Pleiades in folklore and literature

High visibility of the star cluster Pleiades in the night sky and its position along the ecliptic (which approximates to the solar system's common planetary plane) has given it importance in many cultures, ancient and modern. Its heliacal rising, which moves through the seasons over millennia (see precession) was nonetheless a date of folklore or ritual for various ancestral groups, so too its yearly heliacal setting. As noted by scholar Stith Thompson, the constellation was "nearly always imagined" as a group of seven sisters, and their myths explain why there are only six. Some scientists suggest that these may come from observations back when Pleione was further from Atlas and more visible as a separate star as far back as 100,000 BC. Tuareg Berbers of the northern Sahara call the Pleiades Cat iheḍ (pronounced: shat ihed) (or -ahăḍ). This Berber name means: "daughters of the night". To many other Berbers it is Tagemmunt ("the group"). A Tuareg Berber proverb says: Cat ahăḍ as uḍănăt, ttukayeɣ ttegmyeɣ, anwar daɣ ttsasseɣ. As d-gmaḍent, ttukayeɣ ttegmyeɣ tabruq ttelseɣ. When the Pleiades fall, I wake looking for my goatskin bag to drink. When (the Pleiades) rise, I wake looking for cloth/clothes to wear. Meaning: When the Pleiades "fall" with the sunset on the west, it still roughly (at J2000) means the hot, dry summer is coming. When they rise from the east with sunrise, the cold somewhat rainy season is coming. Nomads and others need to brace for these. Old Testament, the Pleiades appear (untranslated as כימה, "Khima") thrice. Mention follows (or precedes) of nearby Orion, a bright, anthropomorphic constellation: ; ; and . The first two are references about their creation. The third (taken in the context of following verses) stresses their ongoing nature in the night sky; God is speaking directly to Job and challenges him, asking if he can bind the chains of the Pleiades — the implication being that Job cannot, but God can. The Talmud (Berakhot 58b) suggests understanding כימה as כמאה ke' me-ah (kimah), "about one hundred" stars in the Pleiades star cluster.