Interpreting symbols and imagery from the past is an intriguing, but risk-filled business and I suspect that Lord Larehip has confused two distinct symbols here:-
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Originally Posted by Lord Larehip
Part of the "Sunrise" collection of 8th century Islamic coins showing the two fish of Pisces violates the Islamic ban on depicting living creatures in art as well as glorifying the Age of Jesus, Pisces, which is why jesus is imaged as a fish.
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Two figures of fishes, swimming in opposed directions are the astrological sign for Pisces:-
Quote:
It is one of the earliest zodiac signs on record, with the two fish appearing as far back as c. 2300 BCE on an Egyptian coffin lid.
According to one Greek myth, Pisces represents the fish into which Aphrodite (also considered Venus) and her son Eros (also considered Cupid) transformed in order to escape the monster Typhon, the "father of all monsters".
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A single fish is used as a code about being Christian, because the initials of the word "fish" in Greek can be taken to stand for "
Jesus
Christ,
God`s
Son,
Saviour". While it makes sense for the the Piscean fishes to be drawn in detail, because they are characters in a story, the Christian fish is part of an abstract word game, and is drawn in the simplest manner:-
Quote:
According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hearken back to this practice.
—Christianity Today, Elesha Coffman, "Ask The Expert"
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Unfortunately for my theory, LL is quite right when he says "...the Age of Jesus, Pisces..." because JC was apparently born at the beginning of the zodiacal age of Pisces - a coincidence that doesn`t help in unravelling historical symbols.