Bawy

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés

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"Bawy" in hieroglyphs

Image that shows the cultural object (e.g. in archaeological museum)

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

This 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 appeaared along Egyptian history in celestial diagrams, including the circular zodiac of Dendera wwhere it is present in the decan belt just below Pisces. This may give an aapproximate idea of its RA location..

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".

Decan Star Clocks

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  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.

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.

References

• References (general)