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+--- Thread: Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East (/showthread.php?tid=1502)
Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East - Bianca - 02-11-2008
Hi everyone,
I was wondering if someone can give me a proper meaning behind the Assyrian Church of the East's holy symbol or text, not sure what it is? It is used on <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.peshitta.org">http://www.peshitta.org</a><!-- w --> 's homepage. The church uses it on their holy altar. Could someone please help me out.
Thank you.
Re: Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East - yaaqub - 02-11-2008
Shlama Bianca,
Welcome to the forum.
This is one of the most holy symbols of the Church of the East. ??
While the Cross is obvious on the front page, the other Symbol is actually two Aramaic letters (yudh ?? and heh ??) put together to create the Name of God: "Ya" or "Yah", the Aramaic form of "YHWH" or "Yahweh", basically meaning "Lord Yah". You will see it written also as "Maryah" or "MarYah" and sometimes with a hyphen in the forum when transliterated.
Shlama,
Ya'aqub
Re: Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East - Paul Younan - 02-11-2008
Hi Bianca,
The symbol as Yaaqub pointed out is used in the CoE to symbolize the sacred, it is usually placed on the altar and on any scripture or liturgical books to remind the reader that the item is to be treated with respect.
It's the actual Name of God as found in Exodus 15:2 and elsewhere (like the Psalms.)
See this website for a further explanation:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YAH/yah.html
Re: Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East - Paul Younan - 02-11-2008
Here's a nice pic from St. Mary's Church in Los Angeles with the Yudh-Heh inside the Cross on the altar...
![[Image: md27.jpg]](http://www.stmaryassyrianchurch.com/images/zoom/XWOVTP/md27.jpg)
Re: Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East - Karl - 02-12-2008
I believe the three dots above represent the trinity, and the one dot below represents the "oneness" of the trinity. Can someone else confirm that?
Re: Holy Icons of the Assyrian Church of the East - Paul Younan - 02-12-2008
Karl Wrote:I believe the three dots above represent the trinity, and the one dot below represents the "oneness" of the trinity. Can someone else confirm that?
Yes, the three dots above represent the three "qnume" (singular essences), and the single dot below represents the one "kyana" (nature) of God.