This blog (by Zeev Barkan) is dedicated to the Star of David, its history, its various meanings and usages in different cultures. It includes thousands of pictures of Star of David, six-pointed stars, hexagrams, Solomon's Seals, Magen Davids and yellow badges,and served as a resource for three books and four art exhibitions.
Solomon's Seal on Ethiopian Crown along with a cross (at the top). In the background we see the Lion of Judah. All these were symbols of the late Haile Selassie I (1892-1975).
From: Inman, Thomas (1820-1876) Ancient pagan and modern Christian symbolism (1884)
Sri lantra [Yantra] is an ancient Hindoo [Hindu] emblem. The circle represents the world, in which the living exist; the triangle pointing upwards shows the male creator; and the triangle with the apex downwards the female; distinct, yet united. These have a world within themselves, in which the male is uppermost. In the central circle the image to be worshipped is placed. When used, the figure is placed on the ground, with Brahma to the east, and Laksmi to the west. Then a relic of any saint, or image of Buddha, like a modern papal crucifix, is added, and the shrine for worship is complete. It has now been adopted in Christian churches and Freemasons' lodges.
The Synagogue of Santa María La Blanca in the old Jewish quarter of Toledo, Spain, was Toledo's oldest and largest synagogue. It was built in the 12th century. Right under the columns there is a geometric latticework forming a Star of David (hard to notice). Style: Mudéjar (Moorish) . The Moors were Muslims who remained in Spain after the Christians overtook the country.
Picture is courtesy of FayeB6 from Flickr.
Commonly, we say that the Nazis adopted the Indian swastika, but today I understood that apparently they took it from the people of Troy in the aftermath of discovery of the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, 1822-1890 who found Troy in his excavations in Turkey. He made a connection between swastikas from Germany Troy and Iran in the frame of the Arian racial doctrine in his book:
Schliemann, Heinrich , Troy and its remains, London: Murray, 1875
In the above picture, we see ceramic disks from this book. These disks are dated to the third century BCE, and are apparently the most ancient swastikas known to archaeologists. Interesting to note that the Indians received swastikas from neighboring countries only hundreds of years later.
See: http://sacred-texts.com/sym/mosy/mosy06.htm
See there also a map of the distribution of the swastika
http://sacred-texts.com/sym/mosy/img/pl03.jpg
This map certainly arouses my envy, and I hope that some day we’ll have a similar detailed map of the distribution of the Star of David.
Aaron Aviv sent me his impressive Star of David & Fleur de Lis TATTOO and wrote the following:I chose the Fleur de Lis for two reasons, first it is Navigators North on many old sea charts, and I wanted something other than an N above the Compass Rose but the second and main reason is that my first born son was born in New Orleans last year. New Orleans has adopted the Fleur de Lis as the symbol of the city and its people. So my navigators north is not only authentic, it also points to the place of my son's birth.
