Reret: Difference between revisions
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[[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> 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== | ==Concordance, Etymology, History== | ||
[[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret in hieroglyphs]] | Reret is depicted as a bipedal hippopotamus in a fashion virtually identical to Ipy or Taweret, from whom she is distinguished by her astral associations. She is a goddess of fertility and childbirth. [[File:Reret IsisDjamet.png|thumb|Reret in hieroglyphs]] | ||
'''Variants''' | '''Variants''' | ||
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
!Star / Asterism Name | ! colspan="2" |Star / Asterism Name | ||
(transliteration) | (transliteration) | ||
!Translation | !Translation | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''rd n rrt'' | |''rd n rrt'' | ||
| | |||
|Foot of the hippopotamus | |Foot of the hippopotamus | ||
| | | | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''rdwy n rrt<sub>4</sub>'' | |''rdwy n rrt<sub>4</sub>'' | ||
| | |||
|Feet of the hippopotamus | |Feet of the hippopotamus | ||
|180 | |180 | ||
| Line 46: | Line 48: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|''pd n rrt'' | |''pd n rrt'' | ||
| | |||
|Knee of the hippopotamus | |Knee of the hippopotamus | ||
|198 | |198 | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''ḥry-ỉb mnty=s'' | |''ḥry-ỉb mnty=s'' | ||
| | |||
|Middle of her thighs | |Middle of her thighs | ||
|206 | |206 | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''b3ḥ n rrt<sub>5</sub>'' | |''b3ḥ n rrt<sub>5</sub>'' | ||
| | |||
|Vulva of the hippopotamus | |Vulva of the hippopotamus | ||
|211 | |211 | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''ḫpd n rrt<sub>4</sub>'' | |''ḫpd n rrt<sub>4</sub>'' | ||
|Khepedenreret | |||
|Buttocks of the hippopotamus | |Buttocks of the hippopotamus | ||
|219 | |219 | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''mndt nt rrt6'' | |''mndt nt rrt6'' | ||
| | |||
|Breast of the hippopotamus | |Breast of the hippopotamus | ||
|228 | |228 | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|''ns=s'' | |''ns=s'' | ||
| | |||
|Her tongue | |Her tongue | ||
|240 | |240 | ||
| Line 82: | Line 90: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|''šwty nt rrt<sub>6</sub>'' | |''šwty nt rrt<sub>6</sub>'' | ||
| | |||
|The 2 feathers of hippopotamus | |The 2 feathers of hippopotamus | ||
|250 | |250 | ||
Latest revision as of 12:58, 17 April 2026
Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés
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] 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
Reret is depicted as a bipedal hippopotamus in a fashion virtually identical to Ipy or Taweret, from whom she is distinguished by her astral associations. She is a goddess of fertility and childbirth.
Variants
- rrt
- Reret
- Rert
Sources
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) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Bor & Hercules | |
| ḫpd n rrt4 | Khepedenreret | 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) | |
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.
Weblinks
Reference
- References (general)
- References (early modern)
- Ian Ridpath's website (Star Tales )
- ↑ Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. Egyptian Astronomical Texts, vol. III. Providence: Brown University.
- ↑ Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. Egyptian Astronomical Texts, vol. III. Providence: Brown University.
- ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
- ↑ Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. Journal of the History of Astronomy, 16, 102–104.
- ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
- ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
