Online edition of my book on the history of the Star of David

In 2008 I published in a private edition a book on the history of the Star of David, which was based on this  blog (star of David album). Since then more material was added, so I found it necessary to release an updated online edition

In this format I can correct any mistake and continue to update
In this online edition, like in the printed book, each article appears exactly in its right place according to a chronological sequence of events - in difference from the blog where articles are organized by the date I uploaded them to the WWW

Under each picture there’s my Hebrew text in the comment section. I hope that enthusiast readers will add their language translations in the comment section, or send me the translation to my email address and I'll add it myself

The main novelty of this site is visual, because till now researchers didn’t publish pictures of such quality and such scope, and readers who wanted to see what the researchers relate to had to go to libraries to check each image separately

Here you can see each picture enlarged 

Or see all the album as an automatic slide show

Or see the automatic slideshow with captions

Or see any picture on the entire screen with the option to navigate Next / Previous

Contents:

2500 BCE Sumerian

1700 BCE Minoan Seals

1200 BCE Karkom Israel

9th century BCE - Meggido Israel

7th century BCE, Sidon, Lebanon, Seal

4-1 century BCE Amulet

Third century C.E. -Ein Yael Roman Mosaic Floor

4th Century - Judeo Christian Synagogue Capernaum, Israel-1

Third Century C.E. - Roman Mosaic Floor, Lod, Israel

8th century- King Offa Coin, England

9th Century - Muslim Coin

10th Century Cairo Genizah

11th Century - Codex Leningrad-3

12th Century Ethiopia Lalibela

13th century- Synagoge Statue Bamberg Hexagram

13th Century - Cosmatesque Style

13th Century - Brewer's Star

1367 - Alcobaca Monastery Portugal

1394 - First Mention of Psalms 67 as Star of David

14th Century Jewish Manuscript

15th Century? -Synagogue, Spain

1531 Celestial Alphabet

c 15th Century Tarot Card

15th century, Kennicott Bible, Spain

c. 16th Century - Muslim Tombstone

16th Century Seder Plate

1538-  on the Walls of the Old City in Jerusalem

1540 - Prague Flag (Red flag on the right)

16th century Foah Family Print Mark

1613 David Ganz tombstone in Prague

16-19 Century - Mughal, Rajasthan, India

1659- Alchemy

18th century Jonathan Eibenschütz's Amulet

18th century Jewish Chuppa Stone from Wurzburg

1782 - Great Seal of the United States

1870 - Mizrach with Lions

19th Century Free Masons Tombstone

1863 Church Facade, Santa Croce, Florence, Italy

1897- Theodor Herzl's newspaper, Die Welt.

1905- Protocols of the Elders of Zion

1914 -  Messiah House, Jerusalem

1921 - Franz Rosenzweig's Star of Redemption

1930 - rastafarians

1939  -Yellow Badge, Holocaust

1948 - Israeli Flag

c 1960 Anti Israel Arab Propaganda.

2001-Jewish Museum Berlin / Holocaust Remembrence

2009 - Long Live Israel Graffiti

Indian Hexagram framing the Om Symbol

Indian Hexagram framing the Om Symbol

Taken by Batel, daughter of Shuka Di Nur

(c)  

2011
See the video clip on YouTube

Solomon's seal in Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar

On display in Museum of Islamic Art. Doha, Qatar, February 12, 2010:

http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/archives/2010/835/jpeg/25.jpg

Carved wood panel with a geometric pattern

http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/archives/2010/830/jpeg/14.jpg

Decorated golden disc with a blue Solomon's seal sign 


http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NsCclRFVq3monZvajYeC2A
Bowl, Syria, 14th century


http://picasaweb.google.com/drewkent619/DohaQatar0609#5351729441213905410
Twelve Solomon's seal signs surrounding 7 hexagons 

Anti semitic Russiam postcard

Star of David on an old Anti semitic Russiam postcard

Courtesy of Stephanie Comfort 

(c) 

Hexagram snowflakes - video clip on youtube

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiHlXEkhlEE

Alchemy Signs on Hexagrams

Woodcut from 'Cabala chemica' in Volume VI of Theatrum chemicum, Hamburg 1661

Six petals symbol framed by a Hexagram

San Martín Church, Izco, Navarre, Spain

CC Picture by rlasaosa/Flickr 

 See: A spectecular collection of pictures of Six petals symbol
About the meaning of the six petals symbol see
zeevgoldmann.blogspot.com/search?q=six

bottom left:

Six petal symbols framed by a Hexagram 

drawings of the Flower of Life by Leonardo da Vinci's 15 century C.E

CC picture from Vikipedia entry Flower of Life

  The name Six petal symbol hints at a vegetative motif
but is actually a geometric motif
 especially when the star of David is
surrounded by a circle
as we see in the photo above -  from Navarre

The circle the pentagram and the hexagram

Ingrid Hehmeyer wrote in her research titled “Water and Sign Magic in al-Jabin, Yemen” that analysys of manuscripts proves that the pentagram replaced the circle (“seal”) in a thirteenth century and very soon after that it was replaced or used side by side with the hexagram.

“The six-pointed star is shown in a thirteenth century and a fifteenth-century manuscript of [Ali d. 1225] al-Buni’s work [Kitab Shams al-Ma`arif wa-Lata’if al-`Awarif]…

From:  H. A. Winkler. Siegel und Charaktere in der Muhammedanischen Zauberei. Berlin and Leipzig, 1930.
J. MoG. DAWKINS wrote in his article The Seal of Solomon that the name Seal of Solomon refers to all the 7 emblems seen above, not only to the six pointed star that appears first from right.  DAWKINS  adds that researchers commonly agree that the meaning of this seal is the ineffable name of God.

Lloyd D. Graham shows in his article The Seven Seals of Revelation and the Seven Classical Planets (2010) That the idea of the seven seals is shared by Islam Christianity and Judaism, and that each seal is correlated to a certain planet and to a certain color.

Ingrid Hehmeyer adds that aside from their protective role  “In the ancient and in the Islamic worlds, five- and/or six pointed stars are found on weights, stamps, coins, and seals, where they attest to the item’s validity and legitimacy”... "In Islamic Yemen, five- and six-pointed stars as geometric shapes are widespread in domestic architecture, on house facades, interior walls, doors, and windows; as part of inscriptions having a religious nature and on such religious architectural works as mosques and minarets, tombs and cenotaphs; as designs on amuletic jewellery; as graffiti on walls and rocks...and on so-called magic-medicinal bowls."

six-pointed star on magic-medicinal bowl

CC picture by Tupinambah/Flickr

Paolo Da Visso 1450

Painter Paolo Da Visso painted the Madona and on her robe printed in gold a few stars of David

Exhibited at Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais

Six pointed stars on a Byzantine Coin

Anastasius I, 491 - 518 C.E.

Bronze follis (coin) minted in Constantinople, 512  C.E. The M marks 40 nummi

Along with a cross above the M

The Fleur de Lys symbol in England

From: The Handbook to English Heraldry by Charles Boutell, 1914, 

The fleur de lys entered France by LOUIS VII. (A.D. 1137-1180) as his royal emblem …his lily shapes were scattered and his emblem is named as “France Ancient”: 

France Ancient

About A.D. 1365, CHARLES V. of France changed the number of the lily shapes  to three; and this emblem is named as “France Modern”: 

                   

France Modern

Angel of France Modern

CC picture by Lawrence OP/Flickr

In 1299 EDWARD I married Margaret of France, and she introduced the Fleur to two of her seals  

 Margaret, Queen of Edward I 

Margaret, Queen of Edward I -  Royal Tudor arms

Cambridge Chapel, England

CC picture by Lawrence OP/Flickr

             Margaret, Queen of Edward I

In 1340, EDWARD III. claimed the crown of france, and added the France Ancient to his lions of england.

Perhaps in 1405, HENRY IV added the France Modern to his shield.

The position of the three fleurs de lys was more than once changed in the Royal Shield of England, and they were finally removed in 1801 because after the French Revolution, the Kingdom of France had ceased to exist.

More about the Fleur de Lys and its connection to the Star of David on

http://zeevgoldmann.blogspot.com/2008/08/ii-star-of-david-on-mosaic-floor-at-ein.html

Polarities

Picture is copied from Wikipedia and it shows a hexagram from 15th Century, gouache on cloth from 'Jain Cosmology', Ravi Kumar, 2005, ISBN 8187330082

The following paragraph is from Dr. Asher Eder’s book The Star of David, which was published in 1987 in English in Jerusalem by Rubin Mass Ltd. The publication here is courtesy of Oren Mass

One of the most conspicuous characteristics of the created world is its multiple polarities. Following the original polarity of Creator-Creation, there are polarities in every dimension of Creation, such as spirit and matter, North and South pole, male and female, positive and negative in electricity, and so forth. The Chinese principle of yin-yang also expresses aspects of polarity.

A striking example of two opposing forces forming in their balance a very beneficial energy field are the centrifugal energies of the planets held in their positions by the gravitational pull exerted by the sun. Without the latter, the planets including our earth would spin somewhere in the void of the space; and without the former, they would plunge into the sun and melt in its atomic furnace.

When looking closely at any of these examples, we notice that some of them consist of two related power fields, such as male-female, while others are two sides of the same force, as in the case of electricity. Without flow, the latter would exist only as potential. In fact, physics gives each case its specific properties, but for our purposes, we shall group all of them as polarities, and concentrate on the relating force between their respective "poles".

No pole could exist without its counterpart, nor could there be poles without this relating force. For instance, an atom would not be an atom without the force between its positive and negative particles, nor could the species continue to exist without the force between its male and female partners.

On the other hand, we will not find any polarizing force between statues of a male and female, or between a male fish and a female bird. Properly understood, all polarities, including that of spirit and matter, are categories of relationships, and not contrasts. Thus, poles are not antagonistic sites; they are opposite yet related points in a field of energy. The bar magnet with its field of force made visible by iron filings demonstrates this clearly.

Interestingly enough, the very first statement in Holy Scripture indicates polarity: "In the beginning God created Heavens and Earth." Here, the word heavens (שמים , shamayim) denotes both the sky (רקיע , raqi'a) which at a later stage is also called heavens, שמים (vs.8); and a spiritual entity, often referred to as "The Kingdom of Heavens." This Kingdom of Heavens exists on Earth - its material pole. Obviously, all of us are exposed to, and permeated by, this polarity, whether we recognize it or not.

An interesting question was raised already in ancient times: "Where do the heavens begin? Beyond the clouds? Beyond the atmosphere? Beyond the moon?" The answer was: "Approximately a yard above the ground" - that means to say in the area of the diaphragm of an adult, whether he lives high up in the Himalayas, or whether he works as a miner hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth. All the organs below the diaphragm are carnal while those above it can, and should, express also spiritual or Divine qualities (as e.g. voice; intellect; self reflection; mercy; forgiveness). The "lower" are to be guided and treated by the "upper" organs and the qualities they carry. The heart with its double nature , symbolically located just above the diaphragm, plays the role of the connecting "chakra", as mentioned in Chapter 2 - THE SIX-POINTED STAR IN OTHER CULTURES and in Chapter 7 - THE KABBALISTIC TREE OF LIFE.

Dr. Asher Eder's notes to this chapter:

1) In the state before Creation - ein soph - no polarity exists.

2) Cf. Rashi Gen.2:7. Heavens, as distinct from firmament (רקיע , raqia), and sky (,שחקים

shehaqim). However, from Gen.1:8 on, the firmament is also called heavens.

3) The word שמים , shamayim, can be derived from the word שם , shem, name, referring to the Name of the Lord. The dual form שמים, would then refer to both the Lord's Name and to the priestly tribe of Shem, which bears the Divine Name on Earth (Hirsch, Genesis; also Num.6:22-27, note 15 of chapter 8, note 3 of chapter 12). However, שמים can also be derived from the word מים, mayim, water, and would then mean "that which is water". Allegorically, water can stand for truth (cf. Baba Kama, 17, p.I), and for nations (cf. Ps. 124:2-4; Is.17:12). Even in this case, the waters below the firmament would, naturally, "be gathered together into one place", but might finally rejoin the "upper waters" in the Name of Names, i.e. in the "Kingdom of Heavens". - In Kabbalistic thought, the word שמיםis a combination of the signs, standing for ,אש esh, fire; and מ, mem, water.

Some scholars see the word שמים as deriving from שם, sham, there (i.e. that which is beyond or far from the earth), but this would not explain the dual form of שמים , shamayim. It would also contradict the prophetic teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, which is to be established on the Earth, and not somewhere outside. However, see also note 13 of chapter 20.

4) The Hebrew language knows two words for heart: לב, lev; and לבב, levav. In the latter, the doubling of ב may indicate this double nature. We should love the Lord our God with all our (double natured) heart (לבב - Deuter. 6:5; 1.Kings 8:61) so that we will serve him willingly “with a perfect heart” (לב , 1.Chron. 29:9)

Six pointed star in Rangoli- Video Clip

Six pointed star in Rangoli

The traditional decorative folk art of India 

Rangoli, Jayanagar , Mysore, India

Star of David in Jewish Printed Amulets

Deluga, Waldemar, and Iwona Zych in their article titled  “Jewish Printed Amulets.” |(Print Quarterly 20, no. 4 (2003): 369-373.) claim that the Star of David appears on many Printed Amulets that once hung above a newborn’s bed. It appears under the opening text which is always from Psalm 20."The oldest known amulet was made as a single-leaf print in Prague in the 17th century. The woodcut illustrations have clearly been reused in this amulet; the original woodcuts were probably quite worn. Elements of the typographic decoration resemble those in Czech prints. It seems that the blocks used in some Jewish prints in Prague were exported to other European locales”.

CC picture from Jewish Encyclopedia

Roman Hexagram, Guilloche Style

Guilloche is a decorative border made of interlaced bands Guilloche

Compare:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbertoia/65412054/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeevveez/2671093798/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/geo1001/257660122/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagicweb/397529580/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/triptorome2006/3490393633/
http://magendavidalbum.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post_06.html

Picture was taken at El Jem museum, Tunisia. Courtesy of ajhammu0 / Andy from Flickr.
Beginning of third century. At the centre an hexagon, in the middle of which a cruciform flower which indicates that it belongs to christians.

Hexagram on the Tomb Of King Pedro I 1320-1367

Hexagram on the middle of the left side of the facade
Tomb Of King Pedro I 1320 - 1367 

Alcobaca Monastery  Portugal

Picture by Oded Israeli 
(c)