The Six point Star - Easy to Draw
As a child I was delighted to discover that if you can draw a triangle, you can add a second one upside down over the first to create a six point star.
You can also draw a square over a square to make an eight point star.
Eight point star on the floor of a church/synagogue in Spain.
I was once looking at curtains and realised that if you have regularly spaced diagonal and horizontal lines, you create six point star patterns. You son't see them at first. Stare long enough, and your brain starts looking for familiar shapes.
France
Synagogue in Lille, France
Israel and Jewish Stars
Later I discovered that a star with six points is a symbol which you see on synagogues and the Israeli flag and souvenirs from Israel, ranging from ashtrays and ornaments to ear-rings and necklaces..
On the flag of Israel the star is blue. On the Israeli ambulance service the star is red, like the blood red cross of the ambulance service in Christian countries.
Having digested this information, I was surprised to see the symbol again in India, on buildings which were not Jewish.
The Muslim Star
I learned that Muslims call the six point star the Seal of Solomon.
I read on Quora that the seal of solomon was a five point star. David changed to a shield with six points, symbol of protection as well as a weapon.
Hindu Stars
The Hindus also have six point stars. The Hindu version has a dot in the middle. the Hindu six point star is red.
Christian Star In Spain
Recently, members of my family were in Spain, and in Seville on the Alcazar, a Christian building, (al cazar means the castle or the palace, my family saw a six point star which the tour guide sais was a Christian symbol as well as being Muslim and Jewish.
My family Let's look at the history of the star. Then I shall show where you might see it on your travels. In order to keep track of countries, I shall list them alphabetically.
India
(More photos and text later today)
The six point star was a popular symbol and can be seen on Humayan's tomb in Delhi, India. I was taken there, once on an evening tour, again in the daytime.
Humayan's Tomb, Delhi, India. Notice the two six-point stars.
| Ekabhishek (talk | contribs) | {{Information |Description={{en|1=The white marble dome and chhatris on the roof of Humayun's tomb.}} |Source=http://www.flickr.com/photos/posk/2275785885/ |Author=http://www.flickr.com/photos/posk/ |Date=February 12, 2008 |Permission= |other_versions= }} |
Even the windows contain stars.
Six point stars seen on screen in Humayan's tomb, Delhi, India
Israel
Let's start with the obvious one. The flag of Israel.
Russia
In Moscow the Holocasut Memorial synagogue has the six point star on the side of the building and at the top.
Holocaust Memorial Synagogue, Moscow, Russia. Photo by eugeny1988 in Wikipedia.
In Rusia The Jewish Oblast has a flag which does not have a star on it.
Singapore
Star of David on the two synagogues. Private buildings. Ocasionally you can visit them on tours. I went there with the Friends of the Museum. I also went to a Saturday morning service where I saw a barmitzvah. It was Sephardi (Spanish-Morrocan and Middle and Far eastern style). This was different to the Ashkenazi (German and North and Eastern European) which I was familiar with from London and New York.
Maghain Aboth Synagogue
The name means Shield of our Fathers. Ab is father. You can see the six point star at the top of the building. This is an old photo from Wikipedia. Nowadays for security reasons there's a high wall and guards but you can still glimpse the star on the top of the building.
Jewish stars are also on public buildings in the streets, such as the David Elias building, because they were built years ago by a Singaporean Jewish family.
I did a project on the Jews of Singapore, with a study group for the Friends of the Museum. Each member of our study group read books about members of a different religion in Singapore, China and other Asian countries.
Mikvah and Baptism
With a women's association group we did another tour of the synagogue. This time what interested the group and took most time was a visit to the Mikvah, a sunken bath with running water. When I returned to London and visited Harrovian Toastmasters meeting in a church in the street near Harrow on the Hill station, I was amazed to see what looked like a Mikvah, the sinken baptismal area at the side of the church, near the entrance door.
So, the stars are a good starting point for looking at the history of buildings and iscussing with your tour guide, or checking in your guide book, the religious and social history of buildings in the cities you visit.
Spain & Christian six poing star
In Seville, Spain, in the Alcazar, palace of a Catholic King, the guide told visitors that the star was a symbol used in architecture by Christians, Moslems and Jews.
Turkey And The Six Point Star
Flag of Turkish historical group in the 1200 to 1400s.
Useful Websites
wikipedia
Jewish stars
muslim stars
hindu stars
Russian Jewish Oblast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_Jewish_Autonomous_Oblast
turkish muslim star on flags and buildings
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karamanids?wprov=sfla1
About the Author, Angela Lansbury
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.
Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian. We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
I am Past President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting the first Wednesday of the month, Usually on Zoom. But the other Wednesdays have workshops on app learncool.sg
For meetings learncool it is quicker to type and easier to remember:
Useful Websites On Speaking and Languages
translate.google.com
duolingo.com
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html
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