The tears of Re : beekeeping in ancient Egypt

Summary: According to Egyptian mythology, when the ancient Egyptian sun god Re cried, his tears turned into honey bees upon touching the ground. For this reason, the honey bee was sacrosanct in ancient Egyptian culture. From the art depicting bees on temple walls to the usage of beeswax as a healing ointment, the honey bee was a pervasive cultural motif in ancient Egypt because of its connection to the sun god Re. Gene Kritsky delivers the first book to examine the relationship between the honey bee and ancient Egyptian culture, through the lenses of linguistics, archeology, religion, health, and econo.

Record details

ISBN: 019936138X
ISBN: 9780199361380
ISBN: 0199361398
ISBN: 9780199361397
Physical Description: 1 online resource
remote
Publisher: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Beekeeping begins -- The delight of Re: beekeeping during the Old Kingdom -- Instability and reunification: beekeeping during the Middle Kingdom -- The age of empire: beekeeping during the New Kingdom -- The Saite period -- The Greco-Roman period -- The honey bee hieroglyph -- The administration and economics of Egyptian beekeeping -- Bees and food -- Honey and healing -- Bees, gods, and feasts -- The magic of beeswax -- The afterlife of ancient Egyptian beekeeping.
Source of Description Note:	Print version record.