The Honey-Makers

Half natural history, half literature: how the honey-bee actually works — tongue, wings, sting, swarm — and then three thousand years of what people have believed about her, from the Vedas to mead.

In Egypt and the East

13 pages in this part of The Honey-Makers.

In Egypt and the East

THE most fascinating records of the Egyptian bees are to be found in the hieroglyphics, those picture-writings that furnish the principal…

In Egypt and the East: Egyptian

The word "substance" 天 likewise contains the figure of the bee, while of the signs meaning 66 serpent" TEL one is the bee. also contains…

In Egypt and the East: Virgil

Virgil refers the story of the generation of bees from the body of the sacrificial bull to Egypt. This story is very wide-spread and no…

In Egypt and the East: Brugsch

According to Brugsch Bey, an inscription on a tomb in the necropolis of Abydos in Middle Egypt reads thus : "The king appoints that a sum…

In Egypt and the East: Egyptians

We know that honey was a common ingredient of the medicines of the Egyptians, and that it was added to the most obnoxious compounds, as of…

In Egypt and the East: Herodotus

Turning from this rather ghastly pot of honey to that most delightful of ancient historians, Herodotus, we listen with interest to his…

In Egypt and the East: Arabia

Arabia, with her wonderful "Nights," her gardens full of flowers, and her ever-recurring references to "sweet-meats," was well acquainted…

In Egypt and the East: Hafiz

Again, the Turkish army having been defeated, the son of the defeated king blames his father for having undertaken the war, as the Persian…

In Egypt and the East: Persians

In the rose gardens of Persia, we miss the murmur of the bee as we miss it in Arabia. In Saadi's "Gulistan," or "Rose Garden," where from…

In Egypt and the East: Mithra

The Persian sun god, Mithra, symbolizing the creative force in nature, is sometimes represented accompanied by bees; in some instances a…

In Egypt and the East: Ephesians

The bee was sacred to "Diana of the Ephesians," whose magnificent temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world. Her…

In Egypt and the East: Israel

The manna gathered by the Children of Israel in the wilderness was delicious to the hungry people, "and the taste of it was like wafers…

In Egypt and the East: Palestine

Palestine is frequently referred to as a land flowing with milk and honey. In this way is expressed its extreme fertility and desirability…

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