Manazil al-Qamar
Manāzil al-Qamar ( arab. منازل القمر Moon houses, moon stations ; Singular: Manzil al-Qamar ) is an astronomical system that divides the ecliptic into 28 groups of stars, with the distance between each lunar house roughly equivalent to the length of the path the moon travels in the sky in 24 hours.
The model is the ancient Indian Nakshatras , which the Arabs got to know in pre-Islamic times and then transformed. At the time of the Prophet , the system was well known, so it was mentioned in the Koran . The Surah Yunus 10: 5 reads: "It is He who made the sun to light and the moon a light, and it certain stations (Manazil) so that you may learn the way to calculate the year and to determine the time . "
Since farmers, seafarers and other seasonal professions do not find any useful orientation for their work in the Islamic lunar calendar , which is shifted by around 11 days every year, the moon houses linked to stars offer a reliable alternative system. The rising and setting of the stars are observed, which results in a division of the year into 28 sequences with 13 (once or twice 14) days each. The farmers do not always use the same stars as the astronomical treatises handed down in the books. These so-called star calendars for archaic parent companies in today's Saudi Arabia and Yemen , which represent a mixture of the classic lunar houses with older (literarily not handed down) star calendars, have been well researched. Usually only the stars are observed in the fertile part of the year.
The seafarers, for their part, divided the ecliptic into 28 exact sections of equal size (each sign of the zodiac has 2 1/3 lunar houses), creating a useful means of navigation - alongside other stars.
Astrological and magical aspects of the moon houses are not recognized by Islam - and also by large parts of the population.
The 28 lunar stations
| manzil al-qamar | Arabic name | meaning | identification |
| 1. Scheratan or Alnath |
الشرطان - aš-šaraṭān النطح - an-naṭḥ |
The two characters Das Horn |
β γ Ari α Ari ( Hamal / Elnath ) |
| 2. Albotayn / Botein | البطين - al-buṭayn | The tummy | ε δ ρ Ari |
| 3. Azoraya / Thuraya | الثريا - aṯ-ṯurayyā | The Pleiades | M45 ( Pleiades ) |
| 4. Aldebaran | الدبران - al-dabarān | The following | α Tau ( Aldebaran ) |
| 5. Alhachaa / Heka | الهقعة - al-haqʿa | The braid of mane | λ φ1 φ2 Ori |
| 6. Alhanhaa / Alhena | الهنعة - al-hanʿa | The brand | γ ξ acc |
| 7. Aldirah | الذراع - aḏ-ḏirāʿ | The forearm | α β Gem ( Kastor & Pollux ) |
| 8. Annathra | النثرة - an-naṯra | The breath of the nose | γ δ ε Cnc (M44: Praesepe ) |
| 9. Altar | الطرف - aṭ-ṭarf | The view | κ Cnc , λ Leo |
| 10. Algieba | الجبهة - al-ǧabha | Forehead | ζ γ η α Leo ( Regulus & Algieba ) |
| 11. Azobra / Subra | الزبرة - az-zubra | The mane | δ θ Leo |
| 12. Asarfa | الصرفة - aṣ-ṣarfa | The rod | β Leo ( Denebola ) |
| 13. Alahue | العواء - al-ʿawwāʾ | The howler | β η γ δ ε Vir |
| 14. Azimech | السماك - as-simāk | - | α Vir ( Spica ) |
| 15. Algafra | الغفر - al-ġafr | The veil | ι κ λ Vir |
| 16. Azoben | الزبانان - az-zubānān | The two scissors | α β Lib |
| 17. Aliclil | الإكليل - al-iklīl | The crown | β δ π Sco |
| 18. Alcalb | القلب - al-qalb | The heart | α Sco ( Antares ) |
| 19. Axaula / Schaula | الشولة - aš-šawla | The thorn | λ υ Sco ( Schaula ) |
| 20. Alnahayn |
النعائم الواردة - an-naʿāʾim al-wārida النعائم الصادرة - an-naʿāʾim aṣ-ṣādira |
The incoming ostriches The outgoing ostriches |
δ ε η Sgr σ φ τ ζ γ Sgr |
| 21. Albelda | البلدة - al-balda | The place | Coal sack in Sagittarius |
| 22. Sadalzabih / Dabih | سعد الذابح - saʿd aḏ-ḏābiḥ | The happiness of the warriors | α β cap |
| 23. Sadebolah / Albali | سعد بلع - saʿd bulaʿ | The happiness of devouring | μ ε Aqr |
| 24. Sadalsuud | سعد السعود - saʿd as-suʿūd | The happiness of fortune | β ξ Aqr |
| 25. Sadalachbia | سعد الأخبية - saʿd al-aḫbīya | The happiness of the tents | γ π ζ η Aqr |
| 26. Alfarg Almacadam | الفرع المقدم - al-farʿ al-muqaddam | The front bite | α β peg |
| 27. Alfarg Almuehar | الفرع المؤجر - al-farʿ al-muʾaḫḫar | The back bite | γ Peg , α And |
| 28. Asked Alhut | بطن الحوت - baṭn al-ḥūt | The fish belly | β And |
literature
- DM Varisco: Medieval Agriculture and Islamic Science. Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle et al. 1994, ISBN 0-295-97378-1 .
- A. Gingrich: Southwest Arabian Star Calendar. Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-85114-141-5 .