I was reading about the recent archaeological discovery of a beekeeping industry in the Beit Shean Valley in Israel, dating from 3000 years ago or so. Which just so happens (I think) to be around the time of King Solomon.
The beekeeping = honey … which led me to muse on Moses’ enticing prospectus in Exodus about Canaan being “a land flowing with milk and honey”.
So, then I began to read about the association of ideas involved in this “flowing with milk and honey” hyperbole in the Ancient World. And, lo and behold, all of a sudden I’m back to Solomon and Astarte (or “Ashtoreth” in the Bible). Because, it seems, the “flowing with milk and honey” phrase could have had sexual connotations for the Ancient Semites; and could have been particularly associated with that earth-mother type goddess, Astarte.
This is one of those situations where a little reading becomes a dangerous thing. Can anyone set me straight, please?
