Jewish Starfish

When Uri Ofir published his research about The Jewish Origin of The Star Of David he checked six pointed flowers and six pointed snowflakes, but he missed THIS one. Usually starfish has five points but it seems that this one is an exception ( at first glance I was sure it's a Photoshop hoax).

Copyright: Paul Dillingham from Flickr

See also

Starfish on a Stamp

Iranian Star of David

14th century Mullah Jacub's Synagogue, Isfahan, Iran

Hamed is a brave Iranian and I salute him for what he wrote in Flickr under this photo:

And to my Muslim friends who asked me to remove this shot:
I won't do so! We (Jews and Muslims) both worship the same God! We (Muslims) must respect their prophet Moses (p.b.u.h.), because he's respected by our prophet and our holy Quran!

Copyright: Hamed Saber from Flickr.

Star of David on a Christmas Tree

Christmas tree with the Jewish Star

TubaOrNotTuba wrote to me:

This ornament is from the president of the company that Jay's dad (Otto) works at. ... Though Jay's family is Christian, they have many, many friends from the Jewish community...

I like this photo because it transmits an innocent optimism about Jewish-Christian future relationships...

Copyright: "TubaOrNotTuba" from Flickr

Rana Raslan

On March 9 1999 Rana Raslan, an Arab woman, was named Miss Israel for the first time in the history of this country. Rana Raslan, 21-year-old kindergarten teacher from Haifa, participated later in the Miss Universe competition where she wore a blue and white Star of David dress. Galit Levy designed the dress to resemble the Israeli flag.

Exquisite Tunisian Blue Door

Star of David on a blue door, Tunis Medina

Dr Rachel Milstein, Specialist in Islamic art, and director of the Near Eastern Studies Department at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, lectured in the Israeli President's house about ancient Bible decorations and here is my translation for an excerpt of this lecture:

The star symbol, especially the one made of two intertwined opposite triangles called Solomon's seal (which was later named by Jews as Star of David) stands for the great name of the Lord, for the knowledge that originates from the Lord, for Heaven and the movement of the planets, and for all the meanings of the concept of kingship. The combination of all these meanings in the symbol of the star endows it an immense power, and that's why it serves also for magical purposes; and thus it continues a long tradition of attaching talismans to the walls of cities. In Fostat it is found on arc cornices of a residence from the 9th century, and in Tunis it is widespread even in our days.

Copyright: Brian MxMorrow from PBase

Turkish Hexagram

1. J Gutmann wrote in his book The Jewish Sanctuary Page 21 (1983) that
In the medieval Islamic world the hexagram was popular and was widely used.
2. There's a hexagram on a coin of Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan (1201 - 1239 AD).
3. The Islamic Turkish 13th century beyliks used the hexagram on their flag.
4. The author of an article about The Importance of the Number Six in Islamic Symbolism claims that:
The number 6, as symbolized by the letter "wav", has importance in the religion of Islam and, as a consequence, in Islamic culture and art, with the use and repetition of motifs and designs comprising 6 repeated elements… the 6 days that God took to create the world…
The above quote resembles Jewish explanations about the meaning of the Star of David. The following excerpt is uniquely Muslim:
Then there are the 6,666 verses (ayet) in the Holy Koran, while the numerical equivalent of the letters that comprise the word "Allah" (God), equals 66 that is the letter "wav" mirrored forming 6 and 6, 66. There are 6 points to the star that forms the seal of the Prophet Suleyman (Soloman), employed as a design in many 13th century Anatolian mosques and medrese, such as in the cut tilework of the interior of the dome of the Ulu Cami of Malatya of 1224 and on the tilework in the interior of the Karatay Medrese of Konya of 1251. This "Seal of Suleyman" formed the device on the flag of the Alanya 14th century Beylik and was deployed on coins and other objects in many other parts of the Islamic world including Persia, before its adoption as the "Star of David" on the Israeli flag today.

Red and White

In the desert Moses made flags for every tribe. Moses also made an Israeli flag for all the tribes, but what was the design of this flag?
From Athol Bloomer's elaborate article about the Mystical Rose one might guess that the flag of Moses might have included the Star of David since:

As Prince Dudumose Moses also bore on his battle shield the red Magen David (double dalet) design with the two base lines in a vertical formation. The Star of Miriam on her drum was the white Magen David (double mem) with the base lines horizontal.