From The Alpha and the Omega - Volume III
by Jim A. Cornwell, Copyright © July 20, 2002, all rights reserved
"Volume III - The Twelfth Month - Constellation Names for Cepheus"
In the Twelfth Month - Pisces.
Cepheus, the (Crowned) King, Royal Branch.
The constellation name for Cepheus:
- Latin Cepheus, was the King of Ethiopia, or Joppa.
- Ethiopian name was Hyh, a king.
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 103 "An old Ethiopian name was Hyk, a King."
- King Cepheus, a Phoenician constellation, the father of Andromeda, was also known as:
- Baal Katsiu, "Lord of the Promontory."
- Promontory means to project, a peak of high land that juts out into a body of water; headland.
- Baal Tsephon, "Lord of the North," or "Lord of the North Wind."
- Baal-Zephon (ba"-al-ze'-fon).
- Hebrew Ba'al Tsephown, bah'-al-tsef-one',
from Hebrew Baal, a Phoenician deity, Baalim (plural), usually meaning lord,
and Hebrew tsaphown, tsaw-fone', or tsaphon, from Heb. tsaphan, tsaw-fan, to hide, thus properly hidden, i.e. dark, used only of the north as a quarter (gloomy and unknown) - north (-ern, side, -ward, wind), also (in the sense of cold) [according to others an Egyptian form of Typhon, the destroyer], Baal of winter, Baal Tse-phon, a place in Egypt.
- Baal-Gad (ba"-al-gad').
- Hebrew Ba'al Gad, bah'-al gawd,
Baal as seen above,
whereas Gad, is a Babylonian deity, Fortune, that troop,
thus Baal of Fortune, a place in Syria.
- The Euphratean Ualuzun, "numerous flock."
- Arab al-Aghnan, "the Sheep."
- One source calls this Al Aghman.
- Richard H. Allen states: Arabian astronomers translated Inflammatus into Al Multahab; but the nomads knew Cepheus, or at least some of its stars, as Al Aghnam, the Sheep, and thus associated with the supposed Fold, a large figure around the pole very visible traces of which appear in the nomenclature of components of this and other circumpolar constellations. Bayer specified certain of these, — eta, theta, gamma (Alrai), kappa, pi, and rho, — as the Shepherd, his Dog, and the Sheep; but Smyth alluded to the whole of Cepheus as the Dog, Cassiopeia being his mate. Riccioli quoted from Kircher, as to these, the Arabic "Raar, Kelds & San: nempe Pastorem, Canem, Oves," more correctly transcribed Rai’, Kalb, and Sham.
- Richard H. Allen comments: Achilles Tatios, probably of our 5th century, claimed that the constellation was known in Chaldaea twenty-three centuries before our era, when the earthly King was recognized in that country's myths as the son of Belos, of whom Pliny wrote, Inventor hic fuit sideralis scientiae.
- Shepherd.
- Hebrew ra'ah, raw-aw', a primary root to tend a flock.
- Sumerian PA+USAN: a shepherd.
- One source claims that based on g Gamma (0 Gem) was Ar-rai
, the Shepherd, and r Rho (1 Gem) was Kelb-ar-rai, the Shepherd's Dog, this supposes that Cepheus was a sort of Shepherd-King of the North.
- Under Pisces in the constellation Cepheus, one source references a star r Rho 2 Cephei named Al Kalb al Ra'i, to reference Kelb-ar-rai, or Cebelrai "the shepherd's dog."
- Chel'eb or Celbalra'i, "dog of the shepherd, also Arabic Kalb ar-Ra'i, "The shepherd's dog."
- The b star in Ophiuchus and Serpens is also called Chelbalrai, "the serpent enfolding."
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 57 "b (in the jaw), named in the Arabic, Cheleb, or Chelbalrai, the serpent enfolding."
- Rolleston places "Arabic, Cheleb, or Chelbalrai, the serpent enfolding," in Ophiuchus.
- Dog.
- Hebrew keleb, keh'-leb, from an unused root meaning to yelp, or else to attack, a dog.
- One star name in Cepheus promotes this g Errai which is Arabic for "shepherd." This star is the vertex of the "roof" of the house or pentagram and it lies only about 13 degrees from the North Star.
- Also called Alrai which is at his left knee means "He Who Bruises or Breaks."
- Rolleston references it as "Al Rai and Errai, who bruise, breaks."
"The Crowned King," depicts a picture of a bearded man who wears a crown, seated upon a thrown. In his uplifted hand he holds a sceptre and in his right hand he holds a portion of his robe. His right foot is on the Pole star, the central point of all the galaxies and heavens.
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 174 with reference to the Zodiac of Denderah "we see Him in the mighty Hercules, who has his foot on the head of the Dragon (Draco), and his up-lifted club about to inflict the long threatened blow; we see Him crowned in Cepheus, with all His enemies subdued, and His right foot planted upon the Polar Star (ram on top of Ursa Major)."
- King.
- Hebrew melek.
- Greek basileus, king.
- Sumerian bara5,6: king.
- Sumerian lugal: king; owner, master (lú, 'man', + gal, 'big').
Branch.
- Rolleston claims the "Greek Cepheus, the Branch, called by Euripides the king."
- Rolleston states the "Hebrew Cepheus, the branch (branches, Lev. 23:40)."
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 103 "from the Hebrew, and means 'the branch'."
- Hebrew kaph, kaf, from Heb. kaphaph, kaw-faf', a primary root to curve, bow down, thus the hollow hand or palm, fig. power, branch.
- One source claims that Cepheus comes from the Hebrew zemah, the Branch, which can be seen in Pisces.
- Sumerian (giš)pa: leaf, bud, sprout; branch; wing; feather.
- Sumerian pa-sa-lal-a: a bundle of brushwood ('branch' + 'bundle' + 'to lift, carry; to bind' + nominative).
- Sumerian pa-TAR: cut-off branches/twigs ('branch' + 'to cut off').
Sumerian UD.KA.DU8.A, "The Demon with the Gaping Mouth," Cygnus and part of Cepheus.
Sumerian ud, (storm) demon + ka, mouth + du8, open, to crack open + a, the.
- [Also see UD.KA.DU8.A as found under Aquarius in the Cygnus constellation].
- From www.lexiline.com, "On the 15th of Kislimu, the Leopard UD.KA.DUCH.A (reference to Cygnus)."
- Leopard.
- Hebrew namer, naw-mare', from an unused root meaning properly to filtrate, i.e. be limpid, and spot or stain as if by dripping, a leopard (from its stripes), leopard, with a reference to Hebrew Nimrowd, nim-rode', or Nimrod.
- Greek pardalis, par'-dal-is, fem. of Gr. pardos (a panther), a leopard, leopard.
- In Assyro-Babylonian myth, seven evil demons of the utukki, are the ugallu-demon, gallu-demons - can frequently alter their form.
- Sumerian ud, u4: n., sun; light; day; time; weather; storm (demon). prep., when; since.
- Sumerian ud5: (cf., ùz).
- Sumerian udug, utug: pitfall; a demonic being.
- Sumerian ka: mouth.
- Sumerian ká: gate.
- Sumerian ka5-(a): fox.
- KAD, (the lofty) Mesopotamian / Sumerian, solar title as an uplifted hand with fingers erect. Egyptian hieroglyph shows two uplifted hands conjoined with a phonetic value of Ka. "King Ka," Ka derived from the sign Kad or Kat, with the final d dropped as a derivation of the Egyptian hieroglyph. (Note Ka'a).
- Sumerian du8: (cf., duh).
- Sumerian duh, du8: n., residue, by-product; bran. v., to crack, loosen, open; to untie; to caulk a boat; to adorn; to gouge (eyes); to bake bread/bricks.
- Sumerian (giš)sa-du8(-a): a tool ('net, bundle' + 'residue' + nominative).
- Sumerian (giš)eme-sa-du8-a: a tool ('tongue' + 'net' + 'open' + nominative).
- Sumerian igi...du8: to see (often with -ni- or bi-) ('eye' + 'to crack open').
- Sumerian a, e4: n., water; watercourse, canal; seminal fluid; offspring; father; tears; flood; interj., alas!; prep., locative suffix - where; in; when - denotes movement towards or in favor of a person; def. article, nominalizing suffix for a noun or noun clause, denoting 'the'.
Egyptian/Coptic:
- On Denderah Zodiac, Cepheus is seen as a figure of a small sheep like Aries connected to or sitting on a large front leg of an animal (Ursa Major). It has the same curved horns and is glancing backward in the same posture as Aries.
- Some source state it is known as Per-Ku-hor, or unsure of Pe-ku-hor, meaning "this one cometh to rule."
- In the "Gospel of the Stars," Joseph Seiss, page 86, states "In the Zodiac of Denderah a figure of a large front leg of an animal connected with a small figure of a sheep (Cepheus), in the same posture as Aries. Its Egyptian name is Pe-ku-hor, the Ruler that cometh."
- In "The Witness of the Stars," by E.W. Bullinger, page 103 "His (Cepheus) name in the Denderah Zodiac is Pe-ku-hor, which means this one cometh to rule."
- 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 Cepheus which is seen on page 48 shown here as
and comments, "In the northern reaches of the winter skies we find the Panther, the sacred beast of Nergal, the king of the dead. His constellation image has been purposefully set in the upper reaches of the Milky Way to guard the entrance of the celestial underworld, which is located in the circumpolar regions."
As you can see for yourself the image for Cepheus above has some correlation with the Round Denderah image 
, but see the Denderah Decan information for more detail.
Other names for Cepheus: Al Aghman, Alderal'Jemin, Cai'cans, Can'tans, Al Mul'tahab, Phica'res, Phica'rus, Phchae'us, Ra'ar, Al Radif, Kelds (stars), Al Kidr (Arab. fig.), San.
- Richard H. Allen states: Arabian astronomers translated Inflammatus into Al Multahab; but the nomads knew Cepheus, or at least some of its stars, as Al Aghnam, the Sheep, and thus associated with the supposed Fold, a large figure around the pole very visible traces of which appear in the nomenclature of components of this and other circumpolar constellations. Bayer specified certain of these, — eta, theta, gamma (Alrai), kappa, pi, and rho, — as the Shepherd, his Dog, and the Sheep; but Smyth alluded to the whole of Cepheus as the Dog, Cassiopeia being his mate. Riccioli quoted from Kircher, as to these, the Arabic "Raar, Kelds & San: nempe Pastorem, Canem, Oves," more correctly transcribed Rai’, Kalb, and Sham.
- Allen states: A translator of Al Ferghani's Elements of Astronomy called the constellation Al Radif, the Follower, which may have come by some misunderstanding from the near-by Al Ridf in the tail of the Swan, for Cepheus does not seem ever to have been known by any such title. The early Arabs' Kidr, the Pot, was formed by the circle of small stars from zeta, and eta on the hand of our figure extending to the wing of the Swan.
- Seen as French Cephee and the Italian Cefeo.
See Star Names of Cepheus.
This file was updated on July 15, 2008, and March 30, 2010.
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