'The bee, found in Ancient Near East and Aegean cultures, was believed to be the sacred insect that bridged the natural world to the underworld.'
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'The Homeric Hymn to Apollo acknowledges that Apollo's gift of prophecy first came to him from three bee maidens, usually identified with the Thriae. The Thriae was a trinity of pre-Hellenic Aegean bee goddesses. The embossed gold plaque (illustration above right) is one of a series of identical plaques recovered at Camiros in Rhodes[5] dating from the archaic period of Greek art in the seventh century, but the winged bee goddesses they depict must be far older.'
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'The Jewish historian Josephus noted that the name of the poet and prophet Deborah meant 'bee'. The same root dbr gives 'word', 'indicating the bee's mission to give the Divine Word, Truth', observes Toussaint-Samat.[13] Melissa is also similarly defined.'
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'In Egyptian mythology, bees grew from the tears of the sun god Ra when they landed on the desert sand.'
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Ra (pron.: /rɑː/)[1] or Re (pron.: /reɪ/ orpron.: /reɪ/; Egyptian: 𓂋ꜥ ) was the ancient Egyptian solar deity. By the Fifth Dynasty (2494 to 2345 BC) he had become a major god in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the midday sun. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it is thought that if not a word for 'sun' it may be a variant of or linked to words meaning 'creative power' and 'creator'.[2]
The major cult centre of Ra was Heliopolis (called Iunu, 'Place of Pillars', in Egyptian),[3] where he was identified with the local sun-god Atum. Through Atum, or as Atum-Ra, he was also seen as the first being and the originator of the Ennead, consisting of Shu and Tefnut, Geb and Nut, Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys.
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Atum sent a fiery messenger, the Eye of Ra, to find his children
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