From The Alpha and the Omega - Volume III
by Jim A. Cornwell, Copyright © July 20, 2002, all rights reserved
"Volume III - The First Month - Constellation Names for Cassiopeia"
In the First Month of Aries
Cassiopeia, the Queen, Enthroned Woman
The constellation name for Cassiopeia:
Cassiopeia lies opposite Ursa Major across the celestial north pole. The stars a, g, b, d, and e make up the famous 'W', which can be seen throughout the year as an E, M, and a 3 as it rotates.
- Queen, seen in a chair, high and lifted.
- Sumerian gašan: lady, mistress; queen (cf., ga-ša-an) (Emesal dialect word, in which nin becomes šan).
- Sumerian nin: queen, mistress, proprietress, lady; lord.
- Sumerian mí: n., woman; female (cf. also, munus). adj., feminine.
- Sumerian munus; nunus(Emesal): female; woman (mí, 'woman', + nuz/nus, 'egg') (cf., mí, nunuz, and nitah).
- Sumerian mí-ús-sá: bride ('woman' + 'to come near to' + 'to equal in value').
- Hebrew gebiyrah, gheb-ee-raw', from Heb. gebiyr, gheb-eer', from Heb. gabar, gaw-bar, to be strong, be mighty, prevail, thus a master, lord, thus a mistress, or queen.
- Hebrew malkah, mal-kaw', fem. of Heb. melek, meh'-lek, from Heb. malak, maw-lak', ascend to the throne, be queen, thus a queen.
- Hebrew shegal, shay-gawl', from Heb. shagal, shaw-gal', a primary root to copulate with, lie with, ravish, thus a queen (from cohabitation).
- The Queen of Heaven, Hebrew melekheth ha-shamayim, is mentioned in Jeremiah 7:18, "... makes cakes to the queen of heaven ..."
- Hebrew kallah, kal-law', from Heb. kalal, kaw-lal, to complete, perfect, thus bride.
- Phoenician "royal family" constellation, was termed "She of the Throne
," and considered as the vain, boastful wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda (i.e. Cassiopeia).
- Greeks knowing it as Kassiepeia E tou thronou, 'Cassiopeia, She of the Throne'; and Hyde gave it the title Inthronata. The constellation is often referred to as Cassiopeia's throne because the stars clearly outline the chair upon which the queen sits.
- Throne.
- Sumerian gišgal: chair; throne; station (giš, 'wooden thing', + gal, 'big, great').
- Sumerian barag, bára, bár: throne dais; ruler; cult platform; stand, support; chamber, dwelling; crate, box; sack (bara5,6, 'king', + aka/ag, 'to make').
- Sumerian bárag, bàra, bàr: nest.
- Under the Gemini Introduction one source claims that Guda, means a priestly class.
- Sumerian gudug, gudu4, gúda: a ritually pure priest; divinely anointed.
- Also that the word Guzala, means throne-bearer.
- Sumerian guzza: throne; chair.
- Sumerian (giš)gu-za: chair (cf., guzza).
- Hebrew kiççe', kis-say', or kiççeh, kis-say', from Heb. kaçah, kaw-saw', a primary root properly to plump, i.e. fill up hollows, by implication to cover (for clothing or secrecy), thus properly covered, i.e. a throne (as canopied), seat, stool, throne.
- Greek bema, bay'-ma, from the base of Gr. basis, bas'-ece, from Gr. baino (to walk), a pace ("base"), i.e. the foot, foot, thus a step, i.e. foot-breath, by implication a rostrum, i.e. tribunal, judgment seat, set [foot] on, throne.
- Greek thronos, thron'-os, from Gr. thrao (to sit), a stately seat ("throne"), by implication power or (concr.) a potentate, seat, throne.
- In archaic cuneiform tablets Cassiopea was called Kas-se-ba.
- Cassiopea then may derive from Qassiu-peaer, "beautiful," "rosy-faced."
- Beautiful.
- The Hebrew is seen as the following words kiççe'-pa'ar or "Beautiful of the Throne".
- Hebrew kiççe', kis-say' (as seen above).
- Hebrew pa'ar, paw-ar', a primary root to gleam, i.e. (causat.) embellish, fig. to boast, also to explain (i.e. make clear) oneself, denom. from Heb. peorah, peh-o-raw', or pora'h, po-raw', or pu'rah, poo-raw', thus ornamentation, thus to shake a tree, beautify, boast self, go over the boughs, glorify (self), glory, vaunt self.
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 107 "Cassiopea, the enthroned, the beautiful."
Latin Cassiopea.
Greek Kassiepeia.
- Greeks knowing it as Kassiepeia E tou thronou, 'Cassiopeia, She of the Throne'; and Hyde gave it the title Inthronata. The constellation is often referred to as Cassiopeia's throne because the stars clearly outline the chair upon which the queen sits.
Celtic Llys Don, home of the king of the fairies.
In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 107 "Ulugh Bey says Arabic name (Cassiopea) is El Seder, the Freed."
- One of Cassiopea's stars is a Schedar, which is Arabic for "beast," or "breast." Another spelling is Shedar, which means "The Freed."
Egyptian/Coptic:
- To the Egyptians, "known as the Leg," under the control of the god Set. The priest of Egypt saw a star of the coming Messiah or even Moses (i.e. "one who cometh").
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 107 "In the Denderah Zodiac Her (Cassiopeia) name is Set, which means set, set up as Queen. ALBUMAZER says this constellation was anciently called 'the daughter of splendor.'"
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 101 "In the Denderah Zodiac her (Andromeda) name is Set, which means set, set up as a queen. In Hebrew it is Sirra, the chained, and Persea, the stretched out."
- On the Denderah Zodiac above Aries are three connected figures representing Cassiopeia and Andromeda under Pisces.
- Some claim these to be seen as a goat, baboon and hawk.
- The first figure to the lower left is a goat-like animal with its back against the figure to the right, which some claim is a baboon with a long tail, but it has the appearance of a dog, the same which is seen in Denderah Decan 8 and Grand Temple Decan 13, in the same sitting position with hands on its thighs. Perched on top of both of them we see a hawk figure wearing the white crown of Egypt.
- The claim is that its name is Set, seated as queen, as can be seen above it is not sure just which is claiming to be this.
- Triangulum - the triangle. In Aries we find the Hebrew word Taleh for Ram. Notice the connection to some of the names for this constellation. Almutaleh, Almutal'lath, Almutla'to, Al Muthal'lath, Mutlaton', Al Mizan.
- The star: a Tri Mothallah or "triangle," Caput Trianguli "head of the triangle," Mothallah, Metallah, Ras al Muthallah, Elmuthalleth.
- One-source claims, Triangulum "Above the Ram and Fishes is a complex trinity composed of a goat, a baboon, and a hawk with the white crown on its head. These three represent material, physical and spiritual consciousness." "They are bonded to Aries and Pisces at the east fish with the Utchat."
- Allen states: The Arabians translated our title as Al Muthallath, variously seen in Western usage as Almutallath, Almutaleh, Almutlato, Mutlat, Mutlaton, Mutlathum, Mutlathun, and Mutlatun, with probably still other similarly degenerated forms of the original.
The Jews are said to have known it as Shalish, from the name of an instrument of music of triangular shape, or with three cords, mentioned in the 1st Book of Samuel, xviii, 6. This same figure, for the three bright stars of Aries, has already been noticed at gamma of that constellation.
The Babylonians worshipped her as Mylitta, i.e. generative (please see Virgo Introduction section for more on this subject).
- Allen comments: In Assyria Virgo represented Baaltis, Belat, Belit, and Beltis, Bel's wife; while some thought her the Mylitta of Herodotus. But this was a very different divinity, the Babylonian Molatta, the Moon, the Mother, or Queen, of Heaven, against whose worship the Jews were warned in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, xliv, 17, 19, and should not be confounded with Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, that our figure symbolized.
- Our Monday, or Moon-day, indicates the former prevalence of the moon-worship (Isa. 65:11 "they that forsake the LORD, ... forget my holy mountain, ... prepare a table for that troop, ... furnish drink offering unto that number.").
- According to Gesenius and Kimchi, the word troop, rather Gad (a var. of the Heb. gad, gawd), is the Babylonian god of fortune, the planet of Jupiter, answers to Baal or Bel. The Arabs called it "the Greater Good Fortune," and the planet Venus answering to Meni, "the Lesser Good Fortune."
- Jerome claims that tables were laid out for their idols with all kinds of viands, and a cup containing a mixture of wine and honey, in Egypt especially, on the last day of the year.
- Meni (the moon) as goddess of fortune was thought to number the fates of men.
- Number.
- Hebrew Meniy, men-ee', from Heb. manah, maw-naw', to weigh out, allot, count set, tell, thus Apportioner, i.e. Fate, as an idol, number, and probably Ashtaroth or Astarte (1 Kings 11:33 "have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon."). Gad is probably the god of the sun.
Other names for Cassiopea: Dhat al Kursi'yy, Dhath Alcursi', Dath Elkarti', Al Thuray'ya [Al Orf or Urf (Nova)].
- Allen claims: The Arabians called it Al Dhat al Kursiyy, the Lady in the Chair, — Chilmead's Dhath Alcursi, — the Greek proper name having no signification to them; but the early Arabs had a very different figure here, in no way connected with the Lady as generally is supposed, — their Kaff al Hadib, the large Hand Stained with Henna, the bright stars marking the fingertips; although in this they included the nebulous group in the left hand of Perseus. Chrysococca gave it thus in the Low Greek Kheir bebamene; and it sometimes was the Hand of, i. e. next to, the Pleiades, while Smyth said that in Arabia it even bore the title of that group, Al Thurayya, from its comparatively condensed figure.
See Star Names of Cassiopeia.
This file updated on July 15, 2008.
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