Artifacts

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 3

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Seal of Melchizedek turned into LDS cufflinks, tie bars/clips, tie tacs

Seal of Melchizedek turned into LDS cufflinks, tie bars/clips, tie tacs

(Continued from Part 2)

Having found the mosaics from Ravenna, Italy, that displayed this symbol in connection with Melchizedek, I wanted to do some more research to see if I could find the symbol mentioned anywhere else.  And, of course, I went to the best tool for online research – Google.  The difficulty with using Google is that you can usually find someone saying something about pretty much anything.  So it’s not only a task of finding the correct information, but of determining its credibility.

One of the first results you come to is a blog called “Ernest Goes to Iraq” with a blog post “The Sign of Melchizedek.”  Ernest explains:

I heard directly from one of the architect team partners that designed the San Diego Temple, he explained that the designer saw this symbol in a dream and based the floor plan and décor of the temple on this design; namely two offset, intersecting squares. Much like the 6-point Star of David but with 8 points instead.  [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 2

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Detail from a mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

Detail from a 6th century mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

(Continued from Part 1)

As you might have imagined, the first thing I did when my parents told me the story of the “seal of Melchizedek” on the San Diego temple, and of the connection with Hugh Nibley, I immediately did some searches to see if I could find if it was referenced in LDS literature.  The only reference I found was an image caption in the article “Sacred Vestments” in the book Temple and Cosmos:

Another Ravenna mosaic, c. A.D. 520, shows the priest-king Melchizedek in a purple cloak, offering bread and wine at the altar (Genesis 14:18-20).  The white altar cloth is decorated with two sets of gammadia, as well as the so-called “seal of Melchizedek,” two interlocked squares in gold.  Abel offers his lamb as Abraham gently pushes Isaac forward.  The hand of God reaches down to this sacred meeting through the red veils adorned with golden gammadia on either side.  The theme is the great sacrifice of Christ, which brings together the righteous prophets from the past as well as the four corners of the present world, thereby uniting all time and space. (Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” Temple and Cosmos, 109.)

The drawing of the mosaic by Michael Lyon shown in Temple and Cosmos is from a basilica in Ravenna, Italy, called Sant’Apollinare in Classe.  This is the best color photograph of this mosaic I could find:  [Read more…]

The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 1

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San Diego California Temple exterior (click for larger view)

San Diego California Temple exterior (click for larger view)

A week ago my parents took a trip down to California to see my younger brother dance with the BYU Ballroom Dance Team at the Embassy Ball in Irvine, California.  As part of their trip they had the chance to do some fun things, like go to Disneyland.  Whenever they are on a vacation during the sabbath, however, they try to do things appropriate for that day, such as visit any nearby temples.  The San Diego California Temple was only about 80 miles away, and so they made their way down I-5 last Sunday afternoon to see it.

They enjoyed their visit at this unique temple, but by and large the most interesting thing that they experienced there that day was a story that the service missionaries told them who serve there.  [Read more…]

Hats with Lapel Cords

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Boater hat (also known as skimmer, katie, basher, or sennit hat)

Boater hat (also known as skimmer, katie, basher, or sennit hat)

Recently my wife was reading a book entitled A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) by Betty Smith when she came across a passage which was interesting that she shared with me:

One day, Hildy asked Johnny to bring someone for Katie, her girl friend, the next time they went dancing.  Johnny obliged.  The four of them rode out to Canarsie on the trolley.  The boys wore straw katies with a cord attached to the brim and the other end to their coat lapel.  The stiff ocean breeze blew the hats off and there was much laughter when the boys pulled the skimmers back by the cords. ((Betty Smith, A Tree Gorws in Brooklyn, 57, link.))

I had not heard of this kind of hat before so I did a bit of research.  I couldn’t find any reference to a katie hat, but I was able to find a hat called a skimmer, which is also known as a boater, basher, or sennit hat  ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boater)).  Basically it is what we commonly call a barbershop hat today (see picture).  They are still popular in Italy where they are known as boater hats among gondoliers.  But there was something else in this passage that I wanted to research a bit.  [Read more…]

Pronaos on “Where was Solomon’s Temple?”

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Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Temple Mount in Jerusalem

The blog Pronaos is becoming ever more intriguing as Grandpa Enoch continues his series on the possible location of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.  It’s not just the question of the location of the temple that interests me, but the great introduction to the geography of the entire region too.  I’ve always wondered what the layout of the area was.  This is fascinating material to learn more about the ancient city of Jerusalem.  Here are the posts in the series thus far: