From The Alpha and the Omega - Volume III
by Jim A. Cornwell, Copyright © July 20, 2002, all rights reserved
"Volume III - The Fourth Month - Constellation Names for Argo Navis"
In the Fourth Month of Cancer
Argo Navis, the Ship
The constellation name for Argo Navis:
- One source claims the Euphratean star lists for this constellation include:
- Sumero-Akkadian Ma-Ganda-Anna.
- Babylonian-Assyrian Elipp-nakbi-same.
- Phoenician Sephenah, "Ship-of-the-Canal-of-Heaven," (i.e. Milky Way was canal of heaven).
- Rolleston claims that Sephina, the multitude, a nebula is from the Biblical abundance, in Deut. 33:19.
- Abundance.
- Hebrew shepha', sheh'-fah, from an unused root meaning to abound, resources, abundance.
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 160, "Sephina, the multitude or abundance."
- In the "Gospel of the Stars, by Joseph Seiss, page 128, "Sephina, multitudinous good, the very abundance."
- Arabic Al Safinah
.
- The Arabians called it Al Safinah, a Ship, and Markab, something to ride upon, that two or three centuries ago in Europe were transcribed Alsephina and Merkeb.
Egyptian/Coptic:
- See Denderah Zodiac, Argo Navis for more information on this constellation.
- The Egyptians believed Argo Navis was the boat that carried Isis and Osiris during a global deluge.
- In his work “BABYLONIAN STAR-LORE: An Illustrated Guide to the Star-lore and Constellations of Ancient Babylonia,” by Gavin White gives this image of Argo Navis which is seen on page 48 shown here as
and comments, "The circle of life is now complete as the souls of the dead rejoin their ancestors among the circumpolar stars. But even the underworld is not an absolute end to the cycle of life; it is in fact a new beginning - as souls destined for a new birth now depart the ancestral realm to travel towards the worlds of the living. The constellation of the Cargo-boat has been placed among the stars to represent just this process - the boat upon the waters represents the foetus in the amniotic fluid and its 'cargo' is composed of symbols that indicate the sex of the child."
As you can see for yourself the image for Argo Navis above has no correlation with the Round Denderah image 
, but see the Denderah Decan information for more detail.
In Greek Mythology was the ship, which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece. It was between 1236 BC to 975 BC, that the story of the Argonauts of Homer took place.
- Greek and Latin Argo, "the company of travelers (Gen. 37:25)," according to Rolleston.
- Rolleston and in "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 153-154, "While Arcas, or Arctos (Artic regions) a traveling company or Gen. 37:25, the stronghold of the saved."
- Company.
- Hebrew 'orechah, o-rekh-aw', fem. act. part. of Heb. 'arach, aw-rakh', a primary root to travel, go, wayfaring (man), thus a caravan, (traveling) company.
- Others claim it was called Argus, son of Phrixis who built it, or it is from the Greek word argos, swift, as being a light sailor, and to the city of Argos, where it was built.
- Navis comes from an indo-European root nau, boat or ship, from Greek naus, is the German Schiff, the French Navire Argo, and the Italian Nave Argo.
In 1750 Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille divided the constellation into four smaller ones: Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela.
See Star Names for Argo Navis.
This page last updated on July 15, 2008, and March 30, 2010.
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