Apdu: Difference between revisions

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=== Origin of Constellation ===
=== Origin of Constellation ===
[[File:Lepsius-228-III-ramsèsVI-détail.jpg|thumb|schema of a Ramesside Star Clock (Fonctionnement d'une horloge ramesside.) from Karl Richard Lepsius - Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien: Nach den Zeichnungen der von Seiner Majestät dem Könige von Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach diesen Ländern gesendeten und in den Jahren 1842-1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition.]]
[[File:Lepsius-228-III-ramsèsVI-détail.jpg|thumb|schema of a Ramesside Star Clock (Fonctionnement d'une horloge ramesside.) from Karl Richard Lepsius - Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien: Nach den Zeichnungen der von Seiner Majestät dem Könige von Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach diesen Ländern gesendeten und in den Jahren 1842-1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition.]]
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks and identified by right ascension.
The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star clocks (RSC) are astronomical devices developed 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)<ref name=":0">Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> and Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":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.</ref>. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)<ref>Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'', vol. III. Providence: Brown University.</ref> thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)<ref name=":0" /> followed  N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for varios motives. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)<ref name=":2">Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer. </ref>. 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<ref>Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. ''Journal of the History of Astronomy'', ''16'', 102–104.</ref>). The constellation Bird could be the one represented in the northern sector of several celestial diagrams.  

Belmonte first  defended his ideas at SEAC2001 in Stockholm (Belmonte, 2003)<ref name=":1" /> that were later used for posterior works such as Belmonte and Lull (2023)<ref>Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer. </ref>.

Among these hypotheses, it was proposed to locate the 3 stars of the Ramesside Star clocks located in the constellation Apd (Apdu) in Triangulum and close to Algol (proposal recently endorsed by Belmonte and Lull, 2023)<ref name=":2" />. Pegasus is far in RA.

Belmonte (2003)<ref name=":1" /> proposal was, considering the corresponding RA:

* . AlphaTri: Banat net Apdu (the Peak of the Bird)
* - BetaTri: Tep en Apdu (the Head of the Bird)
* - A star in the area of Algol: Hetyt net Apdu (the Throat of the Bird).

Being imaginative and avoiding nterference with the stars in the Ramesside tables, which were probably the brightest in the constellation, we may even suggest for γ Tri a name of something certainly located in the head of Apdu, for example the Eye (the peak is already another hour-star).


==== Spelling Variants ====
==== Spelling Variants ====
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== IAU Working Group on Star Names ==
== IAU Working Group on Star Names ==
Alpha and Beta Trianguli are already named but Gamma is not. Apdu is the name of a constellation so it is not appropriate for a single star. Considering RA, GammaTri could have served as an hour-star as well as BetaTri (similar RA) and possibly formed part of the head of the Bird "Tep en Apdu" which could be a good name for it but this can cause confusion with BetaTri.

So, "Iret net Apdu", the Eye of the Bird, could be a good name for GammaTri. Considering that the name that the WGSN is often proposing for stars must be a single word and that the vowels "e" we normally include in Egyptian words are an artifact for easy reading into Indo-European languages ...

We may propose "Irtentapdu" as the name of  GammaTri as the easiest and simple way to try to pronounce the Egyptian Irt-nt-apd(w), the Eye of the Bird.

Irtentapdu (for the eye of the bird, γ Tri) was proposed as a star name in 2023/5 in WGSN. Egyptian language does not spell all letters; in Irt-nt-Apd(w) some vowels can be added for easier pronounciation.
Irtentapdu (for the eye of the bird, γ Tri) was proposed as a star name in 2023/5 in WGSN. Egyptian language does not spell all letters; in Irt-nt-Apd(w) some vowels can be added for easier pronounciation.


Latest revision as of 14:49, 2 October 2025

Apd(w), ȝpd, The Bird, is an ancient Egyptian constellation. There are at least 21 spelling variants[1] throughout the millennia in hierglyphs, and it is probably not any specific one.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Origin of Constellation

schema of a Ramesside Star Clock (Fonctionnement d'une horloge ramesside.) from Karl Richard Lepsius - Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien: Nach den Zeichnungen der von Seiner Majestät dem Könige von Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach diesen Ländern gesendeten und in den Jahren 1842-1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition.

The constellation is mentioned in the Ramesside Star Clocks and identified by right ascension. Ramesside Star clocks (RSC) are astronomical devices developed 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)[2] and Belmonte (2003)[3]. Pioneers Neugebauer and Parker (1969)[4] thought this was a worthless exercise.

Leitz (1995)[2] followed  N&P hypothesis of stars transiting close to the southern horizon and reached a solution which for Belmonte (2003) was not satisfactory for varios motives. These are amply discussed in Lull and Belmonte (2006 & 2009)[5]. 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[6]). The constellation Bird could be the one represented in the northern sector of several celestial diagrams.  

Belmonte first  defended his ideas at SEAC2001 in Stockholm (Belmonte, 2003)[3] that were later used for posterior works such as Belmonte and Lull (2023)[7].

Among these hypotheses, it was proposed to locate the 3 stars of the Ramesside Star clocks located in the constellation Apd (Apdu) in Triangulum and close to Algol (proposal recently endorsed by Belmonte and Lull, 2023)[5]. Pegasus is far in RA.

Belmonte (2003)[3] proposal was, considering the corresponding RA:

  • . AlphaTri: Banat net Apdu (the Peak of the Bird)
  • - BetaTri: Tep en Apdu (the Head of the Bird)
  • - A star in the area of Algol: Hetyt net Apdu (the Throat of the Bird).

Being imaginative and avoiding nterference with the stars in the Ramesside tables, which were probably the brightest in the constellation, we may even suggest for γ Tri a name of something certainly located in the head of Apdu, for example the Eye (the peak is already another hour-star).

Spelling Variants

  • Apedu
  • Apdu
  • Apd(w)

Identifications

The area of The Bird must cover a region in Triangulum and close to Algol. Belmonte and Lull (2011) proposed the following identifications:

  • (a) Banat net Apdu (the Peak of the Bird) - α Tri
  • (b) Tep en Apdu (the Head of the Bird) - β Tri
  • (c) Hetyt net Apdu (The Throat of the Bird) - a star close to Algol
  • (d) Iret net Apdu (the Eye of the Bird) - γ Tri

Sources, Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

Here we give a list of all sources where the name is attested.

Source Identification

Religion/ Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

IAU Working Group on Star Names

Alpha and Beta Trianguli are already named but Gamma is not. Apdu is the name of a constellation so it is not appropriate for a single star. Considering RA, GammaTri could have served as an hour-star as well as BetaTri (similar RA) and possibly formed part of the head of the Bird "Tep en Apdu" which could be a good name for it but this can cause confusion with BetaTri.

So, "Iret net Apdu", the Eye of the Bird, could be a good name for GammaTri. Considering that the name that the WGSN is often proposing for stars must be a single word and that the vowels "e" we normally include in Egyptian words are an artifact for easy reading into Indo-European languages ...

We may propose "Irtentapdu" as the name of  GammaTri as the easiest and simple way to try to pronounce the Egyptian Irt-nt-apd(w), the Eye of the Bird.

Irtentapdu (for the eye of the bird, γ Tri) was proposed as a star name in 2023/5 in WGSN. Egyptian language does not spell all letters; in Irt-nt-Apd(w) some vowels can be added for easier pronounciation.

Weblinks

References

  1. ↑ Bojowald, Stefan (2024). Überlegungen zu den Schreibungen des ägyptischen Wortes ȝpd „Vogel“, Équipe Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne: PDF
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Leitz, Ch., 1995. Altägyptische Sternuhren. OLA, 62. Leuven: Peeters.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 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.
  4. ↑ Neugebauer, O. and Parker, R. A., 1969. Egyptian Astronomical Texts, vol. III. Providence: Brown University.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
  6. ↑ Davis, V. L., 1985. Identifying Ancient Egyptian Constellations. Journal of the History of Astronomy, 16, 102–104.
  7. ↑ Belmonte, J.A. andd Lull, J., 2023. Astronomy in ancient Egypt: a cultural perspective. Cham: Springer.
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