astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

, the royal stars of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

are

Aldebaran Aldebaran (Arabic: “The Follower”, "الدبران") is the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Aldebar ...

Regulus Regulus is the brightest object in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation designated α Leonis, which is Latinized to Alpha Leonis, and abbreviated Alpha Leo or α Leo. Re ...

, Antares and Fomalhaut. They were regarded as the guardians of the sky during the time of the Persian Empire (550 BC–330 BC) in the area of modern-day Iran. The Persians believed that the sky was divided into four districts with each district being guarded by one of the four Royal Stars. The stars were believed to hold both good and evil power and the Persians looked upon them for guidance in scientific calculations of the sky, such as the calendar and lunar/solar cycles, and for predictions. The royal stars are mentioned in the '' Bundahishn'', a collection of

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...

History

The four stars with their modern names, and their ancient Persian names (in brackets) were: *

(Tascheter) – vernal equinox (Watcher of the East) *

(Venant) – summer solstice (Watcher of the North) * Antares (Satevis) – autumnal equinox (Watcher of the West) * Fomalhaut (Haftorang/Hastorang) – winter solstice (Watcher of the South) The four dominant stars have an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's li ...

–1.5 or brighter. and are the brightest stars in their constellations and among the 25–brightest stars in the night sky.

In Babylonian and Assyrian times

In 747 BCE the Babylonian King Nabu-nasir adopted a calendar derived from the motions of the four stars, one following an eight-year cycle and one a nineteen-year cycle (later adopting the nineteen-year calendar as standard). By 700 BCE the Assyrians had essentially mapped the ecliptic cycle because of the four stars and were in result able to map the constellations, distinguishing them from the

planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

and the

fixed stars In astronomy, fixed stars ( la, stellae fixae) is a term to name the full set of glowing points, astronomical objects actually and mainly stars, that appear not to move relative to one another against the darkness of the night sky in the backgro ...

In Persia

By the time of the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

(550 BC–330 BC),

watched the Eastern sky and was the dominant star in the Taurus constellation,

watched the North and was the dominant star in the Leo constellation, Antares watched the West and was the alpha star in Scorpio, and Fomalhaut watched the Southern sky and was the brightest star in Piscis Austrinus (sharing the same longitude with the star

Sadalmelik Alpha Aquarii, officially named Sadalmelik (), is a single star in the constellation of Aquarius. The apparent visual magnitude of 2.94 makes this the second-brightest star in Aquarius. Based upon parallax measurements made during th ...

which is the predominant star in

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

marked the

vernal equinox Spring equinox or vernal equinox or variations may refer to: * March equinox, the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere * September equinox, the spring equinox in the Southern Hemisphere Other uses * Nowruz, Persian/Iranian new year which be ...

and Antares marked the autumnal equinox, while

marked the

Summer Solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...

and Fomalhaut the

Winter Solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...

. While watching the sky, the dominant star would appear in its season, each having a time of the year when most noticeable.

was seen as the main star because it was in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

of Leo, giving it the power of the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

, signifying the strength of kings with large implications. The constellations of the royal stars were said to be fixed because their positions were close to the four fixed points of the sun's path. The sun was then surrounded by four bright stars at the beginning of every season. From this observation individuals began to denote them the royal stars.

Uses

The royal stars were used primarily for navigation. They were also believed to govern events in the world. Major disasters, breakthroughs, and historical phenomenons were seen as caused by the stars and their alignment in the sky during the time in which the event occurred. When the stars were aligned accordingly, favourable conditions followed, and when they were negatively aligned, disaster was predicted. Because

was the most influential of the royal stars, events that took place while

was in dominance were amplified and grave, foreshadowing destruction, depending on what planet or planets might be in conjunction with the star.

Criticism

The idea there existed four royal stars of Persia was analysed in a 1945 article in ''Popular Astronomy'', where the idea was criticized as largely a relatively modern invention, and/or a misunderstanding of the original source texts.

Notes

References

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