An-nāqa (الناقة)

The Indigenous Arabian constellations of The Horse and The She-Camel next to the adopted Syrian constellation of the Love Goddess with a Fish (Andromeda) in an al-Sufi manuscript. Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 exhibition: al-Faras al-Kamil and al-Naqa.

الناقة, al-Nāqa or an-naqa, The She-Camel, is an Arabic/ Arabian asterism.

Etymology and History

al-Nāqa per Khalid AlAjaji

Al-Naqā constellation as defined by al-Ṣufī, mapped to the boundaries of the IAU constellations

Al-Nāqa was described in al-Anwaʾ books and by al-Ṣufī in his Book of Stars. Ibn Qutayba and al-Marzūqī have similar accounts, while al-Ṣufī gives a detailed precise description.

Al-Marzūqī said:

Behind al-Ridf in the Milky way is al-Kaff al-Ḫaḍīb of al-Ṯurayyā (the Henna dyed hand of al-Ṯurayyā), characterized by five bright stars that are not aligned. These stars are also considered the hump of a she-camel, likened to a finely bred, slender camel with a narrow nose. Its muzzle points southward, and its neck consists of a series of stars, descending from the head like a neck and then rising towards the hump. Additionally, there is a cloudy patch on the thigh, often referred to as the brand of the she-camel, which corresponds to Miʿṣam al-Ṯurayyā (the wrist of al-Ṯurayyā).

Ibn Qutayba had a similar account.

Al-Ṣufī have a precise outline of al-Nāqa. Here is his detailed description:

One of the prominent stars among the five stars of al-Kaff al-Ḫaḍīb is the 12th star [of Cassiopeia], located in the center of the back cushion. This star is marked on the astrolabe and referred to as al-Kaff al-Ḫaḍīb; it is also known as Sanām al-Nāqa (the Hump of the Camel), due to three preceding stars, situated on the right hand of the Chained Woman, Andromeda as named by Ptolemy. These three stars were mentioned by Ptolemy among the strars of Andromeda [the 7th, 8th, and 9th (ι, κ, λ Andromedae)].

Adjacent to the northernmost of these three stars lies another star that, together with the others, forms the head of the Camel. A sequence of smaller, faint stars connects this star to the bright one in the center of the back cushion, beginning near the hump and extending down to the mid-neck before ascending again to link with the head. This arrangement resembles a slender, fine bred camel with a thin neck and small head.

The first star at the head of the seated Woman (ζ Cas) marks the beginning of the camel's neck. The set of three body stars that connect to the head of Cassiopeia (α, η, γ) are at the base of the hump. The 12th star on the middle of the back cushion (β Cas), is positioned at the top of the hump. The sixth star of the seated Woman's leg (ε Cas) is on the rump, near the root of the tail. Beneath this sixth star and the fifth star from the knee is a small cloudy patch located in the hand of the One who grasps the head of al-Ġūl (Perseus), symbolizing the brand on the thigh of the she-camel.

Two additional stars on the right leg of the Chained Woman (51, 54 And) correspond to the two front legs of the she-camel, thus completing its resemblance. Ptolemy did not document the stars on the neck nor those forming the she-camel's body.

an-naqa, The She-Camel, is an Indigenous Arabian constellation (Laffitte 2012).

al-Nāqa in Laffitte (2012, 2025).

two versions of the Arabic constellation of The Camel next to Cassiopeia, both depictions from GALLICA.BNF.FR (Arabe 2490, Arabe 2492 dating 1516 and 1492).

Laffitte's identification is also available on his website.

Arabic	Arabic transliteration	English	author	identified stars
الناقة	al-Nāqa	the She-camel	Qutayba	figure
	Ra’s al-Nāqa	the Head of the She-camel	Ṣūfī, Ast.	ικλ And
	Fum al-Nāqa	the Mouth the She-camel	Māğid	ικ And
	Ḥalq al-Nāqa	the Throat the She-camel	Māğid	β And ( ?)
	ᶜUnq al-Nāqa	the Neck the She-camel	Māğid	ζ Cas
	Naḥr al-Nāqa	the Sloudler Blade ofthe She-camel	Ḏ. hay.	ζ Cas ( ?)
	Ẓahr al-Nāqa Aṣl al-Sanām	the Back the She-camel the Root of the Hump	Ṣūfī	αγδ Cas
	al-Š(a)dād	the Saddle	St. Ajaji	βαγδ ε Cas
	Sanām al-Nāqa	the Hump the She-camel	Ṣūfī	β Cas
	Ṭaraf al-Sanām	the Top of the Hump	Ṣūfī	β Cas
	Baṭn al-Nāqa	the Billy of the She-camel	Māğid	δε Cas
	Kifal al-Nāqa	the Buttock of the She-camel	Ṣūfī	ε Cas
	Aṣl Ḏanab al-Nāqa	the Root of the Tail of the She-camel	Ṣūfī	ε Cas
	Sima ᶜalā Faḫiḏ al-Nāqa	the Brand on the Thigh of the She-c.	Māğid	χh Per
	Yad al-Nāqa	the Hand of the She-camel	Ṣūfī	φυ Per

Reference

Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdallah b. Muslim. 1956. Kitāb al-anwāʾ (fī mawāsim al-ʿArab). Hyderabad: Maṭbaʿat Majlis Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmāniyya.

Al-Marzūqī, Abū ʿAli Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥassan (died 1030), Al-Azminah wa al-Amkinah (Times and Places), (Arabic print of the original book in 2002, World of Books, Beirut, Lebanon)., الإمام أبو علي أحمد بن محمد بن الحسن المرزوقي (توفي سنة 421 هـ)، الأزمنة والأمكنة، تحقيق د. محمد نايف الدليمي، عالم الكتب، بيروت، لبنان، 1422 هـ.

Kunitzsch, Paul. 1961. Untersuchungen zur Sternnomenklatur der Araber. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.

al-Ṣūfī, Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿUmar. 1981. Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thamāniya wa al-arbaʿīn. Beirut: Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda.