocodile-headed monster that devours your heart if you don’t pass the Weighing of the Heart test. Bastet is pretty cool, as is Anubis, the jackal-headed God of the Underworld.

I can’t decide.

Kitty what do you think? Bastet or Anub…wait, don’t walk away!

Sigh.

Doggie, what about you? Awwww, that clinches it.

Anubis wins by a lick! Good doggie.

"Thanks for Fighting! Here's your...Fly?"

Imagine you are an ancient Egyptian or Nubian warrior, returning victorious from battle. People line the streets screaming with joy upon your return.

You take a knee in front of your Pharaoh. You are choked up because finally—finally—you will receive the golden Amulet of Honor you have been dreaming about since you were a boy.

Only the best warriors earn this amulet. Is it a roaring lion? A hissing cobra? A chomping crocodile? Nope. It’s something better.

With trembling hands you take your golden ceremonial...fly.

No lie.

The highest honor for an Egyptian or Nubian warrior was a fly. Why? Turns out the flies in Egypt and in the Sudan are relentless.

They dog you until you beg for mercy. And then when you do, they call all their friends and harass you until you either die or go insane, whichever comes first.

So while to us, earning a “Fly” seems a little weird—if not downright giggle-worthy—to the ancient Egyptians and Nubians, it was recognition of a warrior’s relentless pursuit and defeat of his enemy.

Go flyboys!

PS: Thanks to Rick Riordan for mentioning learning about the Fly during the tour we did together at the fabulous Michael C. Carlos Museum on his blog last week (http://tinyurl.com/2u27cvs). How cool would it be if a fly amulet shows up in one of his books later?