Cancer (constellation)

History of the symbol

The modern symbol for Cancer is the crab, but it has been represented with various types of creatures, usually those live in the water, and always those with the exoskeleton.

Related Topics:
Crab - Exoskeleton

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Peter Jensen claimed this sign had been a tortoise in Babylonia, and it was so figured there and in Egypt 4000 BC; although in the Egyptian records of about 2000 BC it was described as Scarabaeus, the sacred emblem of immortality.

Related Topics:
Peter Jensen - Tortoise - Babylonia - 4000 BC - 2000 BC - Emblem

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In the 12th century, an illustrated astronomical manuscript shows it as a water beetle. Albumasar writes of this sign in the work published in 1489 as a large crayfish. Bartschius and Stanislaus Lubienitzki, in the 17th century, described it as a lobster.

Related Topics:
12th century - Water beetle - Albumasar - 1489 - Crayfish - Bartschius - Stanislaus Lubienitzki - 17th century - Lobster

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