The Star & Crescent may have originated much further back in time. A reader sent this one in. Clearly the symbol appears on this stela of Ur-Nammu of Babylon from around 4000BC. Whether or not it meant a new golden age is questionable at that point in time. The passing of a Comet was considered the mark of a new age. The Star of Bethlehem was the mark of the birth of a king.
Here is a coin of Augustus (27BC-14AD) who legitimatized himself as the nephew of Julius Caesar displaying the legendary comet that appeared in the sky at the time of the death of Julius Caesar. The reverse depicts the comet and the legend states “DIVVS IVLIVS” meaning Divine Julius.
Therefore, the Star & Crescent may have begun as the symbol for a new era or the birth of a king that gradually evolved into the concept of a new golden era in general detached from the birth of a king or new era. Interesting speculation.
We had a party in New York and a girl from the London office came over with two guys from there. The last night in town the two guys stayed up all night and ran around the city taking pictures. In the lobby of the Plaza when she heard they did that, she said rather loudly – “Why didn’t the two of you come knock me up? I would have loved to have done that!” Well the Americans looked at her and she felt rather strange. I had to explain not to say that one in the States for it meant that she wanted both of them to get her pregnant. She thought I was joking. In Britain, if I am to pick you up the saying is I will come knock you up at say 7PM meaning I will come knock on your door. It seems in the States getting a girl pregnant must have evolved something like, well I went and knocked her up (picked her up) and you know what happened. So meaning of the same words do change with time and region.
