Today, the hexagram is known as the "Star of David" and is seen as the definitive symbol of Judaism the term is even used in Islamic countries. There is a degree of confusion about its origins, name and associations. In Europe, the pentagram is usually known as King Solomon's Seal, while the hexagram is known as the Star of David; and it is often assumed that this was always the case. However, the evidence points to the gradual evolution of the hexagram from a Roman cosmological symbol to a religious and magical symbol which was not specifically connected to one religion or people. Research suggests that both motifs were used by different religions and that the clearest meaning of the hexagram is associated with magical techniques to ward off evil forces. Professor Gershom Scholem, the noted scholar of the Kabbalah (Jewish mystic writings) studied the protective function of the hexagram and its entry into Judaism from Islamic traditions. In a series of articles on the Star of David and its history, Scholem made the following claims:

First: The hexagram is a universal symbol, whose Jewish associations developed gradually. It began as the symbol of the Jewish community in Prague, probably in the 14th century, though it might have been only in the 17th century. It was recognized as the symbol of the Jews as a whole in the 19th century.

Second: Several Jewish and Christian examples of the hexagram and other decorative motif, exist from the ancient period and later on in Islamic art. In the 13th century, the motif passed from copies of the Bible, which had been transcribed in Islamic countries, to Hebrew manuscripts in Germany and Spain. In Spain, until the 13th century, the hexagram was known as King Solomon's Seal by the Jews; from the 13th until the 15th century, both names were used simultaneously. It was only later that the term Star of David gradually became dominant in Ashkenazi communities, while King Solomon's Seal became identified with the pentagram.

Third: The hexagram or the pentagram, appear first on "magic" mezuzot (doorpost scrolls) and later on various talismans in literature. The magic drawings of the hexagram and the pentagram were known as seals, in keeping with the idea that a person "stamps himself" with these signs in order to protect himself from harmful spirits. This term is connected to the legend of King Solomon who controlled the demons by means of a special signet ring on which was engraved the Tettragrammaton. The seal only had power for one thing to provide protection from malevolent forces.

It is possible that the hexagram served as a symbol of the Temple at an early stage in its development. A Jewish drawing from the tenth century is the earliest example of the connection between the two symbols; we do not know whether its origins in Jewish tradition were earlier, or whether it reflected a connection with Islamic art. In Spain, starting in the 13th century, Jewish religious books were decorated with Stars of David, sometimes as the colophon in books written in micrography. The hexagram had appeared earlier as a decoration used to fill spaces or to show the divisions within chapters in both Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts. In some Hebrew manuscripts from Spain, several Stars of David have been drawn next to verses which speak of the longing to return to Zion.

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More info and vie stones in Israel from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs