In India, Capella was worshipped as the Heart of Brahma. The ancient Peruvians called it "Colca," and connected it with the affairs of shepherds. English poets have alluded to it as "the Shepherds' Star." These allusions have reference doubtless to the time of Capella's culmination, which corresponded with the season when the shepherds watched their flocks.
Probably the oldest allusion to Capella extant is that which was found on an old tablet in Akkadian, which has been translated as follows: "When on the first day of the month Nisan the star of stars (or Dilgan) and the moon are parallel, that year is normal. When on the third day of the month Nisan the star of stars and the moon are parallel, that year is full."
"The star of stars" of the inscription, says Maunder, is no doubt Capella, and the year thus determined by the setting together of the moon and Capella would begin on the average with the spring equinox about 2000 b.c. The date of the Akkadians is about 4000 years ago.
Allen tells us that Capella's place on the Denderah zodiac is occupied by a mummied cat in the outstretched hand of a male figure crowned with feathers. While always an important star in the temple worship of the great Egyptian god Ptah, the Opener, it is supposed to have borne the name of that divinity, and probably was observed at its setting 1700 b.c. from his temple, the noted edifice at Karnak near Thebes. Another recently discovered sanctuary of Ptah, at Memphis, was also oriented to Capella. Lockyer thinks at least five temples were oriented to its setting.
A stormy character has been attributed to Capella, and hence it has sometimes been called "the rainy Goat-starre." Aratos alludes thus to its stormy influences:
But sailors hate her inauspicious face.
