Menit

From All Skies Encyclopaedia

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés

Ramessside Star Clocks schematically, fig. 1 in Belmonte (2003)[1]

Menit, , The Mooring Post, Egyptian constellation, preserved in the 2nd millennium BCE. Based on Ramesside Star Clocks,[2][3] it is known that it covers 1.5 RA-hours.[4] It designates an area of Bootes, incl. Arcturus (Ἀρκτοῦρος)).[5]

Concordance, Etymology, History

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.[6] 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)[7] and Belmonte (2003)[1]. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)[8] thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)[7] 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]).

Belmonte and Lull (2023)[5] suggest the identification of Menit with an area in Bootes, including the bright star Arcturus (Ἀρκτοῦρος).

Individual Stars of the Constellation

Star / Asterism Name

(transliteration)

Translation RA (degr) RA (h) ident. (Belmonte 2003)
Beautiful sprout 150 10.0 Mizar (10.1) or Spica (10.4)
tpy` sb3 n s3ḥ1 Tepiamenit Predeccesor of the Pole Area of Ursa Maior & Bootes **
Follower of the front of the pole 162 10.8 eta Boo (Muphrid)
Pole or Mooring post 165 11.0 Alkaid
Follower which comes after the pole 167 11.1 Alkaid
(Follower of ) the pole 171 11.4 Arcturus (Ἀρκτοῦρος)

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

Religion/ Tales/ Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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.
  2. ↑ Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. Egyptian Astronomical Texts, vol. III. Providence: Brown University.
  3. ↑ Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
  4. ↑ Petrie W.M.F. (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians. London.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
  6. ↑ Marshall Clagett (1989). Ancient Egyptian Science: Calendars, clocks, and astronomy. American Philosophical Society.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
  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.
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