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CHAPTER 11, 5-8.
call a Gâh (period of the day), which they say is the great one of the middle of the sky, till just before the destroyer came was the midday (or south) one of the five, that is, the Rapitvin'.
fore, fulfil the conditions necessary for being chieftains of the east and north at the end of summer, and we must look for stars capable of being chieftains of the south and west at the same season. Now, when Ursa Major is near the meridian below the pole, Fomalhaut is the most conspicuous star near the meridian in the far south, and is probably to be identified with Vanand the chieftain of the south. And when Sirius rises some time before daybreak, Antares (in Scorpio) sets some time after dusk in the evening, and may well be identified with Sataves the chieftain of the west. Assuming that there has been a precession of the equinoxes equivalent to two hours of time, since the idea of these chieftains (which may perhaps be traced to Avesta times) was first formed, it may be calculated that the time of year when these leading stars then best fulfilled that idea was about a month before the autumnal equinox. when Ursa Major would be due north three-quarters of an hour after midnight, and Fomalhaut due south three-quarters of an hour before midnight, Sirius would rise three hours before the sun, and Antares would set three hours after the sun. In the Avesta these leading stars are named Tistrya, Satavaêsa, Vanant, and Haptôiringa (see Tîstar Yt. o, 8, 9, 12, 32, &c., Rashnu Yt. 26-28, Sîrôz. 13).
This translation, though very nearly literal, must be accepted with caution. If the word mas be not a name it can hardly mean anything but great ;' and that it refers to a constellation appears from Chap. V, 1. The word khômsak is an irregular form of the Huz. khômsyâ, five,' and may refer either to the five chieftains (including the great one ') or to the five Gâhs or periods of the day, of which Rapítvîn is the midday one (see Chap. XXV, 9). The object of the text seems to be to connect the Rapítvîn Gâh with some great mid-sky and midday constellation or star, possibly Regulus, which, about B. c. 960, must have been more in the day. light than any other important star during the seven months of summer, the only time that the Rapîtvîn Gâh can be celebrated (see Chap. XXV, 7-14). Justi has, They call that the great one of the place, which is great in the middle of the sky; they say that before the enemy came it was always midday, that is, Rapítvîn.'
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