2The Seal of Melchizedek

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The Seal Of Melchizedek Part 1

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. Apparently there are many tourists that stop by the temple (not

surprising since the temple looms directly over the nearby freeway), and walk right into

the temple to visit it. Unfortunately, they dont know that you have to be a member of

the Church and have a temple recommend to enter into a temple. Consequently, the

authorities there have put service missionaries by the entrance to the temple to talk

with tourists, teach them about the purposes of the temple, show them pictures, give

them literature, etc.

My parents stopped by to talk with these service missionaries, and they recounted to

them something very interesting about the design of the temple. This is how my fatherexplained it:

The story the missionary told us is a simple one. As we stood there looking at the

temple, Brother Williams-or Williamson, the missionary, told us that he heard an

interesting story about the symbol that appears all over the temple. He said the

architect, who is a current temple sealer, gave a fireside not too long ago. He said that

the symbol that appears all over the temple in the stone, the glass, even the fence

surrounding the temple, was just an architectural design. He said he thought it would

be nice to have a recurring design that ties the temple together. He worked on thesimple design, for about six months, toying with different designs. He finally

decided on the design, two interlocking squares turned 45 degrees from

each other- sometimes containing a circle in the center, sometimes not. He

put it in almost every stone wall, every glass window, and even the ornamental iron

fence around the temple grounds (I'll send you the pictures). I think the missionary

said that someone (I don't know if it was a general authority or someone else from SLC)

asked the architect at the temple open house where he got the design and what it

means. The architect said that it was just an architectural design and didn't mean

anything. The person said something like, Oh I think there is more to it than that.

The person came back to SLC and some time later the word came back that the design


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was known as the seal of Melchizedek. I asked the missionary who it was in

SLC that told them it was the seal of Melchizedek. He said it was Hugh

Nibley. He said the architect said that if it is the seal of Melchizedek it would have

saved him a lot of time if the Lord had just revealed it to him instead of the tinkering

that he did to come up with it. I didnt get the impression that the architect felt like he

had received it by revelation, at least not the version the missionary told us last

Sunday. Nothing was mentioned about any dream. Of course, the missionary that told

us the story was just retelling it from hearing it at a fireside. He may have missed some

of the fine points of the story.

My parents were fascinated by this, and spent some time around the temple taking

pictures wherever they saw this symbol used. My father has sent me the pictures he

took, and I will include some of them below, showing this interesting detail, which is

quite ubiquitous in the temple design. Immediately after leaving the temple, theycalled me on their cell to tell me the story, knowing I would be interested. And, of

course, I was.

But if you know me, hearing this brief story was not enough. I wanted to know details.

I wanted to know the source of the story. I wanted to know if the story was true. I

wanted to know if Hugh Nibley had really said such a thing. I wanted to know if this

symbol, the seal of Melchizedek, was known in the academic world. I wanted to hear

or read the story direct from the architect. I wanted to know if the use of this symbol in

the temple design might have been more than just happenstance. Ill let you know whatI found out in the ensuing parts of this series. Stay tuned.

See the pictures below.


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 bookTemple 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 ofgammadia, 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
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325


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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, calledSantApollinare in Classe. This is the best color

photograph of this mosaic I could find:

You can clearly see the 8-pointed star symbol in the center of the altar cloth. This

mosaic depicts Melchizedek in a purple cloak administering bread and wine on the altar

as the high priest in the temple. Gods authorization of the event is manifest by His

hand reaching down through the clouds. On the left Abel offers a lamb to be sacrificed,

and on the right Abraham offers Isaac, both shadows of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus

Christ1. It is also interesting to note, as Nibley did, that there aregammadiasymbols

(shaped like the Greek letter gamma) both on the altar cloth and two veils in this

scene. The mosaic dates from the 6th century. Click the image to the right for a larger

view.

There is much detail work inside the star symbol that is hard to discern. It appears as

though there are two interlocking squares with two or three more concentric circles

inside of them. I would be interested to find a more detailed closeup photo of this

mosaic if anyone can find one. SuperStock has some high resolution versions

availablehere; unfortunately since they are rights-managed stock photos the cheapest I

could figure to purchase it would be $150.

There is also another iteration of this symbol on an altar cloth in a different mosaic in

Ravenna, Italy. It is located in theBasilica of San Vitale. I was able to find a very high-res photograph of this mosaic. Click the image on the right to see the larger version. In

this scene, again we see Abel offering his lamb, and Melchizedek offering the bread on

the altar. Behind Abel is an Adamic-type sanctuary, and behind Melchizedek is the

temple of Jerusalem. The hand of God again is seen coming down through the clouds

to accept the offering2. You can see the 8-pointed star symbol, but it is also very

evident that there are two interlocking squares that make up the symbol, with two

concentric circles inside of them (see the closeup at the beginning of this post).

After conversing with some LDS scholars at BYU and elsewhere, these are the only twoconcrete artifacts which weve been able to find which might link Melchizedek with the

symbol of the 8-pointed, two interlocking square, star.

Moreover, so far we have been unable to find any non-LDS scholars who have referred

to this symbol as the seal of Melchizedek (although Michael Lyon believes he may

have once seen it referenced by that name in a Catholic commentary on symbols).

However, there is other supporting evidence for a possible link between Melchizedek

and the symbol, as I will share in the forthcoming posts, including my phone

conversation with the design architect of the San Diego Temple.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/preview.asp?image=1039-15008&imagex=3&id=137864&productType=3&pageStart=1&pageEnd=4&pixperpage=24&hitCount=4&filterForCat=&filterForFotog=http://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/preview.asp?image=1039-15008&imagex=3&id=137864&productType=3&pageStart=1&pageEnd=4&pixperpage=24&hitCount=4&filterForCat=&filterForFotog=http://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/preview.asp?image=1039-15008&imagex=3&id=137864&productType=3&pageStart=1&pageEnd=4&pixperpage=24&hitCount=4&filterForCat=&filterForFotog=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/preview.asp?image=1039-15008&imagex=3&id=137864&productType=3&pageStart=1&pageEnd=4&pixperpage=24&hitCount=4&filterForCat=&filterForFotog=http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classe


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Nibley once commented on the difficulty of being certain about the origin or meaning

behind these symbols, and we would do well to keep his remarks in mind as we explore

these things:

These things do get around. They become lost; they become simply designs; nobody

understands what they are; nobody understands any more the meaning of the words.

Thus we speculate as we try to reconstruct them. (Nibley, Sacred Vestments,Temple

and Cosmos, 111.)

Notes:1. Hamblin and Seely, Solomons Temple: Myth and History, 111 []2. Hamblin and Seely, Solomons Temple: Myth and History, 53 []

The Seal Of Melchizedek

Part 3

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 its 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 dcor of the temple on this design; namely two offset, intersecting squares.

Much like the 6-point Star of David but with 8 points instead.

Ernest continues by quoting the caption from Temple and Cosmos about the seal of

Melchizedek. This is the only place that Ive found on the internet that talks about the

architects involvement in the design of this symbol, but it has some differences from

the version of the story that my parents told me, namely that the designer purportedly

saw the symbol in a dream.

Other interspersed references to the symbol online refer to it as a six-pointed star, not

eight, and conflate it as the same symbol as the Seal of Solomon, or the Star of David.

There might actually be some correlation between the two symbols, which we will

explore in a later post.
http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_1_874http://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#identifier_0_874


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One interesting find was that someone had posted aquestion to the 100 Hour Board at

BYUasking about the appearance of this symbol on the Newport and Redlands

California temples. The responder gave the description from Temple and Cosmos also.

So this symbol makes its appearance on more than just the San Diego Temple. As the

questioner pointed out, the symbol has also made its way into LDS merchandising (see

image above). Usually in these instances it has become referred to as the Melchizedek

Priesthood Symbol.

As I learned more about this symbol, I wanted to know more about the origin of the

story of the symbol on the San Diego California Temple, and to clarify any inaccuracies

that might have crept into the story. I couldnt find any other account online of the

design of this temple, so I decided to call the design architect of the temple, Br. William

S. Lewis, Jr., and ask him directly. He is a member of the Church and a current sealer

at the San Diego Temple. I thought that hed probably be able to give me the mostaccurate account of the story behind this symbol, which I will relate in the next portion

of this series.


To continue my research I wanted to know as accurately as possible the story about this

symbol, the seal of Melchizedek, as it was used in the San Diego Temple. I couldnt

find a good account online, so I decided to go to the source. Who better would know

than the design architect of the temple? So I gave him a call.

His name is William Bill S. Lewis Jr., and he is a member of the Church and a current

sealer at the San Diego Temple. He graduated from the University of Southern

California in 1953 with a degree in architecture, was a co-owner of an architectural firm

in San Diego for a number of years, and he has been involved with many architectural

projects in the San Diego area. Im sure he counts his design work on the

temple as one of his most cherished experiences. He retired in 1990, after a 41-year career. See the footnotes for a little more background about Br. Lewis1. He was

very cordial on the phone, and gave me the courtesy of about a twenty minute phone

call. The story he told me was intriguing, and I thought it would be good to document

it.

He said that the architects were given quite a lot of freedom on the design of

this particular temple, and it was not dictated by the Churchs building department as

other temples have been. This freedom was granted expressly by President Hinckley.

He said they were working hard to find a common symbol, module, or pattern to givecontinuity to the design, or to give a certain character to the temple.
http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/11/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-4/#footnote_0_902http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/11/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-4/#footnote_0_902http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/11/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-4/#footnote_0_902http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/11/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-4/#footnote_0_902http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060


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They started with a square, but they thought that was too plain and boxy. Then they

started chamfering the squares corners which brought it to an 8-sided figure. When

they extended the lines it became two overlapping squares. They thought that

would work well and so they started using it more and more in the design

of the temple. He said that the more they used it the better and better it

worked. Some people asked about the symbolism of the design, and he told them he

didnt know if it had any particular symbolism. He said that they put a circle in the

middle, which he thought could have stood for the sun or the Celestial Kingdom. He

said that they used it many thousands of times all throughout the design of the temple

in the doors, fencing, exterior, interior, trimwork, floorplan, etc (see satellite photo

above for the use of the symbol in the overall layout). When the design was originally

shown to the General Authorities in Salt Lake they had sun stones, moon stones, and

star stones on the exterior of the temple too (mirroring the Salt Lake and Nauvoo

Temples), but the Brethren notified them that these symbols shouldnt be used. So they

removed these symbols, but they didnt say anything about the interlocking squares

symbol.

Once the temple was finished, Elder David B. Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve

Apostles escorted the media through the temple, as they are some of the first that get to

go through. Someone from the media asked him what the symbol was, and what it

represented, and Elder Haight was taken a little off-guard by that question. He said

that it was probably just an architectural detail.

Br. Lewis said that a good friend of his, Stan Smith, who has been a regional

representative, and was the project representative on the temple, was taking photos all

the time during the construction of the temple. But this particular symbol bugged him

for some reason. He took the photos he had down to the Church Historians Office in

Salt Lake City and asked if they knew anything about it. They didnt. But they

suggested that he take them down to Hugh Nibley at BYU who might know something

about it. So Br. Smith made an appointment with Br. Nibley, and sat down with him in

his office and asked him if this symbol had a name. Nibley said something like,

Oh sure, it is the seal of King Melchizedek. He also indicated that it was a

symbol of Melchizedeks power, kingdom, and as a type of name of Melchizedek, like a

seal in wax.

Stan Smith called Br. Lewis to tell him the good news, and was quite excited about it.

Br. Lewis wanted to verify it himself, so he made an appointment with Nibley too.

Nibley verified it with Lewis as well, after which they had an extensive conversation

about all things temples, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, etc., with Nibley in typical fashion

referring to all three in the same sentence.


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Br. Lewis said that President Hinckley would probably be interested to know this detail

about the symbol, since he had met with the architects 4 times throughout the design of

this temple, which was extremely unusual. So Lewis wrote a letter to President

Hinckley, who Lewis said also verified it with Nibley.

Since then Br. Lewis has seen the same symbol used on the Newport Beach Temple,

and also in several places in the Salt Lake Temple (like the door patrons enter with a

beehive in the center), and he supposes that we will see it more and more as time goes

on. But he was pleasantly surprised to have found out such an interesting detail about

the symbol that he used throughout the San Diego Temple. He has been asked to speak

hundreds of times about the design of the San Diego Temple in firesides and other

occasions. He said a couple years ago he was asked to speak at an event of the Fine Arts

Department at BYU about it, but wasnt sure of the details of the occasion.

It is doubtful that there is a transcription anywhere of this story, so I took as many

details down as I could on our phone conversation. Thanks to Br. Lewis for telling us

this great story.


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Traduzido

O Selo De Melchizedek

Parte 1

Uma semana atrs, os meus pais fizeram uma viagem at a Califrnia para ver o meu irmo

mais novo de dana com a Equipe de Dana de Salo da BYU no Baile da Embaixada, em

Irvine, Califrnia. Como parte de sua viagem eles tiveram a chance de fazer algumas coisas

divertidas, como ir para a Disneylndia. Sempre que esteja em frias durante o sbado, no

entanto, eles tentam fazer as coisas apropriadas para esse dia, como visitar todos os templos nas

proximidades. O Templo de San Diego, Califrnia est a apenas cerca de 80 quilmetros de

distncia, e assim eles fizeram o seu caminho para 5 da tarde de domingo ltimo a v-lo.

Eles apreciaram a sua visita a este templo nico, mas em geral a coisa mais interessante que eles

experimentaram l naquele dia era uma histria que os missionrios de servio disse-lhes que

servem l. Aparentemente, h muitos turistas que param pelo templo (no surpreendente uma

vez que o templo paira diretamente sobre a rodovia nas proximidades), e caminhe direito para o

templo para visit-lo. Infelizmente, eles no sabem que voc tem que ser um membro da Igreja e

tem uma recomendao para entrar em um templo. Consequentemente, as autoridades locais

colocaram missionrios de servio, entrada do templo para conversar com os turistas, ensin-

los sobre os efeitos do templo, mostrar-lhes fotos, dar-lhes literatura, etc

Meus pais pararam para conversar com esses missionrios de servio, e contaram-lhes uma

coisa muito interessante sobre o projeto do templo. Isto como meu pai explicou:

A histria que o missionrio nos disse simples. Enquanto estvamos ali, olhando para o

templo, o irmo Williams ou Williamson, o missionrio, disse-nos que ouviu uma histria

interessante sobre o smbolo que aparece em todo o templo. Ele disse que o arquiteto, que um

selador do templo atual, no deu um sero muito tempo atrs. Ele disse que o smbolo que

aparece em todo o templo na pedra, o vidro, mesmo a cerca em torno do templo, era apenas um

projeto arquitetnico. Ele disse que pensou que seria bom ter um projeto recorrente que liga o

templo juntos. Ele trabalhou no projeto simples, por cerca de seis meses, brincando comdesenhos diferentes. Ele finalmente decidiu sobre o projeto, duas praas de bloqueio virou

45 graus um do outro, s vezes contendo um crculo no centro, s vezes no . Colocou-o em

quase todas as paredes de pedra, cada janela de vidro, e at mesmo a grade de ferro ornamental

em torno dos terrenos do templo. Eu acho que o missionrio disse que algum (no sei se era

uma autoridade em geral ou outra pessoa da Salt Lake City) pediu ao arquiteto do templo na

casa aberta onde ele conseguiu o design e o que isso significa. O arquiteto disse que era apenas

um projeto arquitetnico e no significa nada. A pessoa disse algo como: "Oh, eu acho que

mais do que isso." A pessoa voltou a Salt Lake City e algum tempo depois, a palavra voltou que

o projeto era conhecido como o selo de Melquisedeque . Perguntei o missionrio quem era


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ele estava em SLC, que lhes disse que era o selo de Melquisedeque. Ele disse que era Hugh

Nibley .

Ele disse que o arquiteto disse que se ele o selo de Melquisedeque teria salvou um monte de

tempo, se o Senhor Jesus havia revelado a ele em vez de consertar o que ele fez para chegar aele. Eu no tive a impresso de que o arquiteto se sentia como se tivesse recebido por revelao,

pelo menos no a verso do missionrio nos disse no ltimo domingo. Nada foi mencionado

sobre qualquer sonho.Claro, o missionrio que nos contou a histria estava apenas recontando-a

ouvi-lo em uma lareira. Ele pode ter perdido alguns dos pontos delicados da histria.

Meus pais ficaram fascinados com isso, e passou algum tempo em torno do templo de tirar

fotos, onde quer que viu este smbolo usado. Meu pai me enviou as fotos que tirou, e vou incluir

alguns deles abaixo, mostrando esse detalhe interessante, que bastante presente em todo o

projeto do templo. Imediatamente aps a sada do templo, eles me chamaram em sua sala para

me contar a histria, sabendo que eu estaria interessado. E, claro, eu estava.

Mas se voc me conhece, ouvindo essa histria no era suficiente. Eu queria saber mais

detalhes. Eu queria saber a fonte da histria. Eu queria saber se a histria era verdadeira. Eu

queria saber se Hugh Nibley tinha realmente dito uma coisa dessas. Eu queria saber se este

smbolo, o "selo de Melquisedeque", era conhecido no mundo acadmico. Eu queria ouvir ou ler

a histria direto do arquiteto. Eu queria saber se a utilizao deste smbolo no desenho do

templo poderia ter sido mais do que apenas por acaso.

Veja as fotos abaixo
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10/16


Parte 2

Como voc deve ter imaginado, a primeira coisa que fiz quando meus pais me contou a histria

do "selo de Melquisedec" no templo de San Diego, e da conexo com Hugh Nibley, eu

imediatamente fiz algumas pesquisas para ver se eu poderia encontrar se ele foi referenciado na

literatura LDS. A nica referncia que encontrei foi uma legenda da imagem no artigo "vestes:

sagradas" no livroTemplo e Cosmos

Outro mosaico Ravenna, c. AD 520, mostra o rei-sacerdote Melquisedeque em um manto de

prpura, oferecendo po e vinho no altar (Gnesis 14:18-20). O pano branco do altar decorado com dois conjuntos degammadia , bem como o chamado " selo de Melquisedeque ",

duas praas interligadas em ouro. Abel oferece o cordeiro que Abrao suavemente empurra

Isaac frente. A mo de Deus chega at esse encontro sagrado atravs dos vus vermelhos

adornados com ourogammadia em ambos os lados. O tema o grande sacrifcio de Cristo, que

rene os profetas virtuosos do passado, bem como os quatro cantos do mundo presente, unindo

todo o tempo e espao. (Nibley, "vestes sagradas," Templo e Cosmos , 109).

O desenho do mosaico de Michael Lyon mostrado no Templo e Cosmos de uma baslica em

Ravenna, Itlia, chamadode Santo Apolinrio em Classe. Esta a melhor fotografia colorida

deste
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sant%27_Apollinare_in_Classehttp://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTemple-Cosmos-Ignorant-Present-Collected%2Fdp%2F0875795234%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1220988340%26sr%3D8-1&tag=tempstud-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325


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mosaico que eu pude encontrar:

Voc pode ver claramente o smbolo da estrela de 8 pontas no centro da toalha do altar. Este

mosaico retrata Melquisedeque em um manto de prpura administrando de po e vinho sobre o

altar como o sumo sacerdote no templo. A autorizao de Deus do evento manifestada por Sua

mo descendo por entre as nuvens. Na esquerda Abel oferece um cordeiro para ser sacrificado, esobre o direito Abrao oferece Isaque, ambas as sombras do sacrifcio final de Jesus

Cristo1. Tambm interessante notar, como fez Nibley, que hgammadiasmbolos (em forma

da letra gregagama ), tanto na toalha do altar e dois vus nesta cena. O mosaico data do sculo

6.

H no trabalho muito detalhe dentro do smbolo da estrela que difcil de discernir. Parece que

h duas praas de bloqueio com mais dois ou trs crculos concntricos dentro deles. Eu estaria

interessado em encontrar uma foto mais detalhada desse mosaico se algum pode encontrar um.

H tambm uma outra iterao deste smbolo em um pano de altar em um mosaico diferente em

Ravenna, Itlia. Ele est localizado naBaslica de San Vitale.

Nesta cena, novamente vemos Abel oferecendo seu cordeiro, e Melquisedeque oferecendo o

po sobre o altar. Atrs de Abel est um santurio tipo Admico, e atrs de Melquisedeque o

templo de Jerusalm. A mo de Deus mais uma vez visto descendo por entre as nuvens para

aceitar a oferta2. Voc pode ver o smbolo de estrela 8 pontas, mas tambm muito evidente

de que existem dois quadrados de encravamento que compem o smbolo, com dois crculosconcntricos no interior deles.
http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_1_874http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitalehttp://www.templestudy.com/tag/gammadia/http://www.templestudy.com/2008/09/09/the-seal-of-melchizedek-part-2/#footnote_0_874


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Depois de conversar com alguns estudiosos SUD na BYU e em outros lugares, estes so os dois

nicos artefatos de concreto que temos sido capazes de encontrar o que pode vincular

Melquisedeque com o smbolo do oito pontas, dois quadrados de intertravamento estrela.

Alm disso, at agora temos sido incapazes de encontrar qualquer eruditos no SUD que se

refere a este smbolo como o "selo de Melquisedeque" (embora Michael Lyon acredita que elepode ter visto uma vez que referenciada por este nome em um comentrio Catlico sobre os

smbolos) . No entanto, h outras evidncias de uma possvel ligao entre Melquisedeque e do

smbolo, como eu, irei participar das prximas postagens, incluindo a minha conversa telefnica

com o arquiteto do projeto do Templo de San Diego.

Nibley uma vez comentou sobre a dificuldade de estar certo sobre a origem ou significado por

trs desses smbolos, e faramos bem em manter suas observaes em mente, vamos explorar

essas coisas:

Essas coisas se locomove. Eles se perdem, eles se tornaram simplesmente desenhos, ningum

entende o que so, ningum entende mais o significado das palavras. Assim, podemos especular

quando tentamos reconstru-los. (Nibley, "vestes sagradas," Templo e Cosmos , 111).

Cenas da vida de Abrao: Abel e Melquisedeque trazendo suas ofertas ao altar (538-545 AD),

Baslica de So Vitale, Ravenna, presbitrio, parede esquerda, central luneta.

H
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Parte 3

Tendo encontrado os mosaicos de Ravena, Itlia, que apresentou este smbolo em conexo com

Melquisedeque, eu queria fazer uma pesquisa um pouco mais para ver se eu poderia encontrar o

smbolo mencionado em algum outro lugar. E, claro, fui a melhor ferramenta para pesquisa on-

line - Google. A dificuldade com o uso do Google que voc pode geralmente encontrar

algum dizendo algo sobre praticamente qualquer coisa. Portanto, no apenas uma tarefa de

encontrar as informaes corretas, mas de determinar a sua credibilidade.

Um dos primeiros resultados que voc vem a um blog chamado "Ernest Goes para o Iraque"

com um post no blog "O Signo de MelquisedequeErnest explica. ":Eu ouvi diretamente de um dos parceiros arquiteto da equipe que projetou o Templo San Diego,

ele explicou que o designer viu este smbolo em um sonho e com base na planta e decorao do

templo sobre este desenho, ou seja dois offset, cruzando quadrados. Muito parecido com o Star

6 pontas de David, mas com 8 pontos em seu lugar.

Ernest continua citando a legenda do Templo e do Cosmos sobre o selo de Melquisedeque. Este

o nico lugar que eu encontrei na internet que fala sobre o envolvimento do arquiteto na

concepo deste smbolo, mas tem algumas diferenas da verso da histria que meus pais me

disseram, ou seja, que o designer supostamente viu a smbolo em um sonho.
http://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.htmlhttp://gr8e.blogspot.com/2005/11/sign-of-melchizedek.html


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Outras referncias intercaladas para o smbolo on-line referem a ele como uma estrela de seis

pontas, e no oito, e confundi-o como o mesmo smbolo do Selo de Salomo ou Estrela de

David. No poderia realmente ter alguma correlao entre os dois smbolos, o que vamos

explorar em um postagem mais tarde.

Um interessante encontrar era que algum tinha colocado umaquesto para o Conselho Hora

100 na BYUperguntando sobre o aparecimento deste smbolo no templo de Newport e no

templo de Redlands Califrnia. A resposta deu a descrio do Templo e

Cosmos tambm. Portanto, este smbolo faz a sua apario em mais do que apenas o San Diego

Templo. Como o entrevistador salientou, o smbolo tambm fez o seu caminho para o

merchandising LDS (ver imagem acima). Normalmente, nesses casos, tornou-se conhecido

como o "Smbolo do Sacerdcio de Melquisedeque."

Como eu aprendi mais sobre esse smbolo, eu queria saber mais sobre a origem da histria do

smbolo no Templo San Diego Califrnia, e para esclarecer eventuais imprecises que podem

ter se infiltrado na histria. Eu no poderia encontrar qualquer outra conta on-line do projeto

deste templo, por isso decidi chamar o arquiteto do projeto do templo, Dr. William S. Lewis, Jr.,

e perguntar-lhe diretamente. Ele membro da Igreja e um Selador atual no San Diego

Templo. Eu pensei que ele provavelmente ser capaz de me dar a conta mais precisa da histria

por trs desse smbolo, que vou relatar na prxima parte desta srie.
http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=26060


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Parte 4

Para continuar a minha pesquisa, eu queria saber como a maior preciso possvel a histria

sobre este smbolo, o "selo de Melquisedeque", como foi usado no Templo de San Diego. Eu

no poderia encontrar uma linha de conta boa, ento eu decidi ir fonte. Quem melhor saberia

do que o arquiteto do projeto do templo? Ento eu lhe dei uma telefonada.

Seu nome William "Bill" S. Lewis Jr., e ele um membro da Igreja e um selador atual no

Templo San Diego. Ele se formou na University of Southern California, em 1953, com uma

licenciatura em arquitectura, era um co-proprietrio de uma empresa de arquitetura em San

Diego por um nmero de anos, e ele esteve envolvido com muitos projetos arquitetnicos narea de San Diego. eu tenho certeza que ele conta seu trabalho de design no templo como

uma de suas experincias mais queridas . Ele se aposentou em 1990, aps uma carreira de 41

anos. Veja as notas de rodap para o fundo um pouco mais sobre Br. Lewis 1. Ele foi muito

cordial ao telefone, e deu-me a gentileza de cerca de um telefonema de vinte minutos. A histria

que ele me disse que era intrigante, e eu pensei que seria bom para document-lo.

Ele disse que os arquitetos tiveram bastante liberdade no design deste templo particular, e

no foi ditada pelo departamento da Igreja edifcio como outros templos ter sido. Esta liberdade

foi concedida expressamente pelo Presidente Hinckley.

Ele disse que eles estavam trabalhando duro para encontrar um smbolo comum, mdulo ou

padro para dar continuidade ao projeto, ou para dar um certo carter para o templo. Eles

comearam com um quadrado, mas eles pensaram que era muito simples e quadrado. Ento

eles comearam a chanfrar cantos da praa, que trouxeram a uma figura de oito lados. Quando

eles estenderam as linhas tornou-se dois quadrados sobrepostos. Eles achavam que iria

funcionar bem e ento eles comearam a us-lo cada vez mais no projeto do templo. Ele

disse que quanto mais eles usaram o melhor e melhor funcionou . Algumas pessoas

perguntaram sobre o simbolismo do projeto, e ele disse que no sabia se ele tinha algum

simbolismo particular. Ele disse que eles colocaram um crculo no meio, que ele pensou que

poderia ter ficado para o sol ou o Reino Celestial. Ele disse que eles usaram muitos milhares de

vezes todos todo o projeto do templo - nas portas, cercas, exterior, interior, trimwork e

floorplan, etc (ver foto de satlite acima para o uso do smbolo no layout global). Quando o

projeto foi originalmente apresentado s Autoridades Gerais em Salt Lake tinham dom pedras,

pedras da lua, estrelas e pedras no exterior do templo tambm (espelhando a Salt Lake e templos

de Nauvoo), mas os irmos os notificou de que estes smbolos no deveria ser usado. Ento, eles

removeram esses smbolos, mas eles no disseram nada sobre o smbolo praas de bloqueio.
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Uma vez que o templo foi terminado, o lder David B. Haight, do Qurum dos Doze Apstolos,

acompanhado dos meios de comunicao atravs do templo, como so alguns dos primeiros que

comea a passar. Algum da mdia lhe perguntou o que o smbolo era, e o que ele representava,

e lder Haight foi levado um pouco de surpresa por essa pergunta. Ele disse que provavelmente

era apenas um detalhe de arquitetura.

Dr. Lewis disse que um bom amigo dele, Stan Smith, que foi representante regional, e foi o

representante do projeto no templo, estava tirando fotos o tempo todo durante a construo do

templo. Mas este smbolo especial escutas ele por algum motivo. Ele tirou as fotos que ele tinha

at o Gabinete do Historiador da Igreja em Salt Lake City e perguntou se eles sabiam alguma

coisa sobre isso. Eles no o fizeram. Mas eles sugeriram que ele deveria lev-los para Hugh

Nibley na BYU que pode saber algo sobre ele. Assim Dr.Smith fez uma consulta com

Dr. Nibley, e sentou-se com ele em seu escritrio e perguntou-lhe se este smbolo tinha um

nome. Nibley disse algo como: "Ah, claro, o selo do rei Melquisedeque." Ele tambm

indicou que era um smbolo de poder do reinado de Melquisedeque, , e como um tipo de nome

de Melquisedeque, como um selo em cera.

Stan Smith chamou Dr. Lewis para lhe contar a boa notcia, e foi bastante animado com

isso. Dr. Lewis queria verificar por si mesmo, assim ele fez uma consulta com Nibley

tambm. Nibley verificou com Lewis, bem como, aps o que teve uma conversa extensa sobre

todas as coisas, templos gregos, romanos, egpcios, etc, com Nibley na forma tpica referindo-se

a todos os trs na mesma frase.

Dr. Lewis disse que o Presidente Hinckley estaria provavelmente interessado em saber deste

detalhe sobre o smbolo, j que ele havia se reunido com os arquitetos 4 vezes ao longo do

projeto deste templo, que era extremamente incomum. Ento, Lewis escreveu uma carta ao

Presidente Hinckley, que Lewis disse tambm verificada com Nibley.

Desde ento Dr. Lewis tem visto o mesmo smbolo usado Templo de Newport Beach, e

tambm em vrios lugares do Templo de Salt Lake (como os patronos das portas entrar com

uma colmia no centro), e ele supe que veremos mais e mais como o tempo. Mas ele foiagradavelmente surpreendido ao ter descoberto um detalhe interessante sobre o smbolo que ele

usou durante todo o Templo de San Diego. Ele foi convidado para falar centenas de vezes sobre

o projeto do Templo de San Diego em seres e outras ocasies. Ele disse que h alguns anos

atrs ele foi convidado a falar em um evento do Departamento de Belas Artes na BYU sobre

isso, mas no tinha certeza dos detalhes da ocasio.

duvidoso que haja uma transcrio em qualquer lugar desta histria, por isso, tomei como

muitos detalhes at que pude na nossa conversa por telefone. Graas Dr. Lewis para nos contar

esta grande histria. (Para ser continuado ...)

2The Seal of Melchizedek

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