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[[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).]]
[[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, ''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>   
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=== Sources ===
=== 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).]]
[[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.  
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.  


Latest revision as of 19:18, 2 April 2026

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés

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,[1][2] it is known that it covers 5 RA-hours.[3]

Concordance, Etymology, History

Reret in hieroglyphs

Variants

  • rrt
  • Reret
  • Rert

Sources

Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)[4]
Stars in the Egyptian constellation Reret mentioned in the RSCs (CC BY Belmonte 2003[4], 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.[5] 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)[6] and Belmonte (2003)[7]. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)[8] thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)[6] 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)[9]. 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[10]).

Individual Stars / Body Parts

Belmonte and Lull (2023)[11] 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)[4].

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 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)
Star map of the Egyptian Sky for the Ramesside Star Clocks. Petrie W.M.F. (1940)[3]. Wisdom of the Egyptians. London, fig. 4.45.
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)[4]
  • "..." (Belmonte & Lull 2023)[12]
  • 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.

Reference

  1. ↑ Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. Egyptian Astronomical Texts, vol. III. Providence: Brown University.
  2. ↑ Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 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.
  5. ↑ Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. Egyptian Astronomical Texts, vol. III. Providence: Brown University.
  9. ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
  10. ↑ Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. Journal of the History of Astronomy, 16, 102–104.
  11. ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
  12. ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
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