Unholy Grail Part 3: A Shot At Bourbon - Continued

In Part 2 I pushed you toward the thesis that the fleur-de-lis is an iris rather than a lily. In this post I have for you some material that weakens that idea, but strengthens the Jewish connection. This first excerpt is a little lengthy, but it has a lot of good information:

It was regarded as the choicest among the flowers. It graced the capitals of the two main pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which stood at the entrance to the sanctuary of the Temple. The lily likewise decorated other objects of the holy place. One of the most elaborate gates of the sacred enclosure which opened toward the east and the rising sun, was called the Eastern Gate. The top of this gate was beautified with a sculptured form which was called Shushan ha Birah- the castle Susa (Shushan). It might have been so called because of the ornament of lilies on it. Long after the destruction of the Temple, when traditions were forgotten, and explanations were sought to things unexplainable, political interpretations were given to this supposedly strange architectural feature. The Amora Hisda suggested the form of the Shushan Birah was to serve as a reminder that the Jews returned from Persia (Babylon). Yizhak b. Abdimi intimated that the Shushan was constructed by the Persian government to emphasize Jewish dependence and to insure loyalty of the Jews to that power. Of the other sacred objects in the Temple, lilies adorned the rim of the brazen sea or laver designed for the washing of the priests before they performed their divine duty. This laver which stood south-west of the monumental steps that led to the sanctuary, and near the altar, symbolized the pure water of which the heavens were supposed to be composed. The sacred candelabrum within the sanctuary, perhaps representing the solar system, was adorned, according to the Bible, with flowers, and according to later Jewish tradition these flowers were lilies. The lily represented the world of flowers. It symbolized human virtues such as righteousness, purity and chastity. One of these virtues has been befittingly illustrated by the character of the apocryphal work, "Book of Susanna" (Shoshanah). In the words of the prophet Hosea, the lily became the flower symbol of Israel: 'I will be as the dew unto Israel, he shall blossom as the lily;' and the lily was also allegorically referred to in the Song of Songs, and as a favorite simile later in Hebrew poetry. The lily, shoshanah, is used generically, as it embraced other related flowers. Lilies had grown on hills and in the field. The choicest of lilies were those that grew in the valleys, in the proximity of water. Perah - flower in the Bible - is often rendered shoshanah - lily in the Targum. This flower was considered to be one that bloomed rapidly, therefore it became a symbol of fertility. It constituted one of the many kinds of spices used in ancient times. The musical instrument shoshan or shushan mentioned in the Psalms, evidently had the shape of the lily, as is seen from the harps on the coins of the Second Revolt, and also resembled the shape of the lily on the coins of Johann and Alexander Jannaeus. Strange as it may seem, the lily on the Jewish coins resembles the Rhodus flower - the rose. This seeming inaccuracy is explained by the generic term of shoshan which might have included such flowers as the lotus and even the rose. In fact, the Midrash contains a few passages which speak of a soft lily, and the excellent of this kind is the lily of the valley, paralleling the rose of the valley. Besides these allusions, the Midrash specifically mentions a shoshanah shel wered -a lily-rose - which grows in orchards, this species of lily-rose being the symbol of Israel. It is evident that when the lily was considered by the Maccabean rulers as one of the symbols to be reproduced on coins, this aesthetic choice, emblematic of Israel, and known to others through the Rhodus flower, influenced the selection of this particular kind. source

The lily or fleur-de-lis was the symbol of Israel according to this passage and it became the symbol of the rulers of Israel:

On the obverse is shown a lily flower, or fleur-de-lys, which later became the French sign of royalty. Given the Latin name lilium candidum by biologists, it is a symbol of purity and was regarded in Ancient Israel as the most beautiful flower. In the words of the prophet Hosea, the lily was the national flower of Israel: “I will be like the dew for Israel; he shall blossom like the lily” (Hosea 14:6)....The use of the lily on this coin is apparently derived from the design that graced the capitals of the two main pillars that stood in front of the Temple, known as Jachin and Boaz. Following from its earlier use, the lily became a popular motif in Jewish art of the Second Temple Period, appearing on coins struck in Jerusalem during the second and first centuries BCE under Antiochus VII, John Hyrcanus I and Alexander Jannaeus.  source

The reverse side bears an image of a bird. Zoologists cannot determine the exact species from the depiction, but have suggested that it is a falcon or hawk. The heraldic form of the bird is borrowed from contemporary coins of Asia Minor that depict other birds in a similar fashion. Near the bird’s head is the word ‘Yehud,’ “YHD,” in ancient Aramaic script. This expression had a twofold meaning, signifying both the name of the city Jerusalem as the capital (Aramaic ‘Birta’) of Judah and the province (Aramaic ‘Medinta’) itself.  source

Note: the source quoted above states obverse and reverse correctly in the narrative, however if you visit that page be aware that they have mixed up obverse and reverse in their images of the coin showing obverse as the reverse and visa versa.

The coin above is from approximately 350 B.C. More than two hundred years later Hasmonean rulers were still using it on their coinage, like this coin from the time of Alexander Jannaeus:

Even to this very day Israel uses the image of a very elegant fleu-de-lis to adorn the "new shequel" coin:

In Part 2 we saw that the lily or iris is the quintessential symbol of the French monarchy, in particular the House of Bourbon: 

I find it a little interesting that a 4th century B.C. Jewish coin bears symbols that 1) are emblematic of the House of Bourbon (the fleur-de-lis) and 2) possibly depict Horus (a falcon):

See Rise of the Falcon for some information on the diving "dove."

The fleur-de-lis used by both Hasmonean and French royalty also represents the mysterious (sometimes fictional and sometimes not) Prieuré de Sion, whose mission (according to some) is to install anti-Christ as king in Jerusalem:

And oddly enough, here we have King Felipe V of Spain making the so-called "Marrano" or "secret Jew" hand sign:

Felipe is long dead, but his descendant, Philip VI only recently ascended to the Spanish throne when his father, Juan Carlos abdicated.

This is Philip VI:

Philip VI is a Claimant King of Jerusalem and a Bourbon. And this is his symbol:

The fleur-de-lis. The symbol of Israel at one time and now.

And recall from Part 2 this cover of the 1/9/1988 issue of The Economist:

Note the head of the bird. Do you see what I see?

I am not calling anyone a Biblical prophetic character with this post. That has been done a million times and failed a million times. I also have no way of knowing for sure what the so-called Marrano hand sign means. I am just pointing out some things that may or may not be interesting.