south in the Milky Way. The latter was represented as a river in
which four animals (camels or sheep) are drinking, while four others
(El-naâîm el-sâdira, Zeta, Sigma, Tau, and Phi, in the Archer), are
going away from it after having quenched their thirst. Lambda in the
Archer was regarded as their shepherd (Râï el-naâïm).
Yet another shepherd was signified by the star Beta in Orion (Rigel).
He was called Râï el-dschauzâ, the shepherd in the Dschauzâ, or
Nut-region, _i. e._, in the region of Orion, which is splendid with
many conspicuous stars. The herd which he was given to pasture are
probably the “Thirst-quenched Camels” (El-nihâl), which were regarded
as being the stars Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, in the Hare in the
vicinity of the Milky Way.
Besides these groups of animals, there are several others scattered
over the heavens. The three pairs of stars standing close together
at the feet of the Great Bear were likened to the footmarks of a
gazelle. They were called the Gazelle’s Springs, or Hoofs (Kafzât
el-dhibâ or Dhufra el-gizlân). Naturally the animal itself was
regarded as being in the neighborhood of its tracks. On the one hand,
Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, A and d, on the head of the Great Bear,
and on the other, as it appears, the stars of the Little Lion were
included under the name Gazelle (El-dhibâ). The latter group also
appears under the names the Gazelles and their Young (El-dhibâ w’
aulâdhâ).
The five stars of the Virgin, Beta, Eta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon,
were looked upon as so many yelping dogs (El-auwâ); Alpha and Beta
in the Archer as a pair of birds peculiar to Arabia (El-suradain);
Alpha (Fomalhaut) in the Southern Fish and Beta (Diphda) in the Whale
as two Frogs (El-difda el-awel and El-difda el-thâni); four stars
in the Great Dog and the Dove and as many Monkeys (El-kurûd), and
the two bright stars of the latter constellation as a pair of Ravens
(El-ag’riba).
All the creatures so far mentioned are familiar to the Arabs, the
camel most of all. Just as their language is rich in words which
refer to this useful animal, so also it plays the chief rôle in their
astronomical nomenclature. We have already met with some camel-groups
in the Arabian heavens. We find two more in the Bull and in the Crow.
The brightest star in the Hyades has the name of “the Large Camel”
(El-fenîk or El-fetîk), the others are called “the Small Camels”
(El-kilâs or El-kalâjis). The four principal stars of the Crow were
regarded as so many male-camels (El-adschmâl), analogous to the
above-mentioned four female-camels in a similar figure at the head of
the Dragon.
Just as frequently do we come across the ostrich in the Arabian
heavens. The Southern Crown bears the name of the Ostrich Nest (Udha
el-naâm), to which two pairs of ostriches (El-dhalîmain, Lambda
and Mu in the Archer) appear to belong. A second ostrich-nest was
formed from a number of stars in the upper part of Eridanus. In the
neighborhood are five hen-ostriches (El-naâmât, Zeta, Eta, Theta,
Tau, and Upsilon) in the belly of the Whale, and somewhat further
away are two male birds (El-dhalîm, Alpha in the Southern Fish and
Alpha in the River). The latter have a number of young ostriches
(El-rijâl stars in the Phœnix) between them. Ostrich eggs (El-baid),
or their shells (El-kaid), are represented by small stars in the
vicinity of the nest.
Besides the groups, we also find various isolated animals in
the starry heavens of the Arabs. Among these is the Black Horse
(El-dschaun, Epsilon in the Great Bear), perhaps belonging to the
neighboring Governor (El-kâïd, Eta, in the same constellation); the
beast of prey (Anâk el-ard, Gamma in Andromeda); the Male Camel
(El-fahl), which was represented by Canopus and the Dog running in
front of Sirius (El-khelb, Beta in Canis Major). This nomenclature,
borrowed from the animal kingdom, to which must be added the Maidens
(El-adsâra Omicron, Eta, Delta, and Epsilon in Canis Major); the
Outrider and the Man-riding-behind (El-fawâris and El-ridf, Delta,
Gamma, Epsilon, Zeta, and Alpha in the Swan); this nomenclature, I
say, is peculiar in that only one star was always used to distinguish
one animal.
The Arabs with so lively an imagination saw in the skies sheep,
camels, ostriches, but without being led to it by the resemblance
of the contour of the entire star group, as was the case of the
designers of the Greek heavens. They therefore had no animal
figures proper, but only animal names, such as the She-goat, the two
He-goats, and the two Asses of the Greeks. On two occasions, however,
it happened that more than one star was given to one animal. When the
eight stars of the Archer, which were represented under the figure of
only four animals at pasture going to and returning from drinking,
were regarded by some as two ostriches, this does not seem to be an
exception to the rule, but a misunderstanding instead, caused by the
resemblance of two words (Naâïm and Naâm). The case is probably the
same with the four stars, Delta, Pi, Rho, and Epsilon, in the Dragon
which are called the He-goat by a very late Arab astronomer; for a
star-name given by the lexicographer, Firuzabadi, would argue that
analogy held true here also.
The two unmistakable cases to which I refer are those of the falling
and flying Eagle (El-nesr el-wâki and El-nesr el-tâïr), the former
of which was made up of three stars in the form of an equilateral
triangle, and the latter of three standing in a straight line (Alpha,
Epsilon, and Zeta of the Lyre, Alpha, Beta and Gamma of the Greek
Eagle).
We need not take into consideration in this connection either the
Arabic Lion or the complete Horse, since most probably both owe their
origin to false interpretations of later grammarians.
It is quite different with a second class of Arabic star-names
which signify inanimate objects. These have to do with real forms
throughout, which, however, for the most part consist of only a few
stars after the manner of the Greek Arrow and Triangle. To these
belong El-chibâ, the tent of the Arab nomads resting on three or
four supports. One of these was represented by three stars of the
Charioteer (Lambda, Mu, and Sigma), and another by the four chief
stars of the Crow.
El-athâfi, the three stones which the nomadic Arab placed under his
pot or kettle in the form of an equilateral triangle to form the
hearth. Every triad of stars standing in a similar figure might be
called an Athâfi; for instance, Delta, Epsilon, and Rho in the Ram,
and the three on the head of Orion, which were actually likened to
one of these. In just so many words, however, the only stars that
occur under this name are Alpha, Epsilon, and Zeta in the Lyre, and
Sigma, Tau, and Upsilon in the Dragon.
El-kidr, the Pot, a ring of stars in the vicinity of the last Athâfi,
which was formed from a number of small stars of Cepheus and the Swan.
El-midschdah, the wooden twirling-stick (spit). A kitchen utensil of
similar triangular form was represented by the Hyades. The name in
course of time came to be restricted to the chief star of this group.
El-fekka, the sounding plate with the broken rim, or Kas’a
el-masâkhîm, the Beggar’s-dish. This name was given to the stars of
the Northern Crown, which stand in a circle open toward the northeast.
El-mîzân, the Scale-beam, an appropriate name for three stars in a
straight line. The ancient Arabs used it for Theta, Eta, and Delta in
the Eagle; the modern ones use it to distinguish the three stars on
the Belt and the three on the Sword of Orion, the former of which, on
account of their equal distance from each other, are called the true
scale-beam, and the latter the false one, on account of the unequal
intervals.
El-dsirâ, the Ell, a term which may fitly be applied to every pair of
conspicuous stars standing a certain distance from one another. It
was used for the two pairs of stars on the head of the Twins and in
the Little Dog.
El-ma’lef, the Manger—the name of the stars of the Cup which stand in
a circular form. The more familiar Manger in the Crab belongs to the
Greek Heavens.
El-kubba, the Traveling-tent, drawn by camels of the Arab’s female
apartment. This name was given by some to the stars of the Southern
Crown, while others, as has already been remarked, regard it as an
Ostrich Nest.
El-zaurak, the Boat, was represented by the chief stars of the
Phœnix. El-delv, the Well-Bucket, represented by the Square of
Pegasus, occurred more frequently than any other, as is shown by
the star-names relating to it—El-ferg, El-arkûwa, El-khereb, and
Elnaâïm. Elna’sch, the Bier, was applied to the well-known quadrangle
in the Great and Little Bear. The term particularly signifies
the death-bier, and taken in this sense each of the two biers is
accompanied by three mourning women—Benât—biers and mourners combined
are called Benât na’sch, literally Daughters of the Bier, _i. e._,
belonging to the Bier.
El-salîb, the Cross: one of these was referred to under the four
stars on the head of the Dragon, which others regarded as four mother
camels. A second was found in the stars of the Dolphin.
El-serîr, El-khursi, El-arsch, various kinds of Thrones. One, named
Serîr benât na’sch, was represented by seven stars standing in the
form of a bow on the head of the Great Bear, which were also called
El-hhûd, the Pond. Two other thrones under the names Khursi, or Arsch
el-dschauzâ, were distinguished under four stars of Eridanus, and
four in the Hare, and yet another, named Arsch el-simâkh el-a’zal, in
the stars of the Crow.
El-nidâm and El-nedm, every set of things arranged in a row,
especially the Pearl Necklace, which was the name given to the four
stars 1, 2, 3, 4, and Phi of the Whale standing in a straight line,
and the three on Orion’s Belt. Synonymous with this, among words
taken in their common acceptation is El-nasak, a name used for two
rows of stars in the upper part of the Snake and Hercules, which also
has a picturesqueness about it, since the two rows were regarded
as hurdles around the meadow on which the above-mentioned shepherd
pastures his flock.
El-fikrat, El-fekâr, and El-kelâda, the Brooch: the first of these
appears as the name of the stars on the vertebra of the Scorpion’s
tail; the second, for Orion’s Belt; the third, for stars of the
Archer. El-dschauzâ, the Nuts, and El-lekat, the Golden-grains or
Spangles. The former name was used for the stars of Orion and the
neighboring Twins collectively, the latter merely for those on
Orion’s Sword. Finally, to this class belongs El-khaf el-chadîb and
El-khaf el-dschedsmâ, the Dyed and the Mutilated Hand, which figures
were represented by the five chief stars of Cassiopeia and the five
better known on the head of the Whale. Several of these figures, as
we have seen, appear at more than one place in the sky. Hence arose,
for astronomers at least, the necessity for distinguishing epithets.
Thus the Cross on the head of the Dragon was called “the falling,”
the Tent in the Crow “the southern,” one of the Biers “the smaller,”
the other, “the greater”; one of the thrones in the vicinity of
Orion, “the front”; the other, “the back.”
When these distinctions are wanting, as in the case of the Athâfis,
it is probably because the astronomers only made use of the one in
the Dragon. Ulug Bekh does not name the other in the Lyre; Kazwini
also states that it only occurred in the speech of the common people.
There is still a third and very numerous class of genuine Arabic
star-names, which, borrowed neither from animate nor inanimate
objects, are consequently names that do not represent any figures.
They owe their origin to many circumstances, the majority of which
are lost to us. I will content myself with mentioning only a few of
them whose origin is not shrouded in doubt.
The small star over the middle of the Great Bear’s tail is called
El-suhâ, the Forgotten, the Lost, because it is only noticeable to
a sharp eye; also El-saidak, the Touchstone (test-stone), because
by it the eyesight was tested; Arcturus, Hâris el-semâ, the Warder
of the Heavens, because it is never entirely lost in the rays of
the sun; Capella, Rakîb el-thorejâ, the Watchman of the Pleiades,
because it rises at the same time as they do; Alpha (Aldebaran),
in the Bull, Hhâdi el-nedschm, the Driver of the Seven Stars; also
El-tâbi and El-debarân, the Follower, because it rises immediately
after that constellation; Beta (Denebola) in the Lion, El-serfa,
the Breaker-up (Upsetter), because at its rising and setting in the
morning twilight the hot and cold weather change; Alpha (Ras Alhague)
in the Watersnake; El-ferd, the Isolated, because it is situated in a
starless region, etc. Besides this, among this class we must include
the Su’ûd, or fortunate stars, four of which are in Pegasus, two in
the Wild Goat, and four in the Waterman.
It will already have been noticed that in this nomenclature single
stars frequently appear under several names. Thus the stars of the
Crow are sometimes called El-adschmâl, the Camels; sometimes El-chibâ
el-jemêni, the Southern Tent; sometimes Arsch el-simâkh el-a’zal,
the figure of the throne in the neighborhood of Spica—three quite
different names which express so many various notions and have also
so many separate authors.
Who were the originators of this nomenclature as a whole?
The Arabs, and particularly the nomad Arabs. To prove this we have
only to cast a glance at the names in the first two classes.
The inhabitants of the northern part of the Arabian peninsula, the
so-called “desert” and “stony” Arabia, for the most part, lead a
nomadic kind of life.
The country is a treeless and waterless plain covered with naked
rocks and sand-drifted hills, on which lie scattered single oases
watered by springs and glorified with a luxuriant vegetation. On
these the Arabs camp with their herds, and do not leave them until
the provender is consumed, or until more powerful tribes force them
to depart. They call themselves Bedâvi (Bedouins), that is, Scenitæ,
Nomads, as they were called by the Greeks. These nomads, cut off
from all intercourse with the world around them, who have never
been subjugated by a foreign power, have preserved their character
and their customs unchanged for several thousand years. Their most
important occupation is cattle-breeding. Besides this, they follow
the chase, or war upon their enemies, regarding as such all those
not belonging to their race or who are not under their protection.
They dwell in tents. Several families are under a Schech and several
Schechs generally under an Emîr, who rules over the whole tribe.
The majority of these nomadic Arabs were Sabians, or Star-worshipers,
before the adoption of Islam. History has preserved for us the
names of several tribes who paid divine honors to single planets,
or conspicuous fixed stars. No wonder that they should have fallen
into such idolatry! The dust raised by the desert wind, which, as a
rule, only blows during the day, and the heat of the sun compel them
to pasture their herds and to undertake their hostile expeditions
during the night. Leisure and necessity bid them gain information
by directing their gaze at the starry sky, which is presented to
them in a splendor of which we in our northern regions can scarcely
form any idea. Since, therefore, the aborigines must have noticed
at an early period that the nearly regular succession of changes in
their climate took place in conformity with the annually recurring
phenomena of the fixed stars, they ascribed to the latter a divine
power. Thus originated the worship of the stars; and this once
established, no other motives were needed to induce them to devote
their constant attention to the starry skies. One result of this was
that they applied proper names to the most conspicuous stars and
groups of stars which were borrowed partly from the animal world
around them, partly from their simple household effects, partly from
various qualities and circumstances which they noticed in the stars.
One tribe selected one name; another, another; and so it came to pass
that one star, or group of stars, frequently bears more than one
name. When, on the other hand, stars no less bright bear no names at
all, the probable reason is that only fragments of the astronomical
nomenclature of the Arab nomads have come down to us.
After this terminology had been transmitted by oral tradition,
and especially by folk-songs, for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
years in its original condition, it was combined into an entirely
heterogeneous mass—that variegated mixture which we find in the works
of Kazwini, Ulug Bekh, and others.
When the Arabs in their fanatic zeal for the spread of Mohammed’s
doctrines had conquered a great part of Asia, Africa, and Europe,
and established in the heart of the ancient world a mighty empire,
they adopted from the Greeks, with whom they had now come in
contact, their astronomy among other sciences, and with it the Greek
constellations and their method of distinguishing the stars according
to their position in the figures.[15]
Their astronomers now generally discriminated between the two classes
of names in attributing the one to the Arabs, the other to the
astronomers.
Abdelrahman Sufi, in the preface to his work on the constellations,
says there are two kinds of heavens to become acquainted with—that of
the astronomers and that of the Arabs. In the work itself he first
describes the constellations used by the astronomers, _i. e._, the
Greek ones, and then the old constellations of the Arabs. Kazwini in
every case mentions a genuine Arabic star-name when he speaks of the
Arabic, which is the case with almost every constellation.
Our early astronomers had very false notions of this relation of
the nomadic heavens of the ancient Arabs to the mythological one
of the Greeks adopted by their descendants. Schickard, in his
_Astroscopium_, says: “Instead of the Dragon the Arabs depict two
wolves and five dromedaries.” He means the two jackals and the family
of camels which the nomads represented under the five stars on the
head of the Dragon. The Arab astronomers drew the Greek dragon on
their charts and globes just as we do. They only looked on the old
jackals and camels as _names_ for some of its stars. In Golius and
Hyde we find a more correct view of the case.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Already in the ancient book of _Job_, whose hero has quite the
characteristics of a Nomadic Emir, we find some astronomical terms
whose analogy with the true Arabic star-names is unmistakable. See
_Job_, ix. 9; xxxviii. 31, 32.
ASTRONOMY WITHOUT A TELESCOPE.—J. E. GORE
It must be remembered that astronomy was studied ages before the
invention of the telescope, and that the ancient astronomers gained,
without any optical assistance, a considerable amount of knowledge
respecting the heavenly bodies.
Let us first consider the stars visible to the naked eye. The number
of these down to the sixth magnitude—about the faintest that average
eyesight can see—is, for both hemispheres, about 6,000. The number,
therefore, visible at _one_ time from any given place is about
3,000. Possibly double this number might be seen by those gifted
with exceptionally keen eyesight; but even this is a comparatively
small number, scattered as it is over so large an area. Those who do
not possess the power of effective enumeration estimate the number
visible to the naked eye as considerably greater than is really
the case. This is partly due to the irregular distribution of the
lucid stars over the celestial vault, and partly to the effect which
the aspect of the starry sky produces on the imagination; the fact
of the stars increasing in number as they diminish in brightness
inducing us to suspect the presence of points of light which we do
not actually see. An attempt to count those visible with _certainty_
in any selected portion of the sky will, however, convince any
intelligent person that the number, far from being large, is really
very small, and that the idea, which some entertain, of a countless
multitude is merely an optical illusion, and a popular fallacy
which has no foundation in fact. Of course, the number visible in
telescopes is very considerable. Perhaps with the largest telescopes
100,000,000 could be seen; but even this large number is very far
from being “countless.” The present population of the earth is about
1,400,000,000, or about fourteen times the number of the _visible_
stars!
The first thing to be done in studying the heavens with the naked
eye is to learn the positions and names of the brighter stars; and
from these the fainter ones may easily be identified by means of
a star atlas. Those who study the stars in this way have probably
a more intimate knowledge of the starry heavens than professional
astronomers, who generally find the stars—at least the fainter
ones—by referring to a catalogue of stars, and then setting their
telescope to the place indicated by the figures given in the
catalogue. Although the famous astronomer Sir William Herschel
possessed several large telescopes, he also studied the stars with
the naked eye, and it is related of this great observer that he could
without hesitation identify any star he could see in this way by its
name, letter, or number! Such an exhaustive knowledge of the heavens
is, of course, very rare; but an acquaintance with all the brighter
stars can easily be acquired by any person of ordinary intelligence.
The “Plow,” or Great Bear,[16] is familiar to most people. This
remarkable group of seven stars will be found very useful in
identifying some of the brighter stars. The two stars furthest
from the “tail” are called “pointers,” as they point nearly to the
Pole Star, or star to which the axis of the earth nearly points. I
say “nearly,” for the Pole Star is not _exactly_ at the pole, but
distant from it about three diameters of the moon. The northern of
these stars is known to astronomers by the Greek letter Alpha and
the southern as Beta. The others, following the order of the figure,
are known by the letters Gamma, Delta (the faintest of the seven),
Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta.[17] Now, if the curve formed by the three
stars in the tail, Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta, is continued on, it
will pass near a very bright star. This is Arcturus (Alpha of the
constellation Boötes), one of the brightest stars visible. Again, if
we draw an imaginary line from Gamma to Beta, and produce it, it will
pass near another bright star. This is Capella (Alpha of Auriga, “the
Charioteer” referred to by Tennyson).
Again, if we draw a line from Delta to Beta, and produce it, it will
pass near the tolerably bright stars, Castor and Pollux (Alpha and
Beta of the constellation Gemini, or the Twins), the northern of
the two being Castor. Another line from Delta to Gamma produced will
pass near a bright star called Regulus (Alpha of Leo, the Lion).
Another line from Beta to Eta will pass near a group called Corona
Borealis, or the Northern Crown.
[Illustration: Constellation of Orion, showing the Belt and Sword]
On the opposite side of the Pole Star from the Plow, a group of five
conspicuous stars will be found, forming a figure shaped somewhat
like a W. This is Cassiopeia’s Chair. Commencing with the most
westerly of the five, these stars are known as Beta, Alpha, Gamma,
Delta, and Eta. Like the stars of the Plow, those of Cassiopeia’s
Chair may be used to find other stars. For instance, a line drawn
from Beta to Alpha passes close to a star known as Gamma in
Andromeda; and the same line produced in the opposite direction will
pass a little north of the bright star Vega (Alpha Lyræ), one of the
brightest stars in the northern heavens. A line from Gamma to Alpha
produced will pass through the well-known “Square of Pegasus.”
To the east of Vega lies Cygnus, or the Swan, a well-known northern
constellation. It may be recognized by the long cross formed by its
principal stars, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon; Alpha, or
Deneb, being the most northern and brightest, and Beta the most
southern and faintest of the five.