Sirius, the dog-star, is the brightest of stars in the sky and one of our nearest neighbors. Classified as a double star, it has a faint companion that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Sirius B, the companion, is a small white dwarf. Then, in 1995, astronomers discovered a second companion, Sirius C, a small red dwarf star in the same vicinity. Since the dawning of time this star has been one of mystery and veneration. Old Testament Biblical texts refer to Sirius as Mazzaroth.

"Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons"?

Job 38:31

The Egyptians and other ancient Arabic cultures believed that the Sirius system was the resting place of the soul after death. The Nile River carried those souls and some scholars believe that the Nile took its name 'Siris' from Sirius.

Sirius is recognized in ancient Egyptian records as the dog-god or Egyptian Anubis. The hieroglyph of Sirius, a dog, appears often on monuments and temple walls. Astronomically, Sirius was the foundation of the Egyptian religious system. The culmination of this star at midnight was celebrated in the great temple of Ceres at Eleusis, and during the initiations of the Eleusinian mysteries. Magnificent temples were constructed with the main aisles oriented precisely towards the spot on the horizon where Sirius would appear in the morning. Its celestial movements determined the Egyptian calendar and its helical rising marked the beginning of the Egyptian year and coincided with the flooding of the Nile. An ancient hieroglyphic inscription at the temple of Isis at Denderah tells this story:

She shines into her temple on New Year's Day and she mingles her light with that of her father Ra on the horizon.

Sirius, the most important star in the Egyptian's heavens, was sometimes identified with their chief goddess Isis. Isis, as Sirius, was customarily portrayed in paintings as traveling with two companions in the same celestial boat. One companion of Isis was Osiris, the chief Egyptian god. The hieroglyph for Osiris is a throne and an eye. The Bozo tribe of Mali call Sirius B "the eye star". Since Osiris is represented by an eye and is sometimes considered the companion of Sirius, then is it plausible to say that Osiris was Sirius B, and if so, how did the Egyptians and the Bozo's know that Sirius had a companion, a small white dwarf star that was invisible to the naked eye? And who was the second companion in that mysterious celestial boat?

The ancient Arabs also had beliefs, in a companion star to Sirius, and named it Al Wazn, when translated means "weight" and was supposed to be extremely heavy, almost too heavy to rise above the horizon. The companion-star of Sirius, Sirius B, is made of super-dense matter which is heavier than any normal matter in the universe and the weight of this tiny star is estimated to be that of a gigantic normal star.