Note 37 — INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN SEALS.

This title was formerly believed to signify “Treasurer of the King of Lower Egypt,” but it must be pointed out that byty, in the royal title, meant “He that belongs to the bee,” or perhaps, “the Bee-keeper.” Bees were the producers of the chief of primitive luxuries, and the use of honey and the offering of it instead of wine ought probably to be considered as a survival from a prehistoric state of society in which wine was unknown (cf. Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XV, p. 21). If this meant “Treasurer of the King of Lower Egypt,” we should expect to find a corresponding “Treasurer of the King of Upper Egypt,” but this title, so far as I know, never occurs.