Books

The Tears of Re: Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt

tears of reThe Tears of Re: Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt

By Gene Kritsky

Oxford University Press, 2015
ISBN: 9780199361380

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 economics. Kritsky delves into ancient Egypt’s multifaceted society, and traces the importance of the honey bee in everything from death rituals to trade. In doing so, Kritsky brings new evidence to light of how advanced and fascinating the ancient Egyptians were.

In these four videos, Gene Kritsky talks about more about ancient Egyptian beekeeping.



To learn more about this book, please visit Oxford University Press

You can also buy the book from Amazon.com

Sponsored Content