Symbols in European myth
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Symbols
- The pentagram or pentacle
- The eight-pointed star
- Triangles
- The hexagram
- The rose
- The fleur-de-lis
- The equal-armed cross
- Symbols in context
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
SummaryPentagrams, or five-pointed stars, are ancient symbols and have been found on broken fragments of pottery in Palestine from around 4000 BCE and in Sumerian excavations from around 2700 BCE. A vase, spindle whorl, and clay tablet with the pentagram dated around 4500–3100 BCE have been found in Mesopotamia. A flint scraper with a pentagram of a similar date was found in the Israeli Negev Desert. We have no clear information on what these symbols stood for in ancient times. Some scholars argue that the Sumerian symbol stood for the four corners of the Earth plus the vault of Heaven.
The pentagram symbol reappeared again around 400 BCE as the symbol for the Pythagorean school of mysticism in Greece. It represented the human figure in that school.
The pentagram symbol reappeared again around 400 BCE as the symbol for the Pythagorean school of mysticism in Greece. It represented the human figure in that school.
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