Monday, August 21, 2006

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.

Keter

half a Star of David bookThis was for me an exercise in paying attention to details, because only after I edited the emblem of Keter publishing house in Photoshop I was convinced that it was designed as half a Star of David. The designer made a subtle work here trying to convey the message that this publishing house is the best and at the same time he tried to touch a patriotic chamber in the heart of his potential customers.

This is one more way to look at this many faceted emblem - two crowns, one upward, one down.