Thursday, June 15, 2006

Tetraktys

Tetraktys magen David
 

Tetraktys is a mystical counting system graphically represented by a pyramid composed of dots arranged in rows. The Tetraktys of the number ten is made of ten dots arranged in four rows representing the numbers 1-4 (1+2+3+4=10)

 The Tetraktys was developed in the 6th century BCE by the famous Greek mystic philosopher Pythagoras as a symbol of the Cosmos; it was so sacred for his pupils that they used to swear on it.

 Kabalists used a similar form that included the four letters of the Hebrew name of god instead of the Pythagorean numbers.

 M. Costa ["Hatakh ha-zahav, hotam Shelomoh u-magen-David", Poalim, 1990 (Hebrew), pp. 154] shows how the Star of David is formed by connecting the inner six dots of the Tetraktys.

This may help understand how the Seal of Solomon with the inscription of the Shield of David might have looked like.  


Star of David Time Table

 

Star of David Time Table

Israelite slaves in Egypt crystallized salt with Magen Davids made from straw (David Bloch's theory) Egypt 17 BCE

 

Magen David was created as an ornament in the Menorah Tabernacle (Uri Ofir's theory) Desert, 13 BCE

King David used it as his shield, Jerusalem, 10 BCE

 

King Solomon used it on his ring , Jerusalem, 10 BCE

On a wall of a room, Megiddo, 9 BCE

 

On a seal belonging to Joshua b. Asayahu, Sidon, 7 BCE

 

The Ten lost tribes that were exiled by king of Assyria, 7 BCE

Kagome crest at some of Shinto's oldest and most important temples, Japan, 5 BCE

On Jar handles found by archeologist Sukenik, Israel,  1 BCE

 

It was the shape of Bar Kochba's Shield in his revolt against the Roman Empire, Israel, 2 CE

In a synagogue, Capernaum, 3 CE

On a Jewish tombstone, Taranto, 3 CE                                                           

 

On a Magic bowl found in 1853, Kinneret, 3 CE  

 

On a rock excavated at a synagogue, Eshtamoa,  3 CE

 

In a Synagogue,  Horbat Shura,  5 CE

 

Used by Khazars, Caucasus, 5 -10 CE

On a cover page of the Leningrad Codex, Leningrad, 11 CE

 

In a Synagogue, Hamelin, 13  CE

On a Tanakh manuscript, Toledo, 13 CE

 

On the flag of the Jewish community, Prague, 14 CE

On a flag  of an allegorical figure in a Catalan manuscript, Catalonia, 14 CE

 

In a Kabbalistic book titled Sefer ha-Gevul, 14 CE

On a red flag  when the Jews of Ofen received King Mathios Kuruvenus, Budapest,  15 CE

In the first Hebrew prayer book, Prague, 16 CE                       

 

On  the walls of Jerusalem, 16 CE

 

As a trademark for Jewish printers,  Europe, 16 CE

 

Isaac Luria taught that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram, Tzfat, 16 CE

On the tombstone of David Gans, the astronomer and historian, Prague, 17 CE

 

On a stone marking the boundary between the Jewish and the Christian quarters, Vienna, 17 CE                                   

 

Used by Sabbatai Zvi, the false messiah, 17 CE

Rothschild incorporated it into his family coat of arms, Germany, 17 CE

On the Jewish  community seal, Vienna, 17 CE  

On a medallion and as part of the community's seal, Amsterdam, 17 CE

 

On wedding stones in synagogues, Germany,  17 CE

Alchemists began calling it the shield of David, Europe, 18 CE

Tombstone, Bordeaux, 18 CE

As a specific Jewish sign in a satirical anti-Semitic engraving, 18 CE

 

Heinrich Heine signed his letters with a Magen David instead of his name, Paris, 19 CE

On the  walls of a synagogue which was built from the remains of an ancient synagogue, Peki'in, 19 CE

 

The symbol of the first Zionist groups Bilu, Hovevei Zion etc. Europe, 19 CE

 

The Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas, Argentina, 19 CE

On the first edition of Herzl's newspaper Die Welt,  19 CE

Ephraim Moses Lilien's "From Ghetto to Zion" postcard, Bazel, 19 CE

On Edler von Lamel School building, Jerusalem, 20 CE

On a poster for the recruitment to the Jewish Legion, 20 CE

On the badge of the Zion Mule Corps soldiers, Turkey, 20 CE

Franz Rosenzweig wrote the Star of Redemption, 20 CE

On the old Technion building, Haifa, 20 CE

Yellow badges in the Holocaust, Europe, 20 CE

Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia, Birobidzhan  , 20 CE

On Jewish Money, Ghetto Lodz , 20 CE

On the Israeli flag, Israel , 20 CE

Gershom Scholem wrote his prominent, research about the Star of David, Israel , 20 CE

 

 

  

Search Words

One of the ways I keep in touch with my readers is through the Site Meter. In the past 3 months since I started this blog it had 1,571 visits (including my 500), average per Day was 23 visitors, average visit length was 3:19 minutes. These figures meet my humble expectations.

 

I also collect Key Words that retrieved articles that had a good position on the main search engines. So here is my collection for the last few days, just to share with you my excitement when I find out that a certain article "made it" and is situated in the first ten results that readers get when they want to know something.

Search Engine

Place

Out of

Date

Key Words

MSN

2

10,619,727

06/06/2006

star of David

Google

1

49.900

06/06/2006

Magen David lily

MSN

1

1,623,643

06/06/2006

meaning of star of David

Yahoo

3

29,300

07/06/2006

3 dimensional star of David necklace

Google

3

372,000

07/06/2006

Photoshop star of David shape

Google

9

7,020,000

07/06/2006

Jewish gangs

Google

3

84 400

07/06/2006

FOA TOBIAS

Yahoo

6

6,860,000

08/06/2006

pink star of David

Google

10

14,000

08/06/2006

Lilien, Ephraim

Google

2

174,000

11/06/2006

6 pointed sheriff badge

Google

2

20,100

11/06/2006

Christian hexagrams

Google

3

539,000

11/06/2006

brewer's star

Google

4

6,140

12/06/2006

Yachin an Boaz

Google

1

26,600

13/06/2006

kagome crest

Google

7

538,000

13/06/2006

star of David pagan origins

Google

5

11,900,000

13/06/2006

Jews star mean

Google

5

9,020,000

13/06/2006

Jewish gangs

xtraMSN

2

19,683,091

13/06/2006

star of David

xtraMSN

2

840

13/06/2006

Smadar Yaaron

Google

10

294,000

14/06/2006

origins Star of David pagan symbol

Google

4

36,700

14/06/2006

flag of Zion Mule Corps

Yahoo

1

2,150,000

15/06/2006

images where the star of David appears

Google

3

4,350,000

15/06/2006

Origin of Star of David in India

Google

1

257.000

15/06/2006

Jewish soldiers ww2

Google

4

8,800,000

15/06/2006

star of David 1 dollar bill

Google

1

97,200

15/06/2006

Marc Chagall painting Star