258 The Honey-Makers 



her cherry blossoms, her plums, and her beautiful gar- 

 dens, which to this day are the admiration of all who visit 

 her. But she has not the Hindu love for the murmuring 

 bees with their " ecstatic songs " and their nectar-inebriated 

 happiness. 



The bee was sacred to " Diana of the Ephesians," whose 

 magnificent temple at Ephesus was one of the seven 

 wonders of the world. Her priestesses were called 

 " bees," and the chief priest was " the king bee." 



This " Diana," or Atargatis, as she was called by the 

 Ephesians, was of Babylonian origin. She was the goddess 

 of war and of love, and is represented in her later form with 

 many breasts, — a frank expression of the creative principle 

 with which the bee is so often found associated. 



"The bee is employed on Hittite gems, and a gem 

 found near Aleppo represents Atargatis standing on the 

 insect." 



Nymphs in the form of bees are said to have revealed to 

 the Ephesians the site for their city. 



Of Eastern peoples the Hebrews next to the Hindus 

 recognize the bee in literature. In the "Talmud" we find 

 in the chapter of the " Fives " the following reference to 

 honey, which, though forming but a small proportion of the 

 heaven-sent manna, is not wholly excluded : — 



"Five things have in them a sixtieth part of five other 

 things : fire, honey, the Sabbath, sleep, and dreams. 

 Fire is a sixtieth of hell, honey a sixtieth of manna, the 

 Sabbath a sixtieth of the rest in the world to come, 

 sleep the sixtieth of death, and a dream the sixtieth of 

 prophecy." 



But it is in the Bible that we find the dramatic and 

 poetical possibilities of the bee most fully appreciated. 



Moses, addressing the children of Israel, rehearses to them 



