• Sumerian AL.LUL, (Allul) some sources call it Allab, "The Crab"; as found in the Sumerian allal_x, alla: net, seine; crab.
  • Another source calls AL.LUL, the River Crayfish, domicile (shu-bat d. Anim) of d.Anu.
  • Sumerian al: modal prefix: used before stative verbs; indicates distance, the speaker is not involved.
  • Sumerian lul, lu₅: n., liar; lie. v., to lie, deceive. adj., false; treacherous.
  • In the Albumasar of 1489 it is a large Crayfish; Bartschius and Lubienitzki, in the 17^th century, made it into a Lobster, and the latter added toward Gemini a small shrimp-like object which he called Cancer minor.
  
  
• Akkadian Allutu, which one source derives as "Voice-of-the-Sun-Place."
  • Another source states that in the ancient Akkadian it was called Su-kul-na, "the seizer," or "possessor of seed."
  • Richard H. Allens states: It is said to have been the Akkadian Sun of the South, perhaps from its position at the winter solstice in very remote antiquity; but afterwards it was associated with the fourth month Duzu, our June-July, and was known as the Northern Gate of the Sun, whence that luminary commences its retrograde movement.
  
  
• Egyptian/Coptic:
  • See the Denderah Zodiac, for more on Cancer.
  • Coptic Klaria, "The Folds," or "The Resting-Places."    Seventh day was God's day of rest.
  • Rolleston shows "folds," as seen in Psalm 50:9:
    • Hebrew mikla'ah, mik-law-aw', or miklaw, from Heb. kala, kaw-law', to restrict, thus a pen (for flocks), fold.
  • In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 147 "In the ancient Denderah Zodiac it (Cancer) is represented as a Scarabaeus, or sacred beetle (emblem of the resurrection of the body).    In the Zodiac of Esneh and in a Hindu Zodiac (400 B.C.) it is the same."    "The more ancient Egyptians place Hermanubis, or Hermes, with the head of an ibis or hawk, as the symbol of the sign now allotted to Cancer."    "The Denderah name is Klaria, or the cattle-folds and in this name we have the key to the meaning of the sign, and to the subject of this chapter."
  • Richard H. Allen comments, Kircher said that in Coptic Egypt it was Klaria, the Bestia seu Static Typhonis, the Power of Darkness; La Lande identifying this with Anubis, one of the divinities of the Nile country commonly associated with Sirius.    But the Jews assigned it to the tribe of Issachar, whom Jacob likened to the "strong ass" that each of the Aselli (asses - gamma, Asellus Borealis, and delta, Asellus Australis) represents; Dupuis asserting that these last titles were derived from this Jewish association.
  • 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 Cancer which is seen on page 42 shown here as and comments, "The entrance to the underworld is also closely associated with the Crab.    Some magical texts even speak of using the influence of the Crab in rites to raise ghosts from the land of shades and to make offerings to the dead.    I believe that the Crab has ultimately inherited these otherworldly traits (which relate it to the ancestral festival celebrated in late summer) and its strong association to rivers from the older constellation of the Serpent."
        As you can see for yourself the image for Cancer above has some correlation with the Round Denderah image and the Square Denderah image and and the hieroglyphic version , but see the Denderah Decan information for more detail.
  
  
• Syriac (ancient Aramaic) Sartano, "The One Who Holds."
  To the Syrians, and perhaps the later Chaldaeans, it was called Sartono.
  
  
• Arabic name is Al Sarta'n, "He who holds" or "binds together."   
  • Also shown as Al Saratan.
  • In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 148 "The Arabic name is Al Sartan, which means 'who holds,' or 'binds,' and may be from the Hebrew word, to bind together (Gen. 49:2)."
  • Frances Rolleston claims this is the Hebrew Sartan, who holds, or binds, thus the Biblical binding, Gen. 49:11, which means holder or bind, seize, or possess.
    • Binding
      • Hebrew 'açar, aw-sar', a prim. root, to yoke or hitch, fasten, thus join, bind, hold, keep, put in bonds or tie.
    • Sartan is not found in the Bible or Hebrew but is similar to:
      • Hebrew she'ar, sheh-awr', from Heb. sha'ar, shaw-ar', a prim. root, prop. to swell up, be redundant, thus a remainder, remnant, residue, rest.
  • Richard H. Allen comments it is the Hebrews Sartan; Arabians, Al Saratan, all words equivalent to Cancer.    Al Biruni added Al Liha’, the Soft Palate, but this was an early title of the Arabs in connection with their manzil Al Nathrah.
  
  
• Roman (Noetic form) Khan, "The Traveler's Resting Place" or (Arabic) Khan, an Inn, and ker or cer, "Embraced," or "Encircled."    Thus Khan-Cer or Cancer, per the Romans means "The Traveler's Resting Place for the Encircled" or the "Embraced."
  • Rolleston agrees that the Latin, Cer, means encircling, in the Arabic sense.
  • Greek Karkinos, means encircling, same as the Latin Cancer.
    • Richard H. Allen stated that, Aratos called it Karkinos, which Hipparchos and Ptolemy followed; the Carcinus of the Alfonsine Tables being the Latinized form of the Greek word.    Eratosthenes extended this as Karkinos, Onoi, kai phatne, the Crab, Asses, and Crib; and other Greeks have said Opisthobamon, and Oktapous, the Octipes of Ovid and Propertius.    Litoreus, Shore-inhabiting, is from Manilius and Ovid; Astacus (the European crayfish) and Cammarus (the mantis shrimp) appear with various classic writers; and Nepa is from Cicero's De Finibus and the works of Columella, Manilius, Plautus, and Varro, — all signifying Crab, or Lobster, although more usual, and perhaps more correct, for Scorpio.    Festus, the grammarian of the 3^rd century, said that this was an African word equivalent to Sidus, a Constellation or Star.
  • Sumerian dag: n., resting-place, dwelling; v., to add; to stretch (out); to roam about.
  
  
• Latin Cancer, the Crab or Scarabaeus, holding the possession as in Gen 26:14.
  • Possession.
    • Hebrew 'achuzzah, akh-ooz-zaw', fem. pass. part from Heb. 'achaz, thus something seized, possession.

Cancer the crab, is also seen as a tortoise, turtle.

• Turtle
  • Sumerian ^(ku6)ba: a shelled creature (such as a turtle or a snail); also found in a word like Sumerian sig₄-ba: turtle shell (?) ('brick; wall' + 'turtle').
    • The Arabs had the title Al Kubbah, the Tortoise, for Corona Australis.    Al Sufi is our authority for the Arabs' Al Kubbah, literally the Tortoise, but secondarily the Woman's Tent, or traveling apartment, from its form; and it was Al Hiba', the Tent.
  • Another word to consider is the Sumerian kúšu: turtle (cf., ŠIM×KÚŠU, where 'whale' must be meant) (ku₆, 'fish', + šú, 'to cover').
    • Sumerian ŠIM×KÚŠU: ambergris ('aromatic substance' + 'turtle; whale ?'), a waxy substance secreted by whales, used in perfumes.
  • On source claims that the Tortoise was Cancer to the ancient Mesopotamians and the Greeks, later the Babylonians saw it as a crab as we do today.
    • Jensen makes it the Tortoise of Babylonia, and it was so figured there and in Egypt 4,000 B.C.; although in the Egyptian records of about 2,000 B.C. it was described as a Scarabaeus, sacred, as its specific name sacer signifies, and an emblem of immortality.    This was the Greek karabos (or Kharabos).
  • Hebrew towr, tore, or tor, probably succession, a string, order, border, row, turn, thus a ring-dove, often (fig.) as a term of endearment, (turtle) dove.
  • In Sagittarius under Lyra one of its stars is named g Sulaphat, which is Arabic for "tortoise."
    • According to Allen: found in the Alfonsine Tables and other bygone lists; Shalyak and Sulahfat, words for the Tortoise, Ulug Beg's translator having the former as Shelyak, which Piazzi repeated in his catalogue; Salibak, which heads Kazwini's chapter on the Lyre; — Ideler tracing these Arabic words to Khelus.    They were turned into Azulafe and Zuliaca in the original Alfonsine Tables, and Schaliaf in Chilmead's Treatise.

• Known as der Krebs to the Germans, — die Krippe of Bayer; le Cancre, or l’Ecrevisse, of the French; and il Cancro or Granchio of the Italians.
• The early Sanskrit name was Karka and Karkata, the Tamil Karkatan, and the Cingalese Kathaca; but the later Hindus knew it as Kulira, from Kolonros, the term originated by Proclus.
• The Persians had it as Chercjengh and Kalakang.
• Turks called it Lenkutch.
• Al Hamar'ein (in error) the kids or lambs:
  • In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 148 "Al Himarein (Arabic), means the kids or lambs."
  • Al Himarain is the sixth manzil, the g and d star (g, d, e Cancri).
    • Allen commented: ... The manzil, Al Nathrah, the Gap in the hair under the muzzle of the supposed immense ancient Lion, was chiefly formed by Praesaepe; but later gamma (Asellus Borealis) and delta (Asellus Australis) – the Aselli - were sometimes included, when it was Al Himarain, the Two Asses, a title adopted from the Greeks.
  
  
• Al Ma'lat.
  
  
• Fum al A'sad (Arabic idea of Cancer).    A'sad usually means lion.

• Fence or Enclosure.
  • Hebrew gader, gaw-dare', from Heb. gadar, gaw-dar', a primary root to wall in, inclose, thus a circumvallation, by implication an inclosure, fence, hedge, wall. Note the Cattle-Fold.
  • Sumerian ^gišukur: fence.
  • Sumerian nigin₍₂₎: n., enclosure, circle; a large vessel; capacity; whole (cf., kilib); v., to halt, turn away; to turn round; to surround; to assemble; to pen up cattle; to wander about; to circle; to make the rounds (usually nígin[LAGAB] for hamtu form and nigin[LAGAB.LAGAB] for marû form) (ní;ne4, 'fear', + gin, 'to go').
  • Sumerian É.TÙR, Akkadian tarbasu, means "The Cattle Pen," also see Ursa Minor.
    • Sumerian é-tùr: cattle pen ('house' + 'stable').
    • Sumerian na-kab-tum: cattle pen (Semitic loanword ?).
    • One source shows Sumerian sagtur, pen of the inside, birth house of the inside, womb.