The Islamic Eight-Point Star is called Khatim. We may also know it as the Star of Lakshmi, a prominent symbol of Hinduism.

What has any of that to do with Mallorca, you may well ask. The answer is: it has. The photo above was taken a few days ago in Palma de Mallorca between the Baluard de Sant Pere and the Puig de Sant Pere, in the immediate neighbourhood of an old square shaped Moorish water tower, the Torre Cantonera, also known as the Torre Musulmana.

The small fountain is an ornament situated in Carrer de Ses Barques de Bou. Whilst I do not believe that this fountain looks old enough to really date back to Islamic times or some 900 years ago, it must have some significance, don’t you think? Perhaps it is a replacement of some artefact that there was in the old days. You can find the eight-pointed star of Islam at various other places in Palma, such as on doors or ceilings, if one looks carefully enough. I could show you another one or two, if anyone should be interested.

For now, I’ll enlighten you with the same Khatim star in a photo taken at the famous Alhambra in Granada, albeit not photographed by myself but taken from the Internet.

In case anyone should be interested in the Islamic period in Mallorca (902 to 1229), may I recommend a very interesting, illustrated book called Palma i l’Islam by Miquel Ferrà i Martorell, but sadly published only in Catalan, and for sale at 18 €. The eight-pointed star shaped fountain in Carrer de Ses Barques de Bou is not shown in that book, though.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 17th, 2009. The time was 14:47:25. The photo (bottom) was taken from the Internet. My thanks go to Wikipedia and the GNU Free Documentation License.