Jawza (الجوزاء)

Authors: Roland Laffitte

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al-Jawza (الجوزاء) is an Arabic/ Arabian constellation

Concordance, Etymology, History

Adams (2018), pp. xx-xx.

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per Khalid AlAjaji

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Laffitte (2012, 2025), in his chapter on Orion (p. 331) writes:

By adopting the Greek sky, Arab astronomers of the classical period took up the Greek figure by borrowing its Syriac name, Gambara, ‘the Giant’, which gives al-Ğabbar. But this new name could not displace, in the Arab imagination, the well-established figure of al-Ğawzā’ ‘Elgeuze’, which literally means ‘the Median’, because it stands ‘in the middle’ of the sky (see infra, Fig. 68a and b)

The following star names are derived from it:

• Cursa [Post.] (τ Ori : 3,59) / [الجبّار] كرسي . Although it has recently appeared, albeit unsuccessfully, under the name given by Piazzi to β Eri (see that star), this refers to the Arabic Kursī l-Ğawzā’ al-Mu’aḫḫhar, ‘the Posterior Footrest of Elgeuze’, which in fact designates the group αβγδ Lep. Arabic: Kursī l-Ğawzā’ al-Mu’aḫḫar, ‘the Anterior Footrest of Elgeuze’, al-Ṣūfī > ‘Cúrsa AlGjauzâ AlMuácchera’, Hyde. Then Cursa for τ Ori: New Standard Dict. and Werner & Schmeidler. No further mention.

• Cursa [Ant.] (β Eri : 2,78) / ] [الجوزاء كرسي. Coined by Piazzi and now recognised by the IAU, this name derives from the Arabic Kursī l-Ğawzā’ al-Muqaddam, ‘the Anterior Footrest of Elgeuze’, which is the name given to the square formed by the group τ Ori and λβψ Eri in the traditional Arabic sky. Arabic Kursī l-Ğawzā’, Ibn Qutayba, Kursī l-Ğawzā’ al-Muqaddam, ‘the Anterior Throne of Elgeuze’, al-Ṣūfī for τ Ori and λβψ Eri as opposed to that of the αβγδ Lep group, which is named Kursī l-Ğawzā’ al-Mu’aḫḫar, ‘the Posterior Throne of Elgeuze ’ (see Eri), hence ‘Cúrsa AlGjauzâ AlMutakáddem’, Hyde > Cursa, Piazzi, Fr.: Francœur. Cursa, Allen, etc., Simbad, UAI. Var.: Kursa, Nit. 01

• Kursi al Jabbar (γ Lep: 3.6) / الجبّار كرسي. Coined at the end of the 20th^th century, this is Kursī l-Ğabbār, ‘the Giant’s Footstool’, a later designation for the αβγδ Lep group⁵⁷, featuring a Greco-Arabic name (al-Ğabbār) within the traditional celestial sphere (Kursī).
• Arsh al-Jauzah (δ Lep : 3,8) / أرش .
• Kursialzawza