Bawy

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés

---

"Bawy" in hieroglyphs

Figurine of a bird with a human head, representing the soul bird "ba". Painted wood, Late Period, 722-332 BC, Ancient Egypt. Collection Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden (CC BY Arjuno3)

Bawy, bȝwy, the dual form of Ba (the Soul), i.e. Two Souls, is an Egyptian name, used in decanal star clocks.

This historical asterism, possibly formed by two stars appears for the first time in the coffin-lids of the First Intermediate Period (FIP) and early Middle Kingdom. It appeared along Egyptian history in celestial diagrams, including the circular zodiac of Dendera where it is present in the decan belt just below Pisces. This may give an approximate idea of its RA location..

Bawy is also a modern IAU-star name; it was adopted to the IAU-CSN on 15 October 2026 for the star ξ1 Cet in Cetus.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Variants

• Bawy
• Bau
• Ba+Ka

Origin of the Constellation

The Two Souls could be a couple of stars in Peg or Cet according to Belmonte and Lull (2023) but it is extremely difficult to precise which stars formed this decan.

Bawy can be considered as a syncretism of Set and Heru. Then, the name Harwyfy can also refer to them, it translates to "He with the Two Faces".

Images of "Ba" in ancient Egyptian art

• 
  Ba bird (Hildesheim)
• 
  Español: Estatuilla de un ave Ba (ca. 664 a.C.), madera pintada y dorada, falta el disco solar sobre la cabeza humana. Fuerza anímica que permitía al difunto momificado relacionarse con el mundo de los vivos (CC BY Jl FilpoC)
• 
  Ba bird pendant (CC0, Metropolitan Museum of Art)
• 
  Ba and a mumie

Pyramid Texts

Sources	Hieroglyph
In the Old Kingdom, when the terminology was created, ba appears in the name of kings, e.g. Horus Khaba in the 3rd dynasty), the builders of the Layer Pyramid at Zawiyet el Aryan,	Zawiyet el Aryan
and even in the name of pyramids, specially of the 5th dynasty, as for example "Sahure kha ba mer", "the pyramid: the ba of Sahure rises". (Pyramid of Sahure)	Sahure kha ba mer
It is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts like in utterance 223: "Ba im Akhw". "The soul who is among the spirits".

Decan Star Clocks

Decan star clocks (also "diagonal star clocks") represent one of the earliest known systematic methods of stellar timekeeping, as they are preserved from the Middle Kingdom (2100-1800 BCE). During the night, the successive appearance of decans provided a way to divide the night into approximately twelve parts for the twelve hours of the night. These constellations shift successively, so that the Egyptian schema needs to be read diagonally: every ten days, another constellation is considered to rule the same hour, or in other words, each constellation (decan) rules a different hour depending on the time of the year. Hoffmann (2022) writes: "The pattern of this systematic shift of constellations through the hours of the day within a year is depicted on Egyptian diagonal star clocks, when the sequence of decans was observed in culmination instead of in rising (Symons 2007), leading to a reduction of deviations throughout the year."

• 
  Schema of Egyptian star clock in a coffin lid (CC BY Bettina Hoffmann).
• 
  Schema of Egyptian star clock: how it works (CC BY Bettina Hoffmann).
• 
  Diagonal star clock in coffins from the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (Coffin of Nacht, probably from Asyut, 11th/12th Dynasty): Hildesheim, Römer und Pelicäusmuseum.

Leitz (1995, 78) describes a graphical identification method for the decan constellations and says that he basically follows the identifications of Neugebauer and Parker (Astronomische Texte I, 97-100). Yet, on the following pages, Leitz (1995) gives his own arguments, always citing NP but occasionally giving alternatives.

Bawy is the 21st decan (Leitz 1995, 92) reads:

Für diesen Dekan lassen sich immerhin Vorschläge machen. In etwa den richtigen Horizontabstand weisen Algenib (γ Persei, m = 2.8-2.9, Höhe rund 2.2°) und θ Ceti (m=3.6, Höhe rund 2.6°) auf. Nimmt man dagegen an, dass die Emendierung von Neugebauer und Parker (ȝḫwy zu bȝwy) richtig ist und sucht nach einem Sternpaar vor dem 21. Untergangshorizont, so wäre die wahrscheindlichste Lösung ζ und χ Ceti. Der erste Stern (ζ Ceti = Baten Kaitos) besitzt eine Helligkeit con m =3.7, der zweite, dicht danebenliegende von m = 4.7, ihr Abstand vom Horizont (6.°5-7°) ist um rund 2° zu groß, wäre also vielleicht noch zu akzeptieren.

English: Suggestions can at least be made for this decan. Algenib (γ Persei, m = 2.8–2.9, altitude around 2.2°) and θ Ceti (m = 3.6, altitude around 2.6°) have roughly the correct horizontal distance. If, on the other hand, one assumes that Neugebauer and Parker’s emendation (ȝḫwy to bȝwy) is correct and searches for a pair of stars before the 21st horizon, the most likely solution would be ζ and χ Ceti. The first star (ζ Ceti = Baten Kaitos) has a magnitude of m = 3.7, whilst the second, lying close by, has a magnitude of m = 4.7; their distance from the horizon (6.5–7°) is about 2° too great, but might still be acceptable.

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 
  ancient manuscript 1
• 
  modern mapping by author XY
• 
  ancient manuscript 2
• 
  modern mapping by author AB
• 
  something else ...

Note: On the circular Dendera zodiac, there is an unexplained couple of deities in Cetus. They carry planet symbols but are south of the region where planets orbit. These unexplained deities are unlikely to be related to Bawy.

Religion/ Tales/ Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

IAU Working Group on Star Names

In 2023, it was suggested to WGSN to use a star in Cetus to commemorate this obsolete constellation. Bawy is a decan, and of course is a dual (the two Souls) , which means it was formed by two stars. Indeed Delta Ceti seems to be a good candidate, with M77 nearby, However, I wonder if Xi1 and Xi2 Ceti ( (Bawy1 and 2, if they do not ahve a name) will not be better candidates since they havee different RA which fits the fact that Qed and Bawy both are decans and must be separated in RA, with Bawy prior to Qed. If not, Ipsilon 1 and 2 Ceti have a name could be fine. Bawy is below Piscees in Dendera circular zodiac so Xi1 and 2 seems an excellent approach.

Xi1 an Xi2 for Bawy, if not Ipsilon 1 and 2 are good options.

References

• References (general)