Seeing the common forms of these small coins with the stellate/flower pattern it reminded me of the magic square of 3X3 or the Box of Nine as some of the ancients called it. The ancient Arab mathematicians called it Al Jabr's Box(hence=algebra).The ancients ascribed a box or grid of numbers to each of the seven planetary "heavens" or "firmaments" surrounding the Earth. The smaller the magic square(as they are now called popularly) the slower the celestial orb connected to the "heaven" appeared to move in the sky. This is a very involved study and is based on a radically different worldview than the one most folks have today. Having studied these for many years the tiny coins of Miletos were at first a curiosity and then I saw two rarer issues that had my jaw a little unhinged. There was the full depiction of the different grids as a lattice of cells with the original flower pattern on the center. The obverse has the cat full facing showing the total bilateral symmetry that is discovered when the grids are studied thoroughly. These folks were recording their sacred knowledge of the shape of the creation on these coins a mere 2600 years ago! The ancient Arabic culture used these number grids and this book reveals some of the geometry and meaning that these ancient mathematicians derived from them. The ancient Hebrews(see image of the Hebrew grids) and other Mesopotamian cultures and of course the Greeks also derived great value from their use and study.https://www.amazon.com/Islamic-Patterns-Analytical-Cosmological-Approach/dp/0892818034
Pretty sure these astrological tables are a product of the later middle ages or early Renaissance and have nothing to do with actual ancient religious practices. I would be open to scholarly work on this subject but I'm skeptical that the tables from a German occultist in the 1500s have anything to do with ancient Greece.
This is the very famous Lo Shu ancient Chinese grid design from more than two thousand years ago: Maybe some of our Asian scholars can add more about their work with these grids.(didn't mean to leave out a reference to the ancient Chinese< Hindu,Jain and Tibetan use of this sacred math) Number is sacred beyond any dogma that has been attached to their use and understanding. All sacred scriptures are filled with references to number and sacred math.This is just another form of this box of nine.
The Lo Shu square is four thousand years old according to this site. The I Ching-Chinese Book of Change was written from the use of the grids. https://www.kidscodecs.com/lo-shu-magic-squares-puzzle/
Another page on the Chinese use of Al Jabar's Box. The Divine Turtle is also a very famous use on the coins of Aegina. The shell of many common species of turtles has the full pattern of all the seven planetary grids when studied.http://mysteriouswritings.com/sacred-pattern-from-the-lo-river-the-first-magic-square/
Here is a natural turtle shell carapace which contains the sacred number pattern even when the plastron(bottom shell) is studied. I do not claim to be a scholar of anything. I have studied these grids and sacred geometry for decades. Like Benjamin Franklin did, I find them exceedingly fascinating and beautiful.
BTW- the use of the grids with the Hebrew letters and angel names as pictured above was done(and still is) almost exclusively by Christians. The material was considered too sensitive to be used publicly and was rarely taught by Jews. For Jews the Hebrew letters are the numbers and so the Torah is written in number as well as letter. A great book written by a Christian Englishman some decades ago reveals some of the sacred number math and the magic square info as found in the New Testament. Enclosed is an image of the patterns that reveal a secret teaching of the Christian Gnostic school behind the book of Revelation, with the Greek gematria(number values of Greek words) all based on the 6X6 grid of the sun.may Truth and knowledge help bring in the real Peace that we celebrate this thanksgiving today.https://www.amazon.com/City-Revelation-John-Michell/dp/0345258754
I guess some folks in Crete were in the know also. please let me know if any of these come up for auction(yeah right!). Maybe some initiates into the mysteries of Eleu sius were taught about this branch of the wisdom lineages.From Wildwinds: Freeman & Sear Mail Bid Sale 13, August 25th, 2006. Lot: 4 CRETE. Cnossus. Ca. 330–300 BC. AR stater (11.19 gm). Female head (Ariadne or Pasiphae?) left, hair rolled, wearing pendant earring / Labyrinth in form of swastika, four crescents between arms, five pellets in center. Cf. Svoronos 40, pl. v, 16 (same obverse die) and 20, pl. v, 3 (reverse). This variant unpublished in the scholarly literature. Extremely rare. Toned. Very fine Ex Münzen und Medaillen 66, 22–23 October 1984, lot 149. The coin types of Cnossus famously allude to the myth of the dangerous Minotaur. His labyrinth is depicted on the reverse of many Cnossian coins, its form evolving over time. The female depicted on the obverse of this stater may be Pasiphae, wife of King Minos and mother of the Minotaur. Estimated Value: $ 4,250 ... sold for high bid of $3500 [ $4025, or approx 3139.5 EUR, 2093 GBP ] including the 15% buyers fee.
One of my favorite geometric patterns on coins has always been the ones on the reverses of the tetrobols of Kindya (or Halikarnassos).
Thanks for that- interesting and yes with the obverses being a "sea monster" like "leviathan" we can find a thread(left by Ariadne herself) that connects these mysteries to the labyrinth, the man/bull and bird/lion and the faces of what are called the Chayoth/elemental angels="holy Living Craetures' who are very important in many traditions. Here are couple more of those:
The math grids/squares of three,four and five corresponding to the dimensions of the three "upper heavens" reappeared in the mathematical mystery schools of Pythagoras: All higher dimensional math comes from the flat plane Euclidean math based on the teachings of Pythagoras.
Neat. My favorite math aspect of Miletos coinage is that Thales may have used them. Thank you for dropping the Lo Shu reference, dug deeper and found that E. Lucas (one of my favorite mathematicians) classified all 3X3 magic squares (did not know this). If you like this stuff, I know Kepler's treatise "Harmony of the Worlds" is full of these type of mystical connections.
Very cool- Thales-how shocking(jk) that is fantastic- he no doubt handled the coins I wonder if he may have known that the silver is the most electrically conductive of the metals?- these folks knew stuff from the mystery schools that they would not speak of. These coins carry clues that only the few knew about. I will check out Kepler and Lucas. thanks again
