in the temples of the ancients. Fellows says that they represented the variegated face of the earth in the places where the ancients formerly held their religious assemblies. The true derivation of the word is unknown, or at least unsettled.
The Indented Tessel is a border of stones, of various colors, placed around the pavement. Tessel, from the Latin tessela, means a little square stone, and to indent is to cut or notch a margin into inequalities resembling teeth. A tesselated border is, therefore, a notched border of variegated colors.
The Blazing Star is said by Webb to be "commemorative of the star which appeared to guide the wise men of the East to the place of our Savior's nativity." This, which is one of the ancient interpretations of the symbol, being considered as too sectarian in its character, and unsuitable to the universal religion
