The Secrets of the Star of David
And the history of the pentagram
Recently my friend and fellow writer Jonathan Poletti left a note on one of my articles asking if I had done any writing on the Star of David. It turns out that I hadn’t. Until now, that is. That’s right! Here, at last, is my article on the Star of David.
The history of the hexagram
When we think of the Star of David, we naturally associate the symbol with Judaism. It is, after all, known as the Jewish star. However historical scholarship has shown that the hexagram has never been an exclusively Jewish symbol. The terms Star of David and Shield of David in reference to the hexagram date back only the 17th century. The shape was used as a religious motif in Christian churches centuries before it began to appear in synagogues.
The earliest example of the symbol being possibly used as a religious symbol is the hexagram located on the Leningrad Codex Carpet page from the oldest complete copy of the Masoretic text, from 1008 AD.
The symbol is present on a third-century gravestone found in southern Italy in a region where the Jews were noted for their…
