4 h 29 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 29 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 140 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 140 pagesAbout this book
What happens when a medieval bishop gathers the story of existence into a single hive of sacred history?
The Book of the Bee brings together biblical stories, early Christian writings, and older Syriac traditions. Solomon of Basra gathers these strands into a short course for readers who cannot study a whole library. His account moves from creation and Adam’s fall through Noah, the patriarchs, prophets, and kings.
At its center stands the life of Christ, from Mary’s family and Jesus’s birth to the crucifixion and resurrection. The final chapters turn toward Antichrist, the resurrection of the dead, and judgment. This is not scripture itself, but a medieval retelling that shows how the Christian East gathers, explains, and expands biblical stories.
What you’ll discover
- A hive of traditions Explore how Solomon draws from many sources to shape one sweeping account.
- Creation and the first families Follow the text’s account of angels, Adam, Paradise, and humanity’s earliest generations.
- From flood to kingdoms Trace Noah, Babel, patriarchs, prophets, and kings through Solomon’s gathering of biblical history.
- Christ at the center Discover the Syriac traditions Solomon gathers around Mary, Jesus, the Church, and the apostles.
- Visions of the last things Encounter the book’s account of Antichrist, the resurrection of the dead, and final judgment.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you love sacred history, Eastern Christian tradition, old legends about Adam, Moses and the apostles, or the way one bishop gathered many sources into a single story.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Adam existed in God's mind before creation
- Nine ranks of angels serve the Creator
- The six days shape a living cosmos
- Paradise and the fall of Adam and Eve
- From Cain to Noah to the scattered nations
- Patriarchs, Job, Joseph, and the traveling rod
- Moses leads Israel through the wilderness
- Mary, the birth of Christ, and the apostles
- Counting the years and watching the last age
- Death, resurrection, and the hope of mercy
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The Book of the Bee
by Attributed to Solomon of Akhlat · 1222
A medieval bishop gathers angels, the staff of Adam and the last trumpet into one sixty-chapter story of the world.
Challenging5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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“In the world to come, grace will be the judge, and not justice.”
In short
What would it take to tell the whole story of the world in one book? A thirteenth-century bishop set out to do exactly that.
The Book of the Bee at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h2 h 20 min fast, 3 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 42,500 words60 chapters
- Pages
- 140 pages220 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1222by Attributed to Solomon of Akhlat
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Adam existed in God's mind before creation
The book opens with a claim about time. Solomon teaches that God never has a new thought. Everything He has made was planned from everlasting. Adam comes first, conceived in the mind of God before the mountains.
This gives Adam a double age. The rest of creation comes by a spoken word, but Adam is formed with God's holy hands and given the breath of life from His Spirit. Then comes a sad detail. Adam knows his Creator for only six hours before a change comes over him.
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A medieval bishop gathers angels, the staff of Adam and the last trumpet into one sixty-chapter story of the world.
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Details
- First published
- 1222
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 4 h 29 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 140 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 140 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 220 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 220 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Fri 13 Nov to Thu 19 Novto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Solomon of Akhlat. The Book of the Bee. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-the-bee.
Solomon of Akhlat. (2026). The book of the bee. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-the-bee (Original work published ca. 1222)
Solomon of Akhlat. The Book of the Bee. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-the-bee.
@book{solomonofakhlat2026book,
author = {Solomon of Akhlat},
title = {The Book of the Bee},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-the-bee},
note = {First published ca. 1222}
}
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What is the Book of the Bee about?
It is a Syriac Christian history of the world in sixty short chapters. It runs from the creation of the heavens and Adam through the patriarchs, Moses, the prophets, Christ and the apostles, to the Antichrist, the resurrection and the final judgment.
Who wrote the Book of the Bee and when?
It is attributed to Solomon of Basra, a bishop of the Church of the East, and is dated to the thirteenth century. He wrote in Syriac, a form of Aramaic, and called the work a book of gleanings.
Why is it called the Book of the Bee?
The title pictures a bee gathering from many flowers. Solomon gathers material from the Bible, the church fathers, Jewish tradition and older legends, and joins it into a single continuous story of sacred history.
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