Theorizing the origins

The main goal of documenting and listing artifacts that contain the FOL symbol is to become more aware of the historical origin of the symbol. That's why I'd like to theoretize a bit on the origin of the FOL first. After speculations, I'm going to describe occurrences of the Flower of Life according to the three span of time:

  1. Early traces from 1600 BC to 200 BC
  2. Beginning of the Common Era from 200 BC to 100 AD
  3. Common Era until Middle Age from 100 AD to 1600 AD

Then I will selectively list main occurrences of the FOL symbol accompanied by pictures.

A more popular symbol from ancient times, the Cownose symbol, is crucial for understanding the FOL. It will give the required historical and symbolical context to the FOL symbol. The Cownose symbol is a notable symbol that has been researched a lot so I won't list occurrences of it. I'm just going to pinpoint some research journals and books mentioning the Cownose.

Understanding the history of the Cownose will also help on dating the FOL. In my opinion, the association of these two symbols with each other is not recognized and understood enough.