picrel: armenia  btw: > the six-pointed star has been discovered on an ancient hebrew (or phoenician) seal, but together with other signs and figures, none of which can be considered a jewish religious symbol. it is not to be found at all in medieval synagogues or on medieval ceremonial objects, although it has been found in quite a number of medieval christian churchesagain, not as a christian symbol but only as a decorative motif. the appearance of the symbol in christian churches long before its appearance in our synagogues (btw, not sure how true this is, though: there's definitely six pointed stars in old synagogues from before jews' expulsion, so at most from the 15th century, here in portugal) should warn the overzealous interpreters. we can easily understand jacob reifman, one of the great scholars of the enlightenment, who seventy-five years ago cried out against the shield of david as slips of a stranger in israels vineyard, recalling the verse: they mingled themselves with the nations and learned their works.   /gershom-scholem/the-curious-histor y-of-the-six-pointed-starhow-the-ma gen-david-became-the-jewish-symbol/
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