CHAPTER 1

An Introduction to the Four Royal Persian Stars

Long ago, humans noticed that, when the sun was situated in front of a certain starin a certain constellation along the zodiac, it would be one of the four seasons. This was a veryreliable calendar to tell what time of year it was and when to get ready to plant or partake ofactivities. People remembered this and passed along the information to following generations.But it was very complex information and not well understood. It did not take long for it to bereinterpreted as something of a religious significance and become protected and sacred.

The most ancient historical record of the four royal Persian stars is hinted at in the ZendAvesta, or the Persian books of Zarathustra of Zorasterism. Anquetil Duperon, a FrenchOrientalist, translated and published them in 1717. The oldest copy of the Zend Avesta is datedto around AD 600, though they appear to have been much older and are derived from an oraltradition from the time of Zarathustra, around 500 BC. Darius the Great most likelyworshipped them. One of the verses, Sirozah 13, calls these stars "bright, glorious, they weresacrificed to and worshipped."

A sacred and very ancient text by the Parsees of Pahlavi, the Bundahishn, mentions thefour stars, "It is Tishtar the chieftain of the east, Sataves the chieftan of the west, Vanand thechieftan of the south, and Haptokring the chieftan of the north."

A French astronomer, Jean Sylvain Bailly, said in his 1789 book, The History ofAncient Astronomy, "Tashter who guards the east, Satevis who guards the west, Vanant whoguards the south and Haftorang the north." He was an accurate astronomer, but after gettingcaught up in the French Revolution, he was sent to the guillotine in 1793.

French writer Charles Francois Dupuis said in his 1794 book, Origine de Tous lesCultes, "These stars (Aldeberan, Regulus, Antares and Fomalhaut) received the pompousdenomination of royal stars." This is the first mention of the term "royal star." He also addedthat Ormusd (God) placed them at the four corners of the sky.

The astronomer George A. Davis Jr. wrote a critical article about the royal Persian starsin Popular Astronomy in April 1945. In the article, he incorrectly quotes from the Bundahishnthat Sataves is south and Vanand is west. He writes that Tishtar is Sirius and associated withthe helical rising of a "little cloud." He also admits Tishtar means "cloud." Because there is no"little cloud" near Sirius, this could only be the Pleiades, and it is in Taurus, home of thePleiades, so Tishtar could be Aldeberan in Taurus. Davis mentions that Sataves is known forwater and it would be Aquarius. He said Vanand is a "stinger" like the scorpion.

These, however, seem incorrect and need to be switched around. They are in error, justlike he wrongly quoted the Bundahaisn. Finally, he says Haptokring is known to have sevenstars, so it would be the Big Dipper. However, Leo also has seven stars. Haptokring, therefore,could very well be Leo, and Davis' errors would complete the description of the four royalPersian stars.

So how did they measure the sky long ago? They had very simple but accurate toolsthat were made to measure where the sun was located and in what zodiacal constellation it wasin.

A simple divider and protractor can be used to measure between the stars and the sun.The ancient Greeks used an astrolabe to measure the height of a star above the horizon.

What follows is the correct March 21, 3000 BC, layout of the four royal Persian starsaccording to Bailly and the Bundahishn.

The four royal Persian stars are mentioned four times in Burnham's CelestialHandbook.

What is cosmology? Everyone has a cosmology. No matter how much nor how little aperson knows about the world around him or her and the universe, he or she still has acosmological perspective of his...