That's a fascinating find! I'm curious—what's the scientific basis for suspecting it might be wasps instead of bees? 🧪

So of course, I went looking: The Mediterranean Hartwort, Tordylium apulum, and it's Egyptian relative T. aegyptiacum certainly looks the part, but this is the seed head, not the flowers from which a wasp or bee might gather pollen.

It's a common aromatic herb, known as 'seselis' and Kaukalithra in Greece, mixed with honey in incense (Kyphi) and in female purgatives ('to induce menstruation' Williams 2023, PhD U. Cardiff, Totelin 2006 PhD U. Lond.). It was reputedly used by deer as a postpartum purgative, hence 'hart wort'.

In the little known of Minoan deities, there are strong ties to Eileithyia, goddess of midwifery. There are also strong ties to Bronze age Egypt, it's culture, trade, and religion.

A long shot: Hart-wort is listed in Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy as peculiar to the zodiac sign Pisces, which in Egypt is Isis, goddess of fertility and protection in childbirth. The incense Kyphi (hart-wort and honey) was an offering to Isis.

But wasps? Bees are more likely. Honey is a known contraceptive and used in women's rituals.The deity Melissa (of honey bees) is strongly linked to Minoan Crete and legends of bees feeding newborns in Cretan caves. So my total speculation is it is bees and hartwort, and symbolic to women's health.

Beautiful!

Astonishing workmanship. Also, I think they’re wasps.

They're having a root. Can't be honey-bees, then. Solitary wasps, or bees, perhaps ...