Monday, July 17, 2006

Hashomer Hatzair

Hashomer Hatzair Magen David

The emblem of Hashomer Hatzair is very similar to the Star of David found on Sufa ruins, but I'm not sure the members of this youth movement know about it.

 


Picture of the Star of David on the emblem of Hashomer Hatzair   is courtesy of Wikipedia

1 comment:

zeevveez said...

Horvat Sufa
Ronny Reich wrote on Atikot 17, pp. 205-206 an article titled On Some Byzantine Remains where he reports about a chancel screen from Horvat Sufa (Khirbet es-Safi), found in 1954 2.5 km north of Kibbutz Hatzerim.
“…in a short excavation carried out in 1971 …sections of Byzantine church were revealed. We assume that our chancel screen is related to these…the chancel screen consists of a marble slab, about 4.00–4.5 cm thick, 50 cm wide and preserved to the height of 60 cm. The lower part and the upper left-hand corner are missing. Apparently the original height of the chancel screen was c. 90 cm. The back of the slab was left unworked.
The design on the screen was executed in relief. It consists of a hexagram contained within a wreath. The wreath has a bud on its upper part and a tri-stand ribbon issuing from its lower part…the hexagram consists of two interlocking triangles…an oval pattern serving as space filler between the points of the hexagram. Set within the inner hexagon is a tre-foil flower…identified as lily.
The wreath is a common motif on Byzantine chancel screens in the area…the hexagram is not familiar as a central motif on chancel screens in Palestine…Locally the hexagram makes its first appearance in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods adorning lintels and mosaic floors of synagogues and churches alike, but bearing no apparent symbolic value. It also appears alongside similar motifs, such as the pentagram, to which one might attribute in early periods (Hellenistic and Early Roman) some symbolic, protective or magical value…Lilium Candidum, the white flower common in the mountains of Palestine until recent times. It also has a long history as a decorative motif, reaching far earlier than the hexagram…"