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This section provides an index of the constellations from ancient Egyptian star tables and astronomical diagrams:
- Groupings of decans into "constellations" from the diagonal star tables
- Hour star "constellations"
- Constellation figures from astronomical diagrams (further information on these will be included in a future update)
A constellation is a set of one or more stars to which a culture gives a name. The constellation may be thought to form a particular shape (creatures, human figures, and objects are common subjects) and may have a myth attached.
The word 'constellation' is somewhat problematic in Egyptology because there is a paucity of contemporary information about star groupings before the Greco-Roman period. It is likely, for example, that many if not all of the decans were composed of more than one star, making them (at the very least) asterisms, and possibly constellations in their own right. However, it is conventional to treat decans separately. Both decans and hour stars, however, by virtue of their names do fall into bigger groups that we can describe as constellations.
In astronomical diagrams, sets of decans in the southern parts of the diagram are sometimes accompanied by constellation figures (a boat and a sheep being the most easily recognisable). In the northern parts of astronomical diagrams, the northern stars are depicted using constellation figures including the Foreleg, Hippo, and Mooring Post(s).