All Skies Encyclopaedia - User contributions [en]

Qedty

2026-07-09T13:13:27Z

JuanBelmonte:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:}}
Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----Qedty (ḳdty), The Two Nets, one of them would be [[Corona Australis]] is an Egyptian name, used in decan star clocks. Qed and Qedty were not present on RSC which used more appealing constellations further north such as Aped and [[Wia]], respectively, to cover the same RA range.

<here comes a short explanation: what is the earliest known occurance, what does it mean in their culture, perhaps were it stems from if e.g. taken over from other roots...>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
Variants

* Qed
* Qedty

=== Origin of Constellation ===
In the decan star clocks there are two decans called Qed, in singular, and Qedty, in dual. They are far away in RA. One possibly close to Pisces and before Aret, the other possibly to the South of Sagittarius. These are mentioned in NK celestial diagrams but never depicted as constellations.

Qed means net, so Qedty means two nets or a pair of nets, and hence you should be expecting they should have a nearly round, circular or enclosed form.

In complete independent analyses, a tentative interpretation on these two decans was given by me in my 2003 paper in MSAIT on the Decans, and simultaneously on his PUV book on "La Astronomía del antiguo Egipto" by Jose in 2004. Both of us independently coincided in our hypothesis for Qed and Qedty after our analyses because they fit in RA within the errors. The pentagonal head of Cetus for Qed, and an area south of Sagittarius in which Corona Australis (quite circular) would be one of the pair Qedty.

So this, among others, is why we published our 2006 paper in JHA together. Table 4.7 is just a final count of 20 years of discussion and analyses.

Leitz (1995) locates Qed in Alpha Andromedae, which is far too north for a decan.

=== Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===

<gallery>
Example.jpg|ancient manuscript 1
Example.jpg|modern mapping by author XY
Example.jpg|ancient manuscript 2
Example.jpg|modern mapping by author AB
Example.jpg|something else ...
</gallery>

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==
As far as we know, there is not any mythological or cultural context for these two decans (asterisms) as we have for many other Egyptian stars and constellations apart from the utility and hour keepers in diagonal star clocks (which is indeed important).

== IAU WGSN star name discussion ==
The name was suggested for a star in CrA in 2023. It is still under discussion.

== Weblinks ==

* {{NAMESPACE}}

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]][[Category:North Africa]][[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]][[Category:Star Name]]

Wia

2026-07-09T12:58:30Z

JuanBelmonte: /* IAU WGSN star name discussion */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:}}
Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----[[File:20182AuOrLull constWia Lull-Stellarium.jpeg|thumb|Old Egyptian variant of constellation Wja (CC BY Lull 2018<ref name=":0" />).]]
[[File:20182AuOrLull constWia inSenenmut lull.jpeg|thumb|Boat of Wja+Knmw in the tomb of Senenmut (Lull 2018<ref name=":0" />).]]
[[File:20182AuOrLull constWia Boat+Decans Karakhamun ElenaPischikova+MiguelAMolinero.jpeg|thumb|Boat and Decans in tomb of Karakhamun (CC BY Elena Pischikova and Miguel A. Molinero, in Lull 2018).]]
Wia (wỉʒ), The Boat, is an Egyptian constellation.<ref name=":0">José Lull (2018). Ancient Egyptian constellation of WjA (Boat) and its link to Sagittarius in the Ptolemaic and Roman era. ''Aula Orientalis'' 36/2, 257-277 </ref> It forms a super-constellation with its Crew, [[Kemenu]].

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
What does the term mean, does it always have the same meaning - was it changed over time.

Variants:

* Wia
* Wja

=== Origin of Constellation ===
The original Egyptian constellation of Wia, the Boat, was huge, stretching from eastern [[Libra]] through [[Scorpius]] through [[Sagittarius]]. Wia is huge in RA (covering several hours) as proven by the decan diagonal clocks and celestial diagrams (see Fig. 4.10 in Belmonte & Lull 2023). This is also illustrated in Fig. 4.41.

In the decan diagonal clocks and in the celestial diagrams of NK there is a clear decan named Hery-ib-Wia, which meams The Core of the Boat. Belmonte and Lull (2023) strongly believe this is [[Kaus Australis]].

In the circular zodiac of the Hathor Temple in Dendera that shows strong Babylonian influences,<ref>Hoffmann, S.M. (2022). Preliminary Observations on the Dendera Zodiac (Egypt). in Hoffmann and Wolfschmidt (eds.). Astronomy in Culture – Cultures of Astronomy, tredition Hamburg/ OpenScienceTechnology Berlin, 524-541</ref> this boat is depicted as tiny barge below the front feet of Sagittarius. This area, roughly in Sgr/ CrA, hosts the Babylonian constellation [[MA2.GUR8|MA2.GUR8]], The Ship. This Boat at the feet of Sagittarius in the Circular Zodiac can be either Wia, or the parazodiacal Babylonian Boat, rr even both in an abstract or mnemonic representation

==== Extension of the Boat and Identification of its Decans<ref name=":0" /> ====
[[File:Lull2018 rectZodEsna Decans MidWja+KnmwHi.png|thumb|Decans of Wja+Knmw in the astronomical ceiling of Esna (Lull 2018).]]
[[File:Lull2018 identDecansWja.png|thumb|identification of the decans in constellation Wja by Lull (2018)]]
The Boat occurs on the astronomical ceilings in tombs and several other occasions. Lull (2018) used these archaeological proofs for the identification:

* astronomical ceiling in Esna
* clepsydra of Amenhetep III (Karnak)
* astronomical ceiling of Senenmut (chamber of Seti, KV 17)
* astronomical ceiling of the Ramesseum
* tomb of Karakhamun (TT23), belongs to the 'family of Senenmut'
* coffin of Harendotes (BM 6678)
* tomb of Montuemhat (TT34) - boat unrelated to decan
* tomb of Pedamenope (TT33) - boat unrelated to decan
* tomb of Queen Khenuwa (South Begrawiyah 503, Meroitic period = 3rd c. BCE)
<gallery>
File:20182AuOrLull constWia inSenenmut lull.jpeg|Boat of Wja+Knmw in the tomb of Senenmut (Lull 2018).
File:Lull2018 Decans Senenmut Wja+Knmw.jpg|Decans of Wja+Knmw in the tomb of Senenmut (Lull 2018).
File:20182AuOrLull constWia BoatDecans NutBook Seti1 hi+IdentTab.jpeg|Decans of Wja+Knmw in the Book of Nut (Lull 2018).
File:Lull2018 astroCeil+Decans Pedamenope+Montuemhat.png|astronomical ceiling and decan lists in the tombs of Pedamenope + Montuemhat (Lull 2018).
</gallery>

He<ref name=":0" /> concludes: <blockquote>"As we have seen, the constellation of the Boat should cover the eastern third of Libra and the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius. However, the part belonging to Sagittarius should be the most important of the Boat, for “the (star) which is in the middle of Boat” and “guides” stood in it, in the brightest part of the Milky Way. His representation throughout the centuries, one of the few southern constellations which enjoyed such honor, somehow can also indicate the importance of this constellation for the Egyptians."</blockquote>

=== Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===
[[File:Sgr dendera stellarium.jpg|thumb|Wia on the circular zodiac of Dendera]]
Lull (2018)<ref name=":0" /> first explains the importance of the huge boat in ancient Egypt and then states a change: <blockquote>"during the Ptolemaic era a notable change occurs in the Egyptian heaven: the zodiacal constellations of Mesopotamian origin are introduced. With this change the ancient Egyptian constellations occupying the zodiacal band were eliminated in favor of the new constellations or, at best, minimized. This last option is what must have happened in the case of the constellation of the Boat."</blockquote><gallery>
File:20182AuOrLull constWia Boat+Decans Karakhamun ElenaPischikova+MiguelAMolinero.jpeg|Boat and Decans in tomb of Karakhamun (CC BY Elena Pischikova and Miguel A. Molinero, in Lull 2018).
File:20182AuOrLull constWia BoatDecans NutBook Seti1 hi+IdentTab.jpeg|Decans of Wja+Knmw in the Book of Nut (Lull 2018).
File:20182AuOrLull constWia Lull-Stellarium.jpeg|Old Egyptian variant of constellation Wja (CC BY Lull 2018).
File:20182AuOrLull constWia circDend Lull.jpeg|Wja - circular zodiac of Dendera (CC BY Lull 2018).
File:Sgr dendera 3x.jpg|The figure in the place of Sagittarius on the circular zodiac in Denderah (two photos, one drawing for Stellarium, CC BY WGSN).
File:20182AuOrLull constWia LateEgyptVariants.jpeg|Wja - Late Egyptian Variants of Ptolemic Era (CC BY Lull 2018).
</gallery>

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==
In ancient Egyptian cosmology, boats carried the sun god Ra, and the deceased pharaoh's soul on its journey through the afterlife. The WjA constellation symbolized these vital spiritual and solar voyages.

== IAU WGSN star name discussion ==
The name was suggested to WGSN in 2025. Wia is a huge Egyptian constellation as Reret of Nekhet, spreading from Scorpius to Sagittarius, so I do not see appropriate to name a single star after it. Much more appropriate might be Hery-ib-Wia ("In the Middle of the Boat") if we find a star close to [[Kaus Australis]] without a name (see Fig 4.1 and Table 4.5 in Belmonte and Lull, 2023, for ideas). In case of this name, Lull, Belmonte, and Leitz agree that it must be in Sagittarius.

Options:

* Heyib Wia
* Heyabwja
* Heyibwia
* ...

== Weblinks ==

* {{NAMESPACE}}

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]][[Category:North Africa]][[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]][[Category:Star Name]]

Qedty

2026-07-06T11:11:54Z

JuanBelmonte:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:}}
Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----Qedty (ḳdty), The Two Nets, one of them would be [[Corona Australis]] is an Egyptian name, used in decan star clocks. Qed and Qedty were not present on RSC which used more appealing constellations further north such as Aped and Wia, respectively, to cover the same RA range.

<here comes a short explanation: what is the earliest known occurance, what does it mean in their culture, perhaps were it stems from if e.g. taken over from other roots...>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
Variants

* Qed
* Qedty

=== Origin of Constellation ===
In the decan star clocks there are two decans called Qed, in singular, and Qedty, in dual. They are far away in RA. One possibly close to Pisces and before Aret, the other possibly to the South of Sagittarius. These are mentioned in NK celestial diagrams but never depicted as constellations.

Qed means net, so Qedty means two nets or a pair of nets, and hence you should be expecting they should have a nearly round, circular or enclosed form.

In complete independent analyses, a tentative interpretation on these two decans was given by me in my 2003 paper in MSAIT on the Decans, and simultaneously on his PUV book on "La Astronomía del antiguo Egipto" by Jose in 2004. Both of us independently coincided in our hypothesis for Qed and Qedty after our analyses because they fit in RA within the errors. The pentagonal head of Cetus for Qed, and an area south of Sagittarius in which Corona Australis (quite circular) would be one of the pair Qedty.

So this, among others, is why we published our 2006 paper in JHA together. Table 4.7 is just a final count of 20 years of discussion and analyses.

=== Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===

<gallery>
Example.jpg|ancient manuscript 1
Example.jpg|modern mapping by author XY
Example.jpg|ancient manuscript 2
Example.jpg|modern mapping by author AB
Example.jpg|something else ...
</gallery>

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==
As far as we know, there is not any mythological or cultural context for these two decans (asterisms) as we have for many other Egyptian stars and constellations apart from the utility and hour keepers in diagonal star clocks (which is indeed important).

== IAU WGSN star name discussion ==
The name was suggested for a star in CrA in 2023. It is still under discussion.

== Weblinks ==

* {{NAMESPACE}}

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]][[Category:North Africa]][[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]][[Category:Star Name]]

Wia

2026-07-06T11:08:09Z

JuanBelmonte:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:}}
Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----

[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|Image that shows the earliest map or drawing]]
[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|Image that shows the cultural object (e.g. in archaeological museum)]]
Wia (... ), The Boat, ... ... is an Egyptian constellation. It forms a super-constellation with its Crew, [[Kemenu]].

<here comes a short explanation: what is the earliest known occurance, what does it mean in their culture, perhaps were it stems from if e.g. taken over from other roots...>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
What does the term mean, does it always have the same meaning - was it changed over time.

=== Origin of Constellation ===
The original Egyptian constellation of Wia, the Boat, was huge, stretching from [[Scorpius]] through [[Sagittarius]]. Wia is huge in RA (covering several hours) as proven by the decan diagonal clocks and celestial diagrams (see Fig. 4.10 in Belmonte & Lull 2023). This is also illustrated in Fig. 4.41.

In the decan diagonal clocks and in the celestial diagrams of NK there is a clear decan named Hery-ib-Wia, which meams The Core of the Boat. Belmonte and Lull (2023) strongly believe this is [[Kaus Australis]].[[File:Sgr dendera stellarium.jpg|thumb|Wia on the circular zodiac of Dendera]]
In the circular zodiac of the Hathor Temple in Dendera that shows strong Babylonian influences,<ref>Hoffmann, S.M. (2022). Preliminary Observations on the Dendera Zodiac (Egypt). in Hoffmann and Wolfschmidt (eds.). Astronomy in Culture – Cultures of Astronomy, tredition Hamburg/ OpenScienceTechnology Berlin, 524-541</ref> this boat is depicted as tiny barge below the front feet of Sagittarius. This area, roughly in Sgr/ CrA, hosts the Babylonian constellation [[MA2.GUR8|MA2.GUR8]], The Ship. This Boat at the feet of Sagittarius in the Circular Zodiac can be either Wia, or the parazodiacal Babylonian Boat, rr even both in an abstract or mnemonic representation

=== Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===

<gallery>
File:Example.jpg|ancient manuscript 1
File:Example.jpg|modern mapping by author XY
File:Sgr dendera 3x.jpg|The figure in the place of Sagittarius on the circular zodiac in Denderah (two photos, one drawing, CC BY WGSN).
</gallery>

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==
mnemonic tales and cultural significance

== IAU WGSN star name discussion ==
The name was suggested to WGSN in 2025. Wia is a huge Egyptian constellation as Reret of Nekhet, spreading from Scorpius to Sagittarius, so I do not see appropriate to name a single star after it. Much more appropriate might be Hery-ib-Wia ("In the Middle of the Boat") if we find a star close to Kaus Australis without a name (see Fig 4.1 and Table 4.5 in Belmonte and Lull, 2023, for ideas).

== Weblinks ==

* {{NAMESPACE}}

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]][[Category:North Africa]][[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]][[Category:Star Name]]

Kemenu

2026-07-06T11:03:01Z

JuanBelmonte:

Reret

2026-04-17T09:50:38Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----

[[File:Hippo-hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera with the Hippo Goddess next to the Bull's Thigh (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
Reret, ''rrt'', The Hippotamus, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. It is also called Isis Djamet. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref> Reret / Isis-Dajamet is one of the most important constellations of ancient Egyptian skies present in all celestial diagrams and in mythology, as in the Book of Day and Night in the vault of the burial chamber in the tomb of Ramesses VI where teh texts mention Isis in the form of Reret handling two mooring posts, where Meskhetyu (the leg of Seth) is fixed with two chains of gold so that it can not travel through the sky.

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret in hieroglyphs]]
'''Variants'''

* ''rrt''
* Reret
* Rert

=== Sources ===
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
[[File:Stars in Reret+itsPole Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation Reret mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Reret with a "Large area near the Pole covering from Lyra to Boötes Vega is a form of Isis". There are 9 stars related to Reret named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|''rd n rrt''
|Foot of the hippopotamus
|
|
|rho Boo
|-
|''rdwy n rrt4''
|Feet of the hippopotamus
|180
|12.0
|[[Izar]] -eps Boo- (12.1) & rho Boo (11.9)
|-
|''pd n rrt''
|Knee of the hippopotamus
|198
|13.2
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5),
|-
|''ḥry-ỉb mnty=s''
|Middle of her thighs
|206
|13.7
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5) & CrB
|-
|''b3ḥ n rrt5''
|Vulva of the hippopotamus
|211
|14.0
|Between [[Corona Borealis|Corona Bor]] & [[Hercules]]
|-
|''ḫpd n rrt4''
|Buttocks of the hippopotamus
|219
|14.6
|eps Her (14.8) & zet Her (14.5)
|-
|''mndt nt rrt6''
|Breast of the hippopotamus
|228
|15.2
|pi Her (15.3)
|-
|''ns=s''
|Her tongue
|240
|16.0
|[[Rastaban]] - bet Dra- (16.2)
|-
|''šwty nt rrt6''
|The 2 feathers of hippopotamus
|250
|16.7
|[[Lyra]] with [[Vega]] (16.7)
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]
[[File:Egypt_Rert_stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Reret, The Female Hippotamus, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]

=== Other Identification(s) ===

* "..." (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "..." (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn .... An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Reret" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Reret extends for ... hours of RA (from the RSCs).

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Boo]][[Category:CrB‎]]
[[Category:Sco‏‎]][[Category:Vir‎]]

Egyptian (All Terms)

2026-04-05T14:41:12Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svg|thumb|Map of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile up to the fifth cataract, and major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC). Cairo and Jerusalem are shown as reference cities. (CC BY SA Jeff Dahl)]]
The ancient Egypts are one of the oldest documented cultures, they settled in Northeast Africa and formed first structures like cities and states. Their early astronomical practices are not well documented, but here we try to give a glance on the known terms and the late names as used today within the IAU.

=== Solar System Names ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Traditional Terms
! Transliteration
!English
! commentary
|-
|
|
|Sun
|
|-
|
|
|Moon
|
|-
|
|
| Mercury
|
|-
|
|
|Venus
|
|-
|
|
|Mars
|
|-
|
|
|Jupiter
|
|-
|
|
|Saturn
|
|}

== Names of Stars and Constellations ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Original
!Language of Origin
!Pronounce
!English
!Note
|-
|[[File:Akhwy.png|thumb|Akhwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Akhwy
|Two Spirits
|
|-
|[[File:Anu hiero.png|thumb|Anu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Anu
|avatar of Horus
|
|-
|[[File:Apedu.png|thumb|Apdu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Apdu]]
|Bird
|certain star names:

* Banat net Apdu,
* Tep en Apdu
* Hetyt net Apdu,
* kft=f

One uncertain:

* Iret net Apdu
|-
|[[File:Aret hieroglyph.png|thumb|Aret hierglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Aret]]
|Jaw?
|
|-
|[[File:Aryt.png|thumb|Aryt in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Aryt
|(2?) Jaw(s?)
|see [[Aret]]
|-
|[[File:Asemw.png|thumb|Asemw in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Asemw
|
|
|-
|[[File:Bawy.png|thumb|Bawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Bawy
|Two Souls
|
|-
|[[File:Djat.png|thumb|Djat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Djat
|Ferryboat/ Corsser
|
|-
|[[File:HequenSaq.png|thumb|Hequen Saq in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HequenSaq
|
|
|-
|[[File:Heri-ibWia.png|thumb|Heri ib Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Heri-ibWia
|
|
|-
|[[File:HetepReduy.png|thumb|Hetep Reduy in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HetepReduy
|
|
|-
|[[File:Ipedjes.png|thumb|Ipedjes in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Ipedjes
|Bright Star
|
|-
|
|Late Egyptian
|Irtentapdu
|Eye of the Bird;
see [[Apdu]]
|
|-
|[[File:Kemenu.png|thumb|Kemenu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kemenu
|
|the 17th decan
|-
|[[File:Kenemet.png|thumb|Kenemet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kenemet
|Cow (?)
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Khambalia]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Khau.png|thumb|Khau in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khau
|
|Plejades
|-
|[[File:Khenwy.png|thumb|Khenwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khenwy
|Khenwy Fish
|
|-
|[[File:Mai.png|thumb|Mai in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Mai
|Lion
|
|-
|[[File:Menit.png|thumb|Menit in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Menit]]
|Mooring Post
|
|-
|[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Nekhet]]
|Giant
|
|-
|[[File:Nut.png|thumb|Nut in hieroglyphs]]
|Egyptian
|Nut
|Goddess of the Night
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Piautos]]
|
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Polis]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Qed.png|thumb|Qed in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qed
|Circle
|
|-
|[[File:Qedty.png|thumb|Qedty in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qedty
|Two Nets
|
|-
|[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret (Isis Djamet) in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Reret]]
|Female Hippotamus
|
|-
|[[File:SAh.png|thumb|Sah in hieroglyphs ]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sah
|a god
|
|-
|[[File:Sebawy.png|thumb|Sebawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebawy
|Pair of Stars
|
|-
|[[File:Sebsesen.png|thumb|Sebsesen in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebsesen
|Sage's Star
|
|-
|[[File:Sedjef.png|thumb|Sedjef in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sedjef
|"its tail" (lion)
|
|-
|[[File:Serqet.png|thumb|Serqet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Serqet
|a goddess
|
|-
|[[File:Setwy.png|thumb|Setwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Setwy
|Two Tortoises
|
|-
|[[File:Sopdet.png|thumb|Sopdet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sopdet
|Triangle
|
|-
|[[File:Tanefer.png|thumb|Tanefer in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tanefer
|The Beautiful Child
|
|-
|[[File:Tjamat.png|thumb|Tjamat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tjamat
|Wings
|
|-
|[[File:Tjemes en Khentet.png|thumb|Tjemes en Khentet in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Tjemes
|
|
|-
|[[File:Wia.png|thumb|Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Wia
|Boat
|
|}

== References ==

[[Category:Overviews]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Africa]]

Aret

2026-04-05T14:39:39Z

JuanBelmonte:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:}}
{{distinguish|Aryt}}
Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Aret hieroglyph.png|thumb|Aret hieroglyph]]
Aret, ‘rt, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. Based on the RA-hour scale of the Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is assumed to be a small patch (star cluster).<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
Name Variants

* ‘rt
* aret
* art

=== Origin of Constellation ===

==== Sources ====
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" /> was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

==== Individual Stars / Body Parts ====
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Aret with the star cluster of the Hyades. Therefore, no individual names of stars are given.

=== Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==
mnemonic tales and cultural significance

== Weblinks ==

* {{NAMESPACE}}

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]][[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]][[Category:Star Name]]
[[Category:Tau]]

File:Aret hieroglyph.png

2026-04-05T14:39:30Z

JuanBelmonte:

Aret hieroglyph

Egyptian (All Terms)

2026-04-02T19:35:31Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svg|thumb|Map of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile up to the fifth cataract, and major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC). Cairo and Jerusalem are shown as reference cities. (CC BY SA Jeff Dahl)]]
The ancient Egypts are one of the oldest documented cultures, they settled in Northeast Africa and formed first structures like cities and states. Their early astronomical practices are not well documented, but here we try to give a glance on the known terms and the late names as used today within the IAU.

=== Solar System Names ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Traditional Terms
! Transliteration
!English
! commentary
|-
|
|
|Sun
|
|-
|
|
|Moon
|
|-
|
|
| Mercury
|
|-
|
|
|Venus
|
|-
|
|
|Mars
|
|-
|
|
|Jupiter
|
|-
|
|
|Saturn
|
|}

== Names of Stars and Constellations ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Original
!Language of Origin
!Pronounce
!English
!Note
|-
|[[File:Akhwy.png|thumb|Akhwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Akhwy
|Two Spirits
|
|-
|[[File:Anu hiero.png|thumb|Anu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Anu
|avatar of Horus
|
|-
|[[File:Apedu.png|thumb|Apdu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Apdu]]
|Bird
|certain star names:

* Banat net Apdu,
* Tep en Apdu
* Hetyt net Apdu,
* kft=f

One uncertain:

* Iret net Apdu
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[File:Aryt.png|thumb|Aret in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Aret]]
|Jaw?
|
|-
|Late Egyptian
|Aryt
|(2?) Jaw(s?)
|see [[Aret]]
|-
|[[File:Asemw.png|thumb|Asemw in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Asemw
|
|
|-
|[[File:Bawy.png|thumb|Bawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Bawy
|Two Souls
|
|-
|[[File:Djat.png|thumb|Djat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Djat
|Ferryboat/ Corsser
|
|-
|[[File:HequenSaq.png|thumb|Hequen Saq in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HequenSaq
|
|
|-
|[[File:Heri-ibWia.png|thumb|Heri ib Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Heri-ibWia
|
|
|-
|[[File:HetepReduy.png|thumb|Hetep Reduy in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HetepReduy
|
|
|-
|[[File:Ipedjes.png|thumb|Ipedjes in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Ipedjes
|Bright Star
|
|-
|
|Late Egyptian
|Irtentapdu
|Eye of the Bird;
see [[Apdu]]
|
|-
|[[File:Kemenu.png|thumb|Kemenu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kemenu
|
|the 17th decan
|-
|[[File:Kenemet.png|thumb|Kenemet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kenemet
|Cow (?)
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Khambalia]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Khau.png|thumb|Khau in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khau
|
|Plejades
|-
|[[File:Khenwy.png|thumb|Khenwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khenwy
|Khenwy Fish
|
|-
|[[File:Mai.png|thumb|Mai in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Mai
|Lion
|
|-
|[[File:Menit.png|thumb|Menit in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Menit]]
|Mooring Post
|
|-
|[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Nekhet]]
|Giant
|
|-
|[[File:Nut.png|thumb|Nut in hieroglyphs]]
|Egyptian
|Nut
|Goddess of the Night
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Piautos]]
|
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Polis]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Qed.png|thumb|Qed in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qed
|Circle
|
|-
|[[File:Qedty.png|thumb|Qedty in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qedty
|Two Nets
|
|-
|[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret (Isis Djamet) in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Reret]]
|Female Hippotamus
|
|-
|[[File:SAh.png|thumb|Sah in hieroglyphs ]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sah
|a god
|
|-
|[[File:Sebawy.png|thumb|Sebawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebawy
|Pair of Stars
|
|-
|[[File:Sebsesen.png|thumb|Sebsesen in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebsesen
|Sage's Star
|
|-
|[[File:Sedjef.png|thumb|Sedjef in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sedjef
|"its tail" (lion)
|
|-
|[[File:Serqet.png|thumb|Serqet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Serqet
|a goddess
|
|-
|[[File:Setwy.png|thumb|Setwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Setwy
|Two Tortoises
|
|-
|[[File:Sopdet.png|thumb|Sopdet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sopdet
|Triangle
|
|-
|[[File:Tanefer.png|thumb|Tanefer in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tanefer
|The Beautiful Child
|
|-
|[[File:Tjamat.png|thumb|Tjamat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tjamat
|Wings
|
|-
|[[File:Tjemes en Khentet.png|thumb|Tjemes en Khentet in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Tjemes
|
|
|-
|[[File:Wia.png|thumb|Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Wia
|Boat
|
|}

== References ==

[[Category:Overviews]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Africa]]

File:Asemw.png

2026-04-02T19:34:53Z

JuanBelmonte:

Asemw in hieroglyphs

Egyptian (All Terms)

2026-04-02T19:33:35Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svg|thumb|Map of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile up to the fifth cataract, and major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC). Cairo and Jerusalem are shown as reference cities. (CC BY SA Jeff Dahl)]]
The ancient Egypts are one of the oldest documented cultures, they settled in Northeast Africa and formed first structures like cities and states. Their early astronomical practices are not well documented, but here we try to give a glance on the known terms and the late names as used today within the IAU.

=== Solar System Names ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Traditional Terms
! Transliteration
!English
! commentary
|-
|
|
|Sun
|
|-
|
|
|Moon
|
|-
|
|
| Mercury
|
|-
|
|
|Venus
|
|-
|
|
|Mars
|
|-
|
|
|Jupiter
|
|-
|
|
|Saturn
|
|}

== Names of Stars and Constellations ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Original
!Language of Origin
!Pronounce
!English
!Note
|-
|[[File:Akhwy.png|thumb|Akhwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Akhwy
|Two Spirits
|
|-
|[[File:Anu hiero.png|thumb|Anu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Anu
|avatar of Horus
|
|-
|[[File:Apedu.png|thumb|Apdu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Apdu]]
|Bird
|certain star names:

* Banat net Apdu,
* Tep en Apdu
* Hetyt net Apdu,
* kft=f

One uncertain:

* Iret net Apdu
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[File:Aryt.png|thumb|Aret in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Aret]]
|Jaw?
|
|-
|Late Egyptian
|Aryt
|(2?) Jaw(s?)
|see [[Aret]]
|-
|[[File:Bawy.png|thumb|Bawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Bawy
|Two Souls
|
|-
|[[File:Djat.png|thumb|Djat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Djat
|Ferryboat/ Corsser
|
|-
|[[File:HequenSaq.png|thumb|Hequen Saq in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HequenSaq
|
|
|-
|[[File:Heri-ibWia.png|thumb|Heri ib Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Heri-ibWia
|
|
|-
|[[File:HetepReduy.png|thumb|Hetep Reduy in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HetepReduy
|
|
|-
|[[File:Ipedjes.png|thumb|Ipedjes in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Ipedjes
|Bright Star
|
|-
|
|Late Egyptian
|Irtentapdu
|Eye of the Bird;
see [[Apdu]]
|
|-
|[[File:Kemenu.png|thumb|Kemenu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kemenu
|
|the 17th decan
|-
|[[File:Kenemet.png|thumb|Kenemet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kenemet
|Cow (?)
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Khambalia]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Khau.png|thumb|Khau in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khau
|
|Plejades
|-
|[[File:Khenwy.png|thumb|Khenwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khenwy
|Khenwy Fish
|
|-
|[[File:Mai.png|thumb|Mai in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Mai
|Lion
|
|-
|[[File:Menit.png|thumb|Menit in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Menit]]
|Mooring Post
|
|-
|[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Nekhet]]
|Giant
|
|-
|[[File:Nut.png|thumb|Nut in hieroglyphs]]
|Egyptian
|Nut
|Goddess of the Night
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Piautos]]
|
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Polis]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Qed.png|thumb|Qed in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qed
|Circle
|
|-
|[[File:Qedty.png|thumb|Qedty in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qedty
|Two Nets
|
|-
|[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret (Isis Djamet) in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Reret]]
|Female Hippotamus
|
|-
|[[File:SAh.png|thumb|Sah in hieroglyphs ]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sah
|a god
|
|-
|[[File:Sebawy.png|thumb|Sebawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebawy
|Pair of Stars
|
|-
|[[File:Sebsesen.png|thumb|Sebsesen in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebsesen
|Sage's Star
|
|-
|[[File:Sedjef.png|thumb|Sedjef in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sedjef
|"its tail" (lion)
|
|-
|[[File:Serqet.png|thumb|Serqet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Serqet
|a goddess
|
|-
|[[File:Setwy.png|thumb|Setwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Setwy
|Two Tortoises
|
|-
|[[File:Sopdet.png|thumb|Sopdet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sopdet
|Triangle
|
|-
|[[File:Tanefer.png|thumb|Tanefer in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tanefer
|The Beautiful Child
|
|-
|[[File:Tjamat.png|thumb|Tjamat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tjamat
|Wings
|
|-
|[[File:Tjemes en Khentet.png|thumb|Tjemes en Khentet in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Tjemes
|
|
|-
|[[File:Wia.png|thumb|Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Wia
|Boat
|
|}

== References ==

[[Category:Overviews]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Africa]]

File:Tjemes en Khentet.png

2026-04-02T19:32:56Z

JuanBelmonte:

Tjemes en Khentet in hieroglyphs

Reret

2026-04-02T19:18:46Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----

[[File:Hippo-hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera with the Hippo Goddess next to the Bull's Thigh (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
Reret, ''rrt'', The Hippotamus, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. It is also called Isis Djamet. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret in hieroglyphs]]
'''Variants'''

* ''rrt''
* Reret
* Rert

=== Sources ===
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
[[File:Stars in Reret+itsPole Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation Reret mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Reret with a "Large area near the Pole covering from Lyra to Boötes Vega is a form of Isis". There are 9 stars related to Reret named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|
|Foot of the hippopotamus
|
|
|rho Boo
|-
|
|Feet of the hippopotamus
|180
|12.0
|[[Izar]] -eps Boo- (12.1) & rho Boo (11.9)
|-
|
|Knee of the hippopotamus
|198
|13.2
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5),
|-
|
|Middle of her thighs
|206
|13.7
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5) & CrB
|-
|
|Vulva of the hippopotamus
|211
|14.0
|Between [[Corona Borealis|Corona Bor]] & [[Hercules]]
|-
|
|Buttocks of the hippopotamus
|219
|14.6
|eps Her (14.8) & zet Her (14.5)
|-
|
|Breast of the hippopotamus
|228
|15.2
|pi Her (15.3)
|-
|
|Her tongue
|240
|16.0
|[[Rastaban]] - bet Dra- (16.2)
|-
|
|The 2 feathers of hippopotamus
|250
|16.7
|[[Lyra]] with [[Vega]] (16.7)
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]
[[File:Egypt_Rert_stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Reret, The Female Hippotamus, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]

=== Other Identification(s) ===

* "..." (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "..." (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn .... An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Reret" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Reret extends for ... hours of RA (from the RSCs).

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Boo]][[Category:CrB‎]]
[[Category:Sco‏‎]][[Category:Vir‎]]

Reret

2026-04-02T19:18:00Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----

[[File:Hippo-hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera with the Hippo Goddess next to the Bull's Thigh (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
Reret, ''rrt'', The Hippotamus, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. It is also called Isis Djamet. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret in hieroglyphs]]
'''Variants'''

* ''rrt''
* Reret
* Rert

=== Sources ===
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
[[File:Stars in Reret+itsPole Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation The Giant, Nekhet, mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Reret with a "Large area near the Pole covering from Lyra to Boötes Vega is a form of Isis". There are 9 stars related to Reret named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|
|Foot of the hippopotamus
|
|
|rho Boo
|-
|
|Feet of the hippopotamus
|180
|12.0
|[[Izar]] -eps Boo- (12.1) & rho Boo (11.9)
|-
|
|Knee of the hippopotamus
|198
|13.2
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5),
|-
|
|Middle of her thighs
|206
|13.7
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5) & CrB
|-
|
|Vulva of the hippopotamus
|211
|14.0
|Between [[Corona Borealis|Corona Bor]] & [[Hercules]]
|-
|
|Buttocks of the hippopotamus
|219
|14.6
|eps Her (14.8) & zet Her (14.5)
|-
|
|Breast of the hippopotamus
|228
|15.2
|pi Her (15.3)
|-
|
|Her tongue
|240
|16.0
|[[Rastaban]] - bet Dra- (16.2)
|-
|
|The 2 feathers of hippopotamus
|250
|16.7
|[[Lyra]] with [[Vega]] (16.7)
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]
[[File:Egypt_Rert_stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Reret, The Female Hippotamus, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]

=== Other Identification(s) ===

* "..." (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "..." (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn .... An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Reret" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Reret extends for ... hours of RA (from the RSCs).

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Boo]][[Category:CrB‎]]
[[Category:Sco‏‎]][[Category:Vir‎]]

Reret

2026-04-02T19:17:39Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----

[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
[[File:Hippo-hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera with the Hippo Goddess next to the Bull's Thigh (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
Reret, ''rrt'', The Hippotamus, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. It is also called Isis Djamet. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret in hieroglyphs]]
'''Variants'''

* ''rrt''
* Reret
* Rert

=== Sources ===
[[File:Stars in Reret+itsPole Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation The Giant, Nekhet, mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Reret with a "Large area near the Pole covering from Lyra to Boötes Vega is a form of Isis". There are 9 stars related to Reret named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|
|Foot of the hippopotamus
|
|
|rho Boo
|-
|
|Feet of the hippopotamus
|180
|12.0
|[[Izar]] -eps Boo- (12.1) & rho Boo (11.9)
|-
|
|Knee of the hippopotamus
|198
|13.2
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5),
|-
|
|Middle of her thighs
|206
|13.7
|[[Alphecca]] (13.5) & CrB
|-
|
|Vulva of the hippopotamus
|211
|14.0
|Between [[Corona Borealis|Corona Bor]] & [[Hercules]]
|-
|
|Buttocks of the hippopotamus
|219
|14.6
|eps Her (14.8) & zet Her (14.5)
|-
|
|Breast of the hippopotamus
|228
|15.2
|pi Her (15.3)
|-
|
|Her tongue
|240
|16.0
|[[Rastaban]] - bet Dra- (16.2)
|-
|
|The 2 feathers of hippopotamus
|250
|16.7
|[[Lyra]] with [[Vega]] (16.7)
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]
[[File:Egypt_Rert_stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Reret, The Female Hippotamus, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]

=== Other Identification(s) ===

* "..." (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "..." (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn .... An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Reret" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Reret extends for ... hours of RA (from the RSCs).

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Boo]][[Category:CrB‎]]
[[Category:Sco‏‎]][[Category:Vir‎]]

Nekhet

2026-04-02T19:15:08Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Peg2Aql-2hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera between the Pegasus Square ("Peg") and a Duck depicted in Aquila ("Aql") with some figures drawn, including an animal cadava resembling the Mesopotamian constellation of The Corpse, instead of one big Giant, this image is not clearly traditionally Egyptian (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
Nekhet, ''nḫt'', The Giant, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs.]]
'''Variants'''

* ''nḫt''
* Nekhet
* Nekht

=== Sources ===
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
[[File:Stars in Nekhet Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation The Giant, Nekhet, mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Nekhet with an area "From Aquila to the Square of Pegasus". There are 16 stars related to Nekht named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|
|Predeccesor of the giant’s 2 feathers
|260
|17.3
|[[Altair]] (17.1)
|-
|
|The 2 feathers of the giant
|273
|18.4
|[[Sualocin]] -alf Del- (18.1)
|-
|
|Head of mace (or Crown) of giant
|
|
|[[Sadalsuud]] (18.5)
|-
|
|Mace (or Crown) of the giant
|
|
|Area of [[Aquarius]] ?
|-
|
|Head of the giant
|
|
|Area of [[Equuleus]]
|-
|
|Nape of his neck
|280
|18.7
|[[Enif]] -alf Peg- (18.8)
|-
|
|Neck of the giant
|280
|18.7
|[[Enif]] -alf Peg- (18.8)
|-
|
|His breast
|290
|19.3
|tet Peg (19.2) or iot Peg (19.5)
|-
|
|Hip of the giant
|300
|20.0
|[[Markab]] -alf Peg- (20.2)
|-
|
|His shank
|304
|20.2
|[[Scheat]] -bet Peg- (20.3)
|-
|
|Knee of the giant
|309
|20.6
|Area of the Square of [[Pegasus]]
|-
|
|His foot
|317
|21.1
|alf And (21.3)
|-
|
|Pedestal
|317
|21.1
|alf And & gam Peg (21.3)
|-
|
|The one coming after his pedestal
|327
|21.8
|del And (21.8)
|-
|
|star of the back of the pedestal
|
|
|Area of [[Andromeda]]
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]
[[File:Egypt Nekhet stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Nekhet, The Giant, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]

=== Previous Identification(s) ===

* "From Aquila to the Pegasus Square. Including his Feathers, Mace (or Crown) and Pedestal" (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "From Aquila to the Square of Pegasus" (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn above the "Duck" in Aquila. An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

==Mythology==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Nekhet" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Nekht extends for five hours of RA (from the RSCs) and it does not make justice to call a single petty star with the name of such a huge constellation. Therefore, if WGSN wants to call a star either in Sagitta or Aquila with the name of Nekht, then the suggestion would be to call it: '''Sebannekhet''' (Seba en Nekhet), meaning "Star of the Giant", i.e. this is a star of Nekht but without further details.

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Peg]][[Category:Aql‎]]
[[Category:Sge‏‎]][[Category:Del‎]]

Nekhet

2026-04-02T19:14:11Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Egypt Nekhet stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Nekhet, The Giant, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]
Nekhet, ''nḫt'', The Giant, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>
[[File:Peg2Aql-2hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera between the Pegasus Square ("Peg") and a Duck depicted in Aquila ("Aql") with some figures drawn, including an animal cadava resembling the Mesopotamian constellation of The Corpse, instead of one big Giant, this image is not clearly traditionally Egyptian (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs.]]
'''Variants'''

* ''nḫt''
* Nekhet
* Nekht

=== Sources ===
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
[[File:Stars in Nekhet Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation The Giant, Nekhet, mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Nekhet with an area "From Aquila to the Square of Pegasus". There are 16 stars related to Nekht named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|
|Predeccesor of the giant’s 2 feathers
|260
|17.3
|[[Altair]] (17.1)
|-
|
|The 2 feathers of the giant
|273
|18.4
|[[Sualocin]] -alf Del- (18.1)
|-
|
|Head of mace (or Crown) of giant
|
|
|[[Sadalsuud]] (18.5)
|-
|
|Mace (or Crown) of the giant
|
|
|Area of [[Aquarius]] ?
|-
|
|Head of the giant
|
|
|Area of [[Equuleus]]
|-
|
|Nape of his neck
|280
|18.7
|[[Enif]] -alf Peg- (18.8)
|-
|
|Neck of the giant
|280
|18.7
|[[Enif]] -alf Peg- (18.8)
|-
|
|His breast
|290
|19.3
|tet Peg (19.2) or iot Peg (19.5)
|-
|
|Hip of the giant
|300
|20.0
|[[Markab]] -alf Peg- (20.2)
|-
|
|His shank
|304
|20.2
|[[Scheat]] -bet Peg- (20.3)
|-
|
|Knee of the giant
|309
|20.6
|Area of the Square of [[Pegasus]]
|-
|
|His foot
|317
|21.1
|alf And (21.3)
|-
|
|Pedestal
|317
|21.1
|alf And & gam Peg (21.3)
|-
|
|The one coming after his pedestal
|327
|21.8
|del And (21.8)
|-
|
|star of the back of the pedestal
|
|
|Area of [[Andromeda]]
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]

=== Previous Identification(s) ===

* "From Aquila to the Pegasus Square. Including his Feathers, Mace (or Crown) and Pedestal" (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "From Aquila to the Square of Pegasus" (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn above the "Duck" in Aquila. An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

==Mythology==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Nekhet" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Nekht extends for five hours of RA (from the RSCs) and it does not make justice to call a single petty star with the name of such a huge constellation. Therefore, if WGSN wants to call a star either in Sagitta or Aquila with the name of Nekht, then the suggestion would be to call it: '''Sebannekhet''' (Seba en Nekhet), meaning "Star of the Giant", i.e. this is a star of Nekht but without further details.

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Peg]][[Category:Aql‎]]
[[Category:Sge‏‎]][[Category:Del‎]]

Nekhet

2026-04-02T19:13:23Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Egypt Nekhet stellarium-RSC.jpg|thumb|Egyptian constellation Nekhet, The Giant, identified with Ramesside Star Clocks, mapped to Stellarium (CC BY Petrie 1940, SMH 2026). For this screenshot the time and date settings are Alexandria -1180. ]]
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":0" />]]
Nekhet, ''nḫt'', The Giant, is an Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.<ref name=":1">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref>
[[File:Peg2Aql-2hi Zodiaque de Dendéra - Musée du Louvre Antiquités Egyptiennes D 38 ; E 13482.gif|thumb|Detail from the circular zodiac of Dendera between the Pegasus Square ("Peg") and a Duck depicted in Aquila ("Aql") with some figures drawn, including an animal cadava resembling the Mesopotamian constellation of The Corpse, instead of one big Giant, this image is not clearly traditionally Egyptian (photo: Musée du Louvre, GIF SMH).]]
==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs.]]
'''Variants'''

* ''nḫt''
* Nekhet
* Nekht

=== Sources ===
[[File:Stars in Nekhet Belmonte2003-tab2 RSC.png|thumb|Stars in the Egyptian constellation The Giant, Nekhet, mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003<ref name=":0">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>, tab. 2).]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":12">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":02" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

=== Individual Stars / Body Parts ===
Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Nekhet with an area "From Aquila to the Square of Pegasus". There are 16 stars related to Nekht named in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC)<ref name=":0" />.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|
|Predeccesor of the giant’s 2 feathers
|260
|17.3
|[[Altair]] (17.1)
|-
|
|The 2 feathers of the giant
|273
|18.4
|[[Sualocin]] -alf Del- (18.1)
|-
|
|Head of mace (or Crown) of giant
|
|
|[[Sadalsuud]] (18.5)
|-
|
|Mace (or Crown) of the giant
|
|
|Area of [[Aquarius]] ?
|-
|
|Head of the giant
|
|
|Area of [[Equuleus]]
|-
|
|Nape of his neck
|280
|18.7
|[[Enif]] -alf Peg- (18.8)
|-
|
|Neck of the giant
|280
|18.7
|[[Enif]] -alf Peg- (18.8)
|-
|
|His breast
|290
|19.3
|tet Peg (19.2) or iot Peg (19.5)
|-
|
|Hip of the giant
|300
|20.0
|[[Markab]] -alf Peg- (20.2)
|-
|
|His shank
|304
|20.2
|[[Scheat]] -bet Peg- (20.3)
|-
|
|Knee of the giant
|309
|20.6
|Area of the Square of [[Pegasus]]
|-
|
|His foot
|317
|21.1
|alf And (21.3)
|-
|
|Pedestal
|317
|21.1
|alf And & gam Peg (21.3)
|-
|
|The one coming after his pedestal
|327
|21.8
|del And (21.8)
|-
|
|star of the back of the pedestal
|
|
|Area of [[Andromeda]]
|}
[[File:Fig 4 45 Petrie1940 sky.jpg|thumb|Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)<ref name=":1" />. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.]]

=== Previous Identification(s) ===

* "From Aquila to the Pegasus Square. Including his Feathers, Mace (or Crown) and Pedestal" (Belmonte 2003)<ref name=":0" />
* "From Aquila to the Square of Pegasus" (Belmonte & Lull 2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>
* Petrie's drawing also extends across this area
* The circular zodiac in Dendera the image is drawn above the "Duck" in Aquila. An accurate identification is not possible but it matches the suggestions above.

==Mythology==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==
The name "Nekhet" suggested to be considered by the IAU WGSN in 2023. Nekht extends for five hours of RA (from the RSCs) and it does not make justice to call a single petty star with the name of such a huge constellation. Therefore, if WGSN wants to call a star either in Sagitta or Aquila with the name of Nekht, then the suggestion would be to call it: '''Sebannekhet''' (Seba en Nekhet), meaning "Star of the Giant", i.e. this is a star of Nekht but without further details.

The WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.

== Weblinks ==

*

== Reference ==
* [[References|References (general)]]
* [[References (Medieval and Early Modern)|References (early modern)]]
* Ian Ridpath's website ([http://ianridpath.com/startales Star Tales] )

[[Category:Asterism‏‎]]
[[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Peg]][[Category:Aql‎]]
[[Category:Sge‏‎]][[Category:Del‎]]

Menit

2026-04-02T19:12:27Z

JuanBelmonte:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:}}
Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:RamesssideStarClocks-schemaBelmonte2003.jpeg|thumb|Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":1" />]]
Menit, , The Mooring Post, Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref><ref>Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> it is known that it covers 1.5 RA-hours.<ref name=":12">Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.</ref> It designates an area of [[Bootes]], incl. [[Arcturus]]).<ref name=":22" />

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Menit.png|thumb|Menit in hieroglyphs]]
'''Variants'''
* mnít
* Menit
* Menyt

=== Source ===
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star Clocks (RSC) are ceiling paintings in some tombs in the Valley of Kings, Egypt, from the Ramesside Period.<ref>Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.</ref> They are not actually used star clocks but information on stars in transit (probably through the meridian) provided in tabular layout. It was assumed that they depict a practice in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":0">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":1">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":0" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>).

Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref name=":22">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.</ref> suggest the identification of Menit with an area in [[Bootes]], including the bright star [[Arcturus]].

=== Individual Stars of the Constellation ===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |Star / Asterism Name
(transliteration)
!Translation
!RA (degr)
!RA (h)
!ident. (Belmonte 2003)
|-
|ṯ3 nfr
|
|Beautiful sprout
|150
|10.0
|[[Mizar]] (10.1) or [[Spica]] (10.4)
|-
|tpy` mnỉt6
|Tepiamenit
|Predeccesor of the Pole
|
|
|Area of [[Ursa Major|Ursa Maior]] & [[Bootes|Boote]]<nowiki/>s **
|-
|šmsw n (ḥ3t n mnỉt)3
|
|Follower of the front of the pole
|162
|10.8
|eta Boo ([[Muphrid]])
|-
|mnỉt
|
|Pole or Mooring post
|165
|11.0
|[[Alkaid]]
|-
|šmsw ỉy ḥr-s3 mnỉt
|
|Follower which comes after the pole
|167
|11.1
|[[Alkaid]]
|-
|(šmsw) n mnỉt4
|
|(Follower of ) the pole
|171
|11.4
|[[Arcturus]]
|}

=== Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===

== Religion/ Tales/ Mythology ==
mnemonic tales and cultural significance

== Weblinks ==

* {{NAMESPACE}}

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]][[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]][[Category:Star Name]]

Apdu

2026-04-02T19:11:20Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Ramses IX - fig6.gif|thumb|Detail of RSC in tomb of Ramses IX with Apdu (CC BY Juan Belmonte).]]
[[File:Apdu profileCard SadeghFaghanpour-IAU-WGSN.jpg|thumb|Apdu profile card (CC BY Sadegh Faghanpour for IAU-WGSN).]]
Apd(w), ''ȝpd'', The Bird, is an ancient Egyptian constellation. There are at least 21 spelling variants<ref>Bojowald, Stefan (2024). Überlegungen zu den Schreibungen des ägyptischen Wortes ȝpd „Vogel“, Équipe Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne: [http://www.enim-egyptologie.fr/revue/2024/16/Bojowald_ENiM17_p267-272.swf.pdf PDF]</ref> throughout the millennia in hieroglyphs, and it is probably not any specific one.

==Concordance, Etymology, History==
[[File:Apedu.png|center|thumb|Apdu in hieroglyphs.]]

==== Spelling Variants ====

* Apedu

*Apdu
*Apd(w)
[[File:Stellarium ApduBird.gif|thumb|Apdu bird as falcon (like the one depicted in the tomb of Sethy I in the King's Valley) mapped to Stellarium]]

=== Origin of Constellation ===
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star clocks (RSC) are astronomical devices developed in ancient Egypt to measure time by the, most likely, meridian or close to meridian transit of stars. These hour stars were single stars in a few cases or belong to constellations, some of them very large, of Egyptian sky maps.

There has been two dedicated approaches including an attempt to identify these hour stars: Leitz (1995)<ref name=":0">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":1">Belmonte, J. A., 2003. The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations. In M. Blomberg, P. E. Blomberg and G. Henriksson (Eds.), ''Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture'' (pp. 57–65). ''Uppsala Astronomical Observatory report'', 59. Uppsala Ocarina Books.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":0" /> followed N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for various reasons. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer. </ref>. This new hypothesis suggests that several RSC constellations were located in the northern skies such as the Giant (Nekht), the She-Hippo (Reret), the Mooring Post (Menyt) and the Bird (Apdu), among others of lesser entity (see also Davies, 1985<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>). The constellation Bird could be the one represented in the northern sector of several celestial diagrams.

Belmonte first defended his ideas at SEAC2001 in Stockholm (Belmonte, 2003)<ref name=":1" /> that were later used for posterior works such as Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer. </ref>.

Among these hypotheses, it was proposed to locate the 4 stars of the Ramesside Star clocks located in the constellation Apd (Apdu) in Triangulum and close to Algol (proposal recently endorsed by Belmonte and Lull, 2023)<ref name=":2" />. Pegasus is far in RA.

Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":1" /> proposal was, considering the corresponding RA:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Egyptian
!
!Translation
!Identification<ref name=":2" />
|-
|b'nt nt apd
|Banat net Apdu
|(the Peak of the Bird)
|Alpha Tri ([[Mothallah|Mothalla]])
|-
|tp n apd
|Tep en Apdu
|(the Head of the Bird)
|Beta Tri
|-
|htyt nt apd
|Hetyt net Apdu
|(the Throat of the Bird)
|A star in the area of [[Algol]]
|-
|kft=f
|
|Its rump (of the Bird)
|Alpha Per ([[Mirfak]])
|}
Being imaginative and avoiding interference with the stars in the Ramesside tables, which were probably the brightest in the constellation, we may even suggest for γ Tri a name of something certainly located in the head of Apdu, for example the Eye (the peak is already another hour-star).

==== Identifications ====
The area of The Bird must cover a region in Triangulum and close to Algol. Belmonte and Lull (2011) proposed the following identifications:

* (a) Banat net Apdu (the Peak of the Bird) - α Tri
* (b) Tep en Apdu (the Head of the Bird) - β Tri
* (c) Hetyt net Apdu (The Throat of the Bird) - a star close to Algol
* (d) Iret net Apdu (the Eye of the Bird) - γ Tri

=== Sources, Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation ===
There is no identification of this constellation in Neugebauer and Parker, or in Leitz (1995), as their works focused on the so-called decan-constellation (further south). <gallery>
File:Tumba de Ramsés V y de Ramsés VI, Valle de las Reyes, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 69.jpg|Tombs of Ramses V and VI (Diego Delso).
File:Lepsius-228-III-ramsèsVI-détail.jpg|Schema of a Ramesside Star Clock (Fonctionnement d'une horloge ramesside.) from Karl Richard Lepsius - Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien: Nach den Zeichnungen der von Seiner Majestät dem Könige von Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach diesen Ländern gesendeten und in den Jahren 1842-1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition.
File:Culmination-horloge-ramesside.jpg|Explanation of Ramesside Star Clock by Frank Monnier
File:The tomb of Seti I 6.jpg|Tomb of Sethy I - front (CC BY Leon Petrosyan)
File:Ramses IX - fig6.gif|Tomb of Ramses IX with a RSC, detail photograph by J. Belmonte.
</gallery>

== Religion/ Mythology ==
mnemonic tales and cultural significance

== IAU Working Group on Star Names ==
[[File:Apdu stickfigure SadeghFaghanpour-IAU-WGSN (1).jpg|thumb|Apdu stickfigure (CC BY Sadegh Faghanpour for IAU-WGSN)]]
Alpha and Beta Trianguli are already named but Gamma is not. Apdu is the name of a constellation so it is not appropriate for a single star. Considering RA, γ Tri could have served as an hour-star as well as β Tri (similar RA) and possibly formed part of the head of the Bird "Tep en Apdu" which could be a good name for it but this can cause confusion with β Tri. Hence, Irt-nt-apd(w) or "Iret net Apdu", the Eye of the Bird, would describe the position of γ Tri. Irtentapdu (for the eye of the bird, γ Tri) was proposed as a star name in 2023/5 in WGSN. Egyptian language does not spell all letters; in Irt-nt-Apd(w) some vowels can be added for easier pronounciation.

In November 2025, WGSN decided to adopt the name of the attested constellation "Apdu" rather than an invented star name within this ancient constellation. The name was adopted for γ Tri (Gamma Trianguli) as proposed.

γ Tri is a bright (V=4.0 mag) star of type A0Vn (Abt 1995) at distance of approximately 36 parsecs. [https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...537A.120Z/abstract Zorec & Royer (2012)] estimate the star to have an effective temperature of 9940 K, luminosity of about 32x that of the Sun, radius of 2.11 Rsun, mass 2.26 Msun, projected rotational velocity (vsini) 254 km/s, and age of 407+-39 million years. Fetherolf+ (2023) detects variability with period 0.450848 day in TESS photometric data, consistent with rotation. Combining the radius calculated from the Zorec and adopting the rotation period from Fetherolf, this would suggest an equatorial rotation velocity of about 236 km/s, similar to the vsini value. This suggests that the star is seen equator-on. The star also has a dusty debris disk detected by the IRAS, Spitzer, and WISE missions (e.g., [https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ApJS..211...25C/abstract Chen et al. 2014, ApJS], 268, 4). All of its properties, including its color, equatorial rotational velocity, and even its dusty debris disk, make the star very similar to Vega, except Vega is seen nearly pole-on, and γ Tri is apparently seen nearly equator-on.

== Weblinks ==

*

== References ==

* [[References]] (general)

[[Category:Africa]] [[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Asterism]] [[Category:Constellation]]
[[Category:IAU-Star Name]]
[[Category:Tri]][[Category:Per]]

Egyptian (All Terms)

2026-04-02T19:08:24Z

JuanBelmonte:

Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
[[File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svg|thumb|Map of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile up to the fifth cataract, and major cities and sites of the Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC). Cairo and Jerusalem are shown as reference cities. (CC BY SA Jeff Dahl)]]
The ancient Egypts are one of the oldest documented cultures, they settled in Northeast Africa and formed first structures like cities and states. Their early astronomical practices are not well documented, but here we try to give a glance on the known terms and the late names as used today within the IAU.

=== Solar System Names ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Traditional Terms
! Transliteration
!English
! commentary
|-
|
|
|Sun
|
|-
|
|
|Moon
|
|-
|
|
| Mercury
|
|-
|
|
|Venus
|
|-
|
|
|Mars
|
|-
|
|
|Jupiter
|
|-
|
|
|Saturn
|
|}

== Names of Stars and Constellations ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Original
!Language of Origin
!Pronounce
!English
!Note
|-
|[[File:Akhwy.png|thumb|Akhwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Akhwy
|Two Spirits
|
|-
|[[File:Anu hiero.png|thumb|Anu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Anu
|avatar of Horus
|
|-
|[[File:Apedu.png|thumb|Apdu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Apdu]]
|Bird
|certain star names:

* Banat net Apdu,
* Tep en Apdu
* Hetyt net Apdu,
* kft=f

One uncertain:

* Iret net Apdu
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[File:Aryt.png|thumb|Aret in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Aret]]
|Jaw?
|
|-
|Late Egyptian
|Aryt
|(2?) Jaw(s?)
|see [[Aret]]
|-
|[[File:Bawy.png|thumb|Bawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Bawy
|Two Souls
|
|-
|[[File:Djat.png|thumb|Djat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Djat
|Ferryboat/ Corsser
|
|-
|[[File:HequenSaq.png|thumb|Hequen Saq in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HequenSaq
|
|
|-
|[[File:Heri-ibWia.png|thumb|Heri ib Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|
|Heri-ibWia
|
|
|-
|[[File:HetepReduy.png|thumb|Hetep Reduy in hieroglyphs]]
|
|HetepReduy
|
|
|-
|[[File:Ipedjes.png|thumb|Ipedjes in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Ipedjes
|Bright Star
|
|-
|
|Late Egyptian
|Irtentapdu
|Eye of the Bird;
see [[Apdu]]
|
|-
|[[File:Kemenu.png|thumb|Kemenu in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kemenu
|
|the 17th decan
|-
|[[File:Kenemet.png|thumb|Kenemet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Kenemet
|Cow (?)
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Khambalia]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Khau.png|thumb|Khau in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khau
|
|Plejades
|-
|[[File:Khenwy.png|thumb|Khenwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Khenwy
|Khenwy Fish
|
|-
|[[File:Mai.png|thumb|Mai in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Mai
|Lion
|
|-
|[[File:Menit.png|thumb|Menit in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Menit]]
|Mooring Post
|
|-
|[[File:Nekhet.png|thumb|Nekhet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Nekhet]]
|Giant
|
|-
|[[File:Nut.png|thumb|Nut in hieroglyphs]]
|Egyptian
|Nut
|Goddess of the Night
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Piautos]]
|
|
|-
|
|Coptic
|[[Polis]]
|
|
|-
|[[File:Qed.png|thumb|Qed in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qed
|Circle
|
|-
|[[File:Qedty.png|thumb|Qedty in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Qedty
|Two Nets
|
|-
|[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret (Isis Djamet) in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|[[Reret]]
|Female Hippotamus
|
|-
|[[File:SAh.png|thumb|Sah in hieroglyphs ]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sah
|a god
|
|-
|[[File:Sebawy.png|thumb|Sebawy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebawy
|Pair of Stars
|
|-
|[[File:Sebsesen.png|thumb|Sebsesen in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sebsesen
|Sage's Star
|
|-
|[[File:Sedjef.png|thumb|Sedjef in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sedjef
|"its tail" (lion)
|
|-
|[[File:Serqet.png|thumb|Serqet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Serqet
|a goddess
|
|-
|[[File:Setwy.png|thumb|Setwy in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Setwy
|Two Tortoises
|
|-
|[[File:Sopdet.png|thumb|Sopdet in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Sopdet
|Triangle
|
|-
|[[File:Tanefer.png|thumb|Tanefer in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tanefer
|The Beautiful Child
|
|-
|[[File:Tjamat.png|thumb|Tjamat in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Tjamat
|Wings
|
|-
|[[File:Wia.png|thumb|Wia in hieroglyphs]]
|Late Egyptian
|Wia
|Boat
|
|}

== References ==

[[Category:Overviews]]
[[Category:Egyptian]]
[[Category:Africa]]

File:Serqet.png

2026-04-02T19:08:05Z

JuanBelmonte:

Serqet in hieroglyphs

File:Setwy.png

2026-04-02T19:07:41Z

JuanBelmonte:

Setwy in hieroglyphs

File:Sopdet.png

2026-04-02T19:07:15Z

JuanBelmonte:

Sopdet in hieroglyphs

File:Tanefer.png

2026-04-02T19:06:49Z

JuanBelmonte:

Tanefer in hieroglyphs

File:Tjamat.png

2026-04-02T19:06:25Z

JuanBelmonte:

Tjamat in hieroglyphs

File:Wia.png

2026-04-02T19:06:01Z

JuanBelmonte:

Wia in hieroglyphs

File:Sedjef.png

2026-04-02T19:05:32Z

JuanBelmonte:

Sedjef in hieroglyphs

File:Sebsesen.png

2026-04-02T19:04:49Z

JuanBelmonte:

Sebsesen in hieroglyphs

File:Sebawy.png

2026-04-02T19:03:59Z

JuanBelmonte:

Sebawy in hieroglyphs

File:SAh.png

2026-04-02T19:03:06Z

JuanBelmonte:

Sah in hieroglyphs

File:Reret IsisDjamet.png

2026-04-02T19:02:22Z

JuanBelmonte:

Reret in hieroglyphs

File:Qedty.png

2026-04-02T19:01:47Z

JuanBelmonte:

Qedty in hieroglyphs

File:Qed.png

2026-04-02T19:01:19Z

JuanBelmonte:

Qed in hieroglyphs

File:Nut.png

2026-04-02T19:00:36Z

JuanBelmonte:

Nut in hieroglyphs

File:Nekhet.png

2026-04-02T19:00:09Z

JuanBelmonte:

Nekhet in hieroglyphs

File:Menit.png

2026-04-02T18:59:46Z

JuanBelmonte:

Menit in hieroglyphs

File:Khenwy.png

2026-04-02T18:59:18Z

JuanBelmonte:

Khenwy in hieroglyphs

File:Mai.png

2026-04-02T18:58:52Z

JuanBelmonte:

Mai in hieroglyphs

File:Khau.png

2026-04-02T18:58:19Z

JuanBelmonte:

Khau in hieroglyphs

File:Kenemet.png

2026-04-02T18:57:42Z

JuanBelmonte:

Kenemet in hieroglyphs

File:Kemenu.png

2026-04-02T18:57:15Z

JuanBelmonte:

Kemenu in hieroglyphs

File:Ipedjes.png

2026-04-02T18:56:05Z

JuanBelmonte:

Ipedjes in hieroglyphs

File:HetepReduy.png

2026-04-02T18:55:35Z

JuanBelmonte:

Hetep Reduy in hieroglyphs

File:Heri-ibWia.png

2026-04-02T18:54:57Z

JuanBelmonte:

Heri-ibWia in hieroglyphs

File:HequenSaq.png

2026-04-02T18:54:25Z

JuanBelmonte:

Hequen Saq in hieroglyphs

File:Djat.png

2026-04-02T18:52:46Z

JuanBelmonte:

Djat in hieroglyphs

Egyptian (All Terms)

2026-04-02T18:51:54Z

JuanBelmonte:

File:Bawy.png

2026-04-02T18:51:42Z

JuanBelmonte:

Bawy in hieroglyphs