Alawaidh

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Roland Laffitte, DanielleAdams

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Arabian camels: four mothers protecting one baby in the middle (CC BY Khalid AlAjaji in Stellarium for WGSN).

Arabian astrisms in the Draco area with some enemies from all directions threatening the camel baby protected by the four camel mothers (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2025).

Alawaidh (العَوائِذ), The Camel Mothers, derives from an Arabic asterism: four camel mothers are protecting one newborn camel calf (Alruba, HIP 86782). Laffitte (2025) mentions that the four camel mothers together with the trotting camel were also occasionally named in Latin "Quinque Dromadarii".

Concordance, Etymology, History

Name Variants

• Alwaid
• Alawaid
• Alawaidh

The Classical Arabic word العَوائِذ al-ʿawāʾidh was the plural form for العائِذ al-ʿāʾidh, which meant a female camel, horse or gazelle that had given birth recently (within the past week or two). The Arabic root means "to seek protection", and so the new mothers were called al-ʿawāʾidh because their newborn calves or foals sought protection from them.

As a star name, al-ʿawāʾidh (the Camel Mothers) was applied to an indigenous Arabian asterism of four stars in the IAU constellation of Draco: β (Rastaban), γ (Eltanin), ν and ξ (Grumium). A very faint star in the middle of this asterism (HIP 86782) was the newborn camel, called الرُبْع ar-rubʿ in Arabic.

For Nu Draconis (ν Dra) the name Kuma is sometimes used but its etymology and meaning are obscure, as it originates from Bečvář's 1948 atlas.

Concordance

This name "Alwaid" has sometimes been applied to β (beta) Draconis, but it is not in the IAU Catalog of Star Names because another name, Rastaban, was already approved for this star.

Allen's assertion that al-ʿawāʾidh included a fifth star—μ Draconis (Alrakis) known as ar-rāqiṣ (the Ambling Camel) is one of his many errors, as all early Arabic sources identified the asterism as a group of four stars, not five.

Arabian camels (CC BY Danielle Adams 2018).

Adams (2018), pp. 92–94.

Opposite the Children of the Larger Bier in relation to the Pole in the northern sky, a struggle for survival plays out among four Camel Mothers (al-ʿawāʾidh), represented by a small, irregular quadrilateral of four stars (Ibn Qutayba 1956, 148; al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:375). The Arabic term indicates the female of a camel, horse or gazelle who has given birth recently (within the past 7, 10 or 15 days, according to varying reports), and she is so called “because her young one has recourse to her for protection” (Lane 1997, 5:2193). In the center of these four Camel Mothers lies a very dim star that was called the Young Camel (al- rubʿ), a term that specifically refers to one that was born in the beginning of the breeding season (Ibn Qutayba 1956, 148; al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:375; Lane 1997, 3:1017). Alone, al-Ṣūfī also identifies a nearby star called the Ambling Camel (al-rāqiṣ), which may or may not have been associated with the Camel Mothers complex (1981, 41). As al-Ṣūfī wrote his work a century after Ibn Qutayba, it is possible that this term developed much later and instead should be interpreted as the Dancer in reference to the tongue of the Greek dragon, Draco, on which this star is located (al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41).

Between the Camel Mothers and the Two Wild Cow Calves (al-farqadān) lie the Two Wolves (al-dhiʾbān), a pair of stars oriented perpendicular to the Two Wild Cow Calves, so that when one pair is aligned vertically, the other is aligned horizontally (Ibn Qutayba 1956, 148; al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:374). In front of these two stars are some fainter stars that were called the Claws of the Wolf (aẓfār al-dhiʾb); Ibn Qutayba stops here in his description, but al-Ṣūfī identifies them specifically as a pair of very close stars that lie next to one of the Two Wolves (Ibn Qutayba 1956, 148; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:374; al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41).

The Two Wolves were also called the Two Young Gazelles or the Two Young Pigeons (al-ḥurrān [Al-Ṣūfī has al-jarrān (the two bases of a mountain), which is likely an error.]), and it is this appellation that both Ibn Qutayba and al-Marzūqī present first, suggesting it may have been their more common designation (Ibn Qutayba 1956, 148; al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:374). Later authors report that this pair of stars was additionally named al-ʿawhaqān, a term that could mean the Two Black Camels, the Two Black Bulls or the Two Ravens (al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:374).

On the opposite side of the Camel Mothers from the Two Wolves is a very bright star that was called the Alighting Vulture (al-nasr al-wāqiʿ), because there were two fainter stars nearby that created a V-shaped formation with the bright star at the apex (Ibn Qutayba 1956, 148; al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41; al-Marzūqī 1914, 2:375). This reminded some Arabs of a vulture whose wings were folding up as it alighted onto a surface. Together, the Camel Mothers, the Young Camel, the Two Wolves and the Alighting Vulture were connected to each other in the following story:

The Camel Mothers (al-ʿawāʾidh) were located between the Two Wolves (al- dhiʾbān) and the Alighting Vulture (al-nasr al-wāqiʿ), so the Arabs likened the two bright ones to Two Wolves that had desired to plunder the Young Camel (al-rubʿ)—and it is the offspring of the female camel—and they likened the Camel Mothers to four she-camels that were inclining toward the Young Camel [to protect it]. The Vulture (al-nasr) is also protecting it. (al-Ṣūfī 1981, 41)

It is important to note that neither Ibn Qutayba nor al-Marzūqī records this more detailed story, so it may be that the Two Wolves were originally unconnected to the Camel Mothers.

Khalid AlAjaji

Arabian Camel Mothers and Camel Baby in Draco (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2025).

Roland Laffitte (2012, 2025) deliberately translates al-^cAwā’iḏ, « camels that have just given birth » .

Arabic العوائذ al-^cAwā’iḏ, ‘the camels that have just given birth’, name of the group βγξν Dra, Ibn Qutayba. Lat.: Bode for βγξν Dra; Piazzi for β Dra, Littrow, Proctor, etc., as noted by Allen. Fr.: Francœur. Alwaid, Rumrill, Alwaid A & B p/ ν² & ν¹ Dra, Rhoads, Alwaid p/ β Dra, Rumrill, Hoffleit, Nit. 01, h2g2.

He also mentions [Quinque Dromadarii], ‘the Five Dromedaries’ for p/βγξνρ Dra, c/ Apian from a medieval translation by al-Ṣūfī, see KUNITZSCH, ‘Peter Apian und “Azophi”’^B►. Noted p/ Allen.

Name (orig.)	Name (transliteration)	translation (English)	identification (RL)	author	Note
	al-ᶜAwā’iḍ	the camels who have just given birth	βγξν Dra	Qutayba
	al-Rāqiṣ	the trotting camel	μ Dra	Ṣūfī	cf. Alrakis for mu. Dra and the obsolete Erakis (الراقص)
	al-Rubaᶜ	the camel born in spring	86782 Dra	Qutayba
	al-Rābiᶜ	the camel born in spring		Ḏ. hay.

IAU Working Group Star Names

The name "Alwaid" that is found in the literature of popular astronomy was proposed for the IAU-Catalog of Star Names in 2023. However, it was not applied to any star, since all four of the stars representing the Arabian asterism al-ʿawāʾidh (the Camel Mothers) already had IAU-approved modern star names in use. New suggestions (2024): As "Alwaid" was alias for Beta Draconis in several references, perhaps we should use it for β (beta) Draconis B (Gaia EDR3 1415230383034347264)?

The name "Alawaidh" was suggested to the WGSN in 2026 for ν Dra, as this one is the only star in the quadrilateral that is yet unnamed. The best rendering of the Arabic name in English seems to be "Alawaidh" which has not yet been used and might, thus, not cause confusion with potential historical adoptions of the name.

References

• al-Marzūqī, Abū ˓Alī Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan. 1914. Kitāb al-azmina wa al-amkina. 2 vols. Hyderabad: Maṭbaʿat Majlis Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Kāʾina, 2:374-375.