Ogygos Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> According to wiki:
>
> "Leo was one of the earliest recognized
> constellations, with archaeological evidence that
> the Mesopotamians had a similar constellation as
> early as 4000 BCE."

There isn't a detailed citation - the page number, for instance - for the Pasachoff reference that Wiki is using as a source.

From this essay on Mesopotamian Bronze Age Astronomy:

Quote

there is no evidence for the constellation Leo existing in the 3rd-millennium BCE. So far as I am aware there is no textual evidence for a Sumerian lion constellation at this early period (i.e., 3rd or 2nd millennium BCE). Any claim for such relies on cylinder seal iconography. It is not established that constellations/constellation symbols are being depicted on any early cylinder seals. The earliest solid reference to a lion constellation in Mesopotamia is Hilprecht's Nippur Text (HS 245 (= HS 229)) which is dated to the Cassite Period circa 1530-1160 BCE.

> It seems that the Egyptians originally depicted
> this constellation as a lion, but later on due to
> the relation between it as rising along with the
> Sun at summer solstice, which relates to the
> heliacal rising of Sirius and the flooding of the
> Nile, then they decided to use a river animal
> instead of a lion.

From here:

Quote

There is no evidence for Old Kingdom Egyptian use of zodiacal constellations. The evidence is unambiguous that there was no knowledge of the zodiac in Egypt until the Greek Period. There is nether textual or nor iconographic evidence supporting an Egyptian recognition of the constellations Leo and Aquarius, or any other zodiacal constellations, before the Ptolemaic Period. Ed Krupp has pointed out that assertions of Great Pyramid astronomy are largely grounded in unrestrained speculative approaches.

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