![]() In the Roman period, the globe, a representation of the spherical Earth, became the main symbol representing the concept. Other symbols for the earth in alchemy or mysticism include the square and the serpent. The Western (early modern) alchemical symbol for earth is a downward-pointing triangle bisected by a horizontal line (□). In Chinese mysticism, the classical element "Earth" is represented by the trigram of three broken lines in the I Ching (☷). The Sumerian cuneiform sign for "earth, place" KI (□) originates as a picture of a "threshing floor", and the Chinese character (土) originated as a lump of clay on a potting wheel. The Egyptian hieroglyph for "earth, land" depicts a stretch of flat alluvial land with grains of sand ( Gardiner N16: □). ![]() The earliest type of symbols are allegories, personifications or deifications, mostly in the form of an Earth goddess (in the case of Egyptian mythology a god, Geb).īefore the recognition of the spherical shape of the Earth in the Hellenistic period, the main attribute of the Earth was its being flat. Although the International Astronomical Union (IAU) now discourages the use of planetary symbols, this is an exception, being used in abbreviations such as M □ for Earth mass. ![]() The current astronomical symbol for the planet is a circle with an intersecting cross. A circle representing the round world, with the rivers of Garden of Eden separating the four corners of the world, or rotated 45° to suggest the four continents, remains a common pictographic convention to express the notion of "worldwide". U+1F728 □ ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR VERDIGRISĪ variety of symbols or iconographic conventions are used to represent Earth, whether in the sense of planet Earth, or the inhabited world, or as a classical element. ![]()
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