Honey sealed in an Egyptian tomb around 1323 B.C. was still edible when archaeologists opened it

When Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, he found alabaster vessels containing a thick, amber residue. Chemists later identified it as honey. In a story that has taken on an almost legendary quality, researchers reportedly tasted it and said it had retained its characteristic sweetness.

The vessels had been sealed around 1323 B.C. The bees that produced the honey gathered nectar from flowers that bloomed when bronze remained a strategically important metal. Chemical analyses, the article says, still identified the contents as honey.

The honey survived because three overlapping defenses made the sealed environment hostile to microorganisms. It contained little water, with moisture levels of about 17 percent. Its pH ranged from 3.2 to 4.5, an acidity linked largely to gluconic acid produced when the bees’ glucose oxidase enzyme breaks down nectar sugar. The same enzyme also generates hydrogen peroxide, a powerful antibacterial agent that forms slowly and continuously when raw honey is diluted.

The burial chambers helped preserve those properties. Ancient Egyptian tomb builders used thick ceramic vessels, sometimes coated with beeswax or resin, then covered them with clay. The chambers were dark, relatively cool and sealed from outside air. Over time, the sugars darkened and crystallized, while some volatile aromas faded, but the honey’s basic structure remained: concentrated sugar, little water, strong acidity and mild antiseptic activity.

For Egyptians, honey was an elite delicacy and an important offering for the dead. They also used it to treat wounds because of its antibacterial properties, and sometimes as a preservative in embalming rituals. A sealed jar, the article concludes, can outlast the civilization that produced it.