The testimonies more ancient of this constellation have been handed to us from Callimaco.
The Fenici used it like guide for the navigation, and perhaps is just Talete, astronomer
of the sixth century a.C. of fenicia origin,to have invented it or at least to have diffuse
it to the Greeks. Arato mentioned this constellation "Cynosura", from Greek "the tail of
the dog", from which the English word "cynosure" that it means "star that guides". Arato
it saw like the symbol of Ida,than with Adrastea (represented instead from the Ursa Major)
were the two nymphs that brought up the young Zeus. In the Ursa Minor,call also "Small Cart"
or "Cart of the sky" (in sumeric MAR.GID.DA), hines the famous and symbolic star "Polaris",
call so because is found in the immediate proximity of the celestial North Pole,and is for
that in the antiquity it replaced the compass, in how much is the only luminous star that
approximately it does not change never of position in the sky, indicating the North. Other
luminous stars are Kochab and Pherkad, both deriving from the Arabic words that respective
mean "star" and "the two small". The most luminous star neighbor to that Polar one is Yildun,
from the Turkish word "yildiz", that it wants to say "star".