18
Honeycomb
Later chemical tests supposedly revealed that the substance was castor oil, and that is how the jug’s contents were described when it was officially entered into the Cairo Museum catalogue.
But that disappointing correction never lodged in a public imagination that had already seized upon the “honey of the pharaohs.” In this rare case, the public was wise to hold to their fancies.
Both honey and honeycomb were found in the tomb, both still edible, and the lot of jars was purchased by Wolf’s Head at an astronomical sum.
This honey has a unique chemical signature and is used in a challenging transformation known as the Tears of Ra, which is itself based on the Opening of the Mouth, a ritual requiring honeycomb and performed on the dead to awaken the senses so that they may successfully enter the afterlife.
—from the Lethe Armory Catalogue as revised and edited by Pamela Dawes, Oculus