ILLINOIS = SION-ILLI in reverse = ZION LILI or ZION LILY

Outside of Solomon’s Temple, the story goes, that there was a large Bronze Basin filled with water that was used for cleaning the blood and residue of the sacrifice, from the hands of the priests before they took the offering into the holy place. The rim of this Basin was lined with LILIES, a symbolic flower of death. In conjunction with this symbolism, many times, as the story goes, the 2 Pillars of Boaz and Jachin that also stood outside the Temple were topped with LILIES, or in some cases, PALMS. It is this symbolic Flower of Death, that is incorporated into the name of the State of ILLINOIS.