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Middle EastMiddle Eastern Star LoreQ - Z |
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Taurus
Taurus was the first constellation in the early Hebrew Zodiak and was represented by Aleph,
the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
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Medieval Islamic Astronomy Several of the stars in Taurus carry traditional Arabic names. Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi based his description in the Book of Fixed Stars on Ptolemy and depicted the constellation accordingly. But some of the Arabic names might go back much furthern than Ptolemy.
Aldebaran (α Tau) comes from the Arabic al Dabarān, which means "the follower,"
referring to the star following the Pleiades.
Elnath (β Tau) is derived from the Arabic word an-naţħ, meaning "the butting,"
referring to the bull's horns.
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Ain (ε Tau) means "Eye" in Arabic and refers to one of the bull's eyes (the other,
bloodshot one being Aldebaran).
Source: Wikipedia |
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Ursa Major Most of today's names of the stars of Ursa Major - including all seven stars of the Big Dipper - are of Arabic origin:
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Both names for Eta Ursae Majoris, Alkaid and Benetnasch are derived from the same arabic phrase al-qā'id bināt naʿsh
(leader of the daughters of the bier).
A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave. The daughters of the bier, i.e. the mourning maidens, are the three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper, Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth; while the four stars of the bowl, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe, are the bier. Source: Wikipedia |
Arabic Names of the stars of the Big Dipper
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θ,
τ,
23,
υ,
φ,
18 and
15 UMa formed Sarīr Banāt al-Na'sh, the Throne of the Mourners, also
known as Al-Haud, the Pond.
In the south of Ursa Major are three pairs of stars, collectively known as Ḳafzah al Ṭhibā,the Springs of the Gazelle, each pair making one spring; the Gazelle being imagined from the unformed stars since gathered up as Leo Minor, and the springing of the animal being due to its fear of the greater Lion's tail. Eventually the gazelle jumped into Al-Haud, the Pond. ν and ξ were called Al Ḳafzah al Ūla - the first spring; λ and μ were called Al Fiḳrah al Thānia - the second spring; ι and κ were called All Ḳafzah al‑thālithaḥ - the third spring. |
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Ursa Minor
R.H. Allen tells us, that
early in Arab astronomy Ursa Minor was called the Lesser Bier (with Ursa Major
being the Larger Bier).
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R.H. Allen reports two Arab names for Polaris: Al Ḳiblah, "because it is the star least distant from the pole ... and helped them, in any strange location distant from an established place of worship, to know the points of the compass and thus the direction of Mecca and its Kaʽbah. As marking the north pole it also bore the title Al Ḳuṭb al Shamāliyy, the Northern Axle. In Damascus, Polaris was called Mismār, meaning Needle or Nail, while the Turks called it as Yilduz, the Star par excellence. A Turkish myth reports that its light was concealed for a time after their capture of Constantinople. Source: R.H. Allen |
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Virgo Arabian Peninsula: as-simakan - The Sky Raisers
as-simakan (السماكان), The Sky Raisers is one of eleven
Folkloric Celestial Complexes identified in the Arabic Star Catalog, developed by
Danielle Adams at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
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The Two Sky-Raisers, the brightest and tenth brightes stars
visible in the night sky of the northern hemisphere were "... the pillars that held up the canopy of the heavens."
The complex was divided into two parts. The Spear-Bearing Sky-Raiser and the Unarmed Sky-Raiser. as-simak al-a’zal (السماك الأعزل), The Unarmed Sky-Raiser, the lower one of the Two Sky-Raisers, was represented by Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. It resides on a Throne, made up of stars from today's constellations Corvus. |
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Source: Arab Star Calendars For the Spear-Bearing Sky-Raiser, see the detailed description of the constellation Boötes For more information on this ancient Sky Raiser complex, see Danielle Adams' essay The Setting of the Arabian Sky-Raisers: Widespread rains of summer. |
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Islamic Astronomy
Today, α Virginis goes by the Latin name Spica (see above). In the Arab world, the star
was known as as-simak al-a’zal, the Unarmed Sky-Raiser (see above). Other Arabic names were Alarph, the grape-gatherer and
Sumbalet, derived from sunbulah (سنبلة), Ear of Grain - both Arabic translations of traditional Greek and Latin names.
The Arabic name for ε Vir was Mukdim al Kitāf - a
translation of its Latin name Vindemiatrix, the grape-harvestress.
Syrma, the official name of ι Virginis is an Arabic translation of the Greek name
Sýrma (Σύρμα), describing the Train of the Virgin's robe.
R.H. Allen puts
ι Virginis, together with
κ and φ Virginis in a Lunar
Mansion called al-ghafr (الغفر) the Covering.
R.H. Allen calls al-ghafr the
13th Lunar Mansion. Ihsan Hafez, on the other hand,
numbers it as the 15th Lunar Mansion and names the stars belonging to it as
ι,
λ and
χ Virginis.
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Coptic Star Names
Walter Ewing Crum, a Scottish scholar in Coptic language identified the source of
Khambalia, the name of |
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al ʽawwāʼ - the Barker
In a star catalogue published by Egyptian astronomer
Muḥammad al-Akhṣāṣī al-Muwaqqit, a V-shaped asterism
(now called the Bowl of Virgo) was called al ʽawwāʼ, the Barker.
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Al ʽAwwāʼ - the BarkerMap based on a map provided by seasky.org |
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In the "Barker" constellation, the name of β Vir, zāwiyat al-awwa’, corner of the barker was the origin of the star's modern name Zavijava. al-Muwaqqit's name for γ Vir was Laouiyet al Aoua, the angle of the barker.' δ Vir was called Min al-ʽawwāʼ, meaning "in the lunar mansion of ʽawwāʼ." It is the root of its modern name Minelauva. The traditional (and official) name for η Vir is Zaniah (from zāwiyah, meaning corner). However, in al-Muwaqqit's catalogue, it was called Thanih al Aoua, the second barker. In addition to the five stars of the "Bowl", μ Virginis bore the name Rijl al-‘awwā’, foot of the barker. Source: R.H. Allen, Wikipedia, constellationsofwords.com, Ihsan Hafez |
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