⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ȧḫmiu ureṭu_. The stars which
never set, but are always above the horizon were called
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ȧḫmiu seku_. The word _ȧḫmiu_ has
often been taken for a mere negative, but it occurs by itself with the
sign of _stars_ as a determinative ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂.
And the whole term is written ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ (_Denkm._ III.
271_d_ _twice_).
As one of the meanings of ⁂ _ḫem_ is _minuere_, and as the ordinary
meaning of the Demotic ⁂⁂⁂ is “small,” like the Coptic
ϣⲟⲙ = λεπτὸς, it is not improbable that the stars received this
appellation on account of their tiny size as compared with the Sun and
Moon. They were what Horace called the “ignes _minores_.”
The Sun and Moon, as we all know, are called in Gen. i, 16, the “Two
Great Lights.”