Traditionally, the Star of David (Hebrew: מָגֵן דָּוִד, “Shield of David”; pronounced mogendovid in Yiddish) is an ancient symbol, an emblem in the form of a six-pointed star (hexagram), in which two equilateral triangles are superimposed on each other: the top one – apex up, the bottom one – apex down, forming a structure of six equilateral triangles attached to the sides of a hexagon.
The hexagram is considered an international symbol of very ancient origin. It is known from the Bronze Age (end of the 4th – beginning of the 1st millennium BC). It was used for decorative and magical purposes by many peoples, in particular the Semites of Mesopotamia and the Celts of Britain.
This sign is known in India as Anahata or Anahata-chakra and was used long before it appeared in Europe (cf. Anahata with Arm. Anahit, Anahit or Asthik). Originally, the hexagram was not related to Judaism. In the Middle and Near East, it was a symbol of the cult of the goddess Ishtar (Astarte or Asthik (starlet), or the bride of Vahagn in Armenia). The hexagram or six-pointed star is depicted on the stele of Ishtar, goddess of the morning and evening star (The Kurkh Stela. The British Museum. “…the six-pointed star of Ishtar, goddess of the morning and evening star”), http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection. In Armenian “kurk” means idol. The earliest mention of the name “Magen David” (“shield of David”), according to researchers, dates back to the early Middle Ages – the era of the Babylonian gaonim (it is first encountered in Talmudic literature as one of the names of God).
There are various versions of the origin of the symbol’s name, from those associating it with the legend of the shape of King David’s warriors’ shields to those tracing it to the name of the false messiah David Alroy or the Talmudic phrase denoting the God of Israel. There is a version known as the “Seal of King Solomon”.
Since the 19th century, the Star of David is considered a Jewish symbol. The hexagram is interpreted as a combination and union of two principles: masculine (a triangle with “wide shoulders”, pointing downwards) and feminine (a triangle pointing upwards).
In ancient times, it was believed that the Magen David embodied all four primary elements: the triangle pointing upwards symbolizes fire and air, while the other triangle pointing downwards symbolizes water and earth. According to another version, the upper corner of the triangle pointing upwards symbolizes fire, and the other two (left and right) symbolize water and air.
The corners of the other triangle, pointing downward with one corner, respectively represent: mercy, peace (tranquility), and grace. According to another interpretation, the six-pointed Star of David symbolizes Divine governance of the entire world: earth, sky, and the four directions – north, south, east, and west.
The Magen David is also interpreted as a combination of the celestial principle (macrocosm), which aspires to the earth, and the earthly principle (microcosm), which aspires to the heavens. According to Kabbalah, the Magen David reflects the seven lower Sephirot. Each of the six triangles and the six-pointed center symbolize one of the Sephirot.
According to the interpretation of Rabbi Eliyahu Essas, this sign symbolizes the six days of creation and reflects the model of the creation of the world.
The Star of David is depicted on the flag of the State of Israel and is one of its main symbols. Six-pointed stars are also found in the symbols of other countries.
The widespread use of the Magen David in the 19th century is explained by experts as the Jews’ desire to find a simple symbol of Judaism, analogous to the cross of Christianity. However, this symbol and the cross do not contradict each other. The former is a logical continuation of the latter.
They are semantically and structurally interconnected and represent a complete and indivisible model of understanding the world picture from the perspective of cognitive logic. They reflect the process of the evolution of an archaic worldview from a single root, traces of which have been preserved in the oral tradition of the Khachapashstov (cross-worshippers), described in the Armenian epic “David of Sasun” as a symbol of power, authority, protection, a shield – the Paternal sign – “paterazma khach”.
The Shield of David could not have arisen on its own, without a prehistory, without a prototype, without the transformation of the archetype of an early idea. It reflects a stage in the evolution of thought and develops the idea of the cross. The hypostases of the cross and shield are mutually contained in each other so as not to introduce a multitude.
Judaism existed long before the emergence of Christianity. However, the idea of the cross was born and reflected in rock art (see part 1 of the article) long before the emergence of Judaism. Judaism was not the only monotheistic model of spiritual description of the world’s picture.
Monotheism (literally “one God” – from Greek – one, θεος – God, cf. with Arm “Ter” – God or “astvats”) – is a religious concept and philosophical doctrine of one God (as opposed to polytheism, idolatry, and paganism).
In monotheism, in the narrow understanding of theism, God is personified, that is, becomes a certain “person”, as, for example, in the ancient Armenian myth about the first man, the dragon fighter Vahagn. Monotheism is typical for Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), but is also represented in the philosophy of Hinduism, Sikhism, and other religions.
In the monograph “Stone Chronicle of Civilization”, based on cognitive comparison of the compositions of Armenian rock art and corresponding linguistic models, the authors substantiated that the development of figurative, visual, and analytical thinking among the creators of rock drawings is characterized by high cognitive ability.
The creators of rock drawings possessed not only speech (A. Stepanyan, G. Vaganyan), but claimed the authorship of the monotheistic representation of the teaching of the one God (Force, Creator, and his Son).
The Jews do not have the experience of an archaic tradition covering all stages of visual communication (rock and ornamental art, pictographic writing, ideogrammatic writing, hieroglyphic writing system, cuneiform).
In contrast, the ancestors of the Armenians left the world not only a vast legacy of rock drawings in the Ararat mountains, corresponding knowledge, a worldview expressed in a symbolic language, including religious, but also an illustrated encyclopedia of a cultural heritage rich in content and form.
The archaic myth about the birth of Vahagn confirms the existence of a monotheistic religious model among the ancestors of the Armenians – the Khachapashats. Aspects of monotheism have been identified in the history of ancient Middle Eastern religions, starting from the Bronze Age: the introduction of the monotheistic cult of Aton in Egypt by Pharaoh Akhenaten, the worship of Marduk in Babylon, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.
However, scientists persistently keep silent about the monotheistic worship of Vahagn in Armenia, Georgia, and other countries, attributing the worship of Vahagn to the period of idolatry and paganism. Scientists have not proven the fact that Armenian paganism was formed not as a result of historical degradation of the idea of monotheism, liquidation of the traditions of Khachapashatutyun.
According to the epic “Sasuntsi David”, the remnants of Khachapashatutyun survived only in Pambak (Armenia) and Jerusalem. Thus, it emphasizes the continuity and unity of the space once dominated by monotheistic spiritual worship (where the theses of Judaism were not yet conceived), which was liquidated under the influence of idolatrous polytheism of the culturally backward invaders: ancient Egyptians, Semites, Akkadians.
“So, we call the hypostases (Holy Trinity) perfect in order not to introduce complexity into the Divine nature, for composition is the beginning of discord. And again we say that the three hypostases are mutually in one another so as not to introduce a multitude and crowd of gods.
Confessing the three hypostases, we acknowledge the simplicity and unity (in the Deity); and confessing that these hypostases are consubstantial to each other, and recognizing in them the identity of will, action, power, authority, and, if one may say, movement, we acknowledge their inseparability and that God is one; for God, His Word, and His Spirit are truly one God” (St. John of Damascus. Precise Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. – Moscow, 1992).
Thanks to the ideas of N. Marr, the authors found that in the Armenian language the name Vahagn implements, confessing the three hypostases, which are consubstantial to each other, and recognizing in them the identity of will, action, power, authority, and movement, their inseparability and that God is one; for God, His Word, and His Spirit are truly one God (“Ban – Van – Vahagn – the only begotten).
The Thunderer and dragon-fighter, savior of humanity and the world, liberator of waters, Vahagn becomes the archaic prototype of Jesus Christ”). The word “Allah” in Muslim calligraphy (Hafiz Osman, XVII century) is presented in the form of an image in which we can identify signs similar to a greater or lesser extent to the symbols of Vahagn.
There are signs similar to the letter “a” in lower case (with “ա” which begins the Armenian alphabet, the word “astvats” – God (or “astvats” – this is given or created by God. Vahagn was created by a single Creator), as well as on the trinity, a trident in the form of a man with hands raised to the heavens (to the single Father); and also on the eight-petalled rosette.
Scientists believe that Islam was entirely borrowed from earlier religions – Judaism and Christianity. Muslims believe that Islam belongs to the Abrahamic religions, coming from a common ancient tradition dating back to Abraham.
Mohammed claimed that the faith he proclaimed is nothing other than the purest religion of Abraham, subsequently distorted by both Jews and Christians (Vasilyev L.S. “History of Eastern Religions” Chapter 8. Islam: emergence and spread, http://www.gumer.info/bogoslov_Buks/Relig/Vasil1/40.php). It is believed that all Abrahamic religions came from the monotheistic ancient Jewish faith.
This opinion is outdated. In the authors’ view, before the monotheistic ancient Jewish faith, there was Khachapashatutyun, in which the ancestors of both Armenians and Jews once believed.
By the way, after the destruction of the last remnants of Khachapashatutyun, a part of Armenians who did not reconcile with the ideas of idolatry also believed in Judaism.
The ancient Jewish faith, in our view, arose under the influence of Khachapashatutyun, when the enlightened ancestors of Abraham, originally from the Ararat mountains, retaining and adopting the traditions of their neighbors, the Van Armenians, moved to the territory of Egypt (and neighboring countries) with the beginning of the Hyksos campaigns. This is evidenced by many ideas and symbols borrowed from the more archaic ideology of the Khachapashats.
Thus, the ideas of the sign of Vahagn and his shield (the prototype of the Star of David) were preserved by the Jews and subsequently implemented in the ideas of the Shield of David. It became the main symbol of Judaism, analogous to the cross (the sign of the Father, God and his son), which was the main symbol in prehistoric Christianity (Khachapashatutyun). The main symbols of Judaism and Christianity are based on the traditions of Proto-Armenian visual culture of the Khachapashatutyun period. They were first created in the Ararat Mountains.
A six-pointed star on a stone from a synagogue in Capernaum. Star of David on the oldest copy of the Masoretic text of the Torah, Leningrad Codex, 1008 AD. Tile assemblage, first half of the 13th century; Seljuq, Anatolia. Flag of the Zionist movement and Israel
The Armenian sign “paterazma khach”, according to the authors, is based on an archaic model of creation. It is associated with the birth on the sixth day after Creation of the dragon-slayer Vahagn, a symbol of connection, union of the Heavenly Father, the Heavenly House, the mountain or peak (Heavenly Triangle), with the peak of the Earthly Triangle, with the Earthly world, with the earthly mountain, with Masis (mother – “ma”, mountain – “sis”, peak).
This archaic motif, becoming a religious tradition, is reflected in the biblical motifs of birth and creation. The Garden of Eden and the first man (Adam) were created in the Ararat Mountains, therefore, it is quite likely that the sign or shield of David could have been created first in the same mountains before the “expulsion” or exodus as a result of a natural disaster, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
Why couldn’t it have been created and used as a talisman (shield) by David of Sasun’s Father? Why exactly in Armenian it is called “paterazma khach”. The cross, as an embodiment of the male principle, as the image of the divine Vahagn (straight cross) and the embodiment of fertility in the form of the Armenian Astkhik (“star”) in the form of a slanting cross, logically and directly transform into the idea and composition of an eight-pointed star, into a symbol of the human family, created by the Creator in His own image and likeness.
The further development of the founding idea in the union of two triangles has the following interpretation. Triangle pointing upwards: the top point indicates the Most High (Heavenly Father) and that He is one.
The tip of the second triangle is pointed down to the fruitful Earth. The two triangles are a symbol of the purpose of existence not so much of a person (man and woman), but of the purpose of existence and unification of two houses, spiritual and material, two tribes, peoples, nations of the created world.
The six-pointed star in the symbolism of other countries
State symbols of the USA, for example, the Great Seal of the USA (in its first version), contain a six-pointed star in various modifications. Six-pointed and six-rayed stars are included in the coats of arms of the German cities of Scher, Hamburg and Gerbstedt (the latter represents the classic Star of David), as well as the Ukrainian cities of Poltava, Ternopil and Konotop. Source: Uri Ofir. Jewish origin of the Star of David (Hebrew). Moreshet.co.il, http://moreshet.co.il/UploadFiles/magenew.doc.
In 1822, the Rothschild family, having received a noble title from the Austrian emperor, included the Star of David in their family coat of arms. From 1840, G. Heine began to put the Star of David instead of his signature under his articles in the “Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Thus, when the Star of David was adopted as the symbol of the Zionist movement (the very first issue of the Zionist magazine of T. Herzl “Die Welt” depicted the Star of David), it was already widely spread and recognized as a Jewish symbol. F. Rosenzweig in the book “The Star of Redemption” (1921) interpreted the Star of David as a symbolic expression of his philosophical ideas about the meaning of Judaism and the relationships between God, man and the world, http://www.eleven.co.il/article/11098.
The transformation of the Star of David into a stigma accompanying millions of Jews on their path to destruction, gave this symbol a new meaning – unity of suffering and hope. The state of Israel, striving to choose the most ancient and authentic symbol of Judaism as its coat of arms, chose the menorah, but placed the Star of David on the national (previously Zionist) flag (Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia).
Fig. 23 b. A book written in the Syriac “Serto” script depicting various cross-shaped, swastika and eight-pointed signs and solar symbols (source Wikipedia). The basis of the Syriac language is the Aramaic dialect of the city of Edessa, which was an important trade and political center, starting from the end of the II century BC.
© Vaganyan G.A., Vaganyan V.G., 2013
