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26:45 ·
Another sign from the Phaistos disco (see  in this group for more data). Eightpointed symmetrical signs are ancient symbols for the Venus goddess or the planet Venus as either the Morning star or the Evening star. See  in Group 29 for an explanation of this.
Similar signs, but with more or less "petals", have been used in ethnic art and decoration all over the Western and Eastern world, and as symbols and logotypes. Most common are signs with 6, 8, or 12 petals. A symbol of this type used by the Japanese emperor has 16 petals. "Flower signs" with this number of "petals" were also used in the Euphrates culture around 2000 B.C. The sign appears with 12 petals on a procession relief in Persepolis, dated back to around 500 B.C., on a bronze mirror from about 200 B.C. in China, and on a wall painting from Benin, Africa, and the sixteenth century. Finally, this type of sign, but with 13 petals, is engraved together with runes on a box found in England and dating from around the seventh century.
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