In the month of July, — The Honeybee from Religious Symbolism to Enlightenment Why was Deity associated with the honeybee? There’s a sort of speculative fiction book that explores the origin of religion in ancient Mesopotamia through a sort of meta-narrative of science fiction, and on the surface level, I’m drawing from that novel. ( Fall , Neal Stephenson.) But storyline aside, there’s an interesting take there on the origin of the connection between Deity and the honeybee, showing how practices of worship situated around agricultural rites eventually foregrounded the importance of the honeybee, and that insect and its hive became a symbol of deity, perhaps brought about through the actions of devotees to a specific Canaanite religious sect, but also through a generalized familiarity among the population of the ancient Near East with the honeybee’s pollination abilities and the honey it produced, which could have strengthened its position as a symbol, even among those who...
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