Astrolabe, Islamic world, 1230-31

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Royal Museums Greenwich (object number AST0548 NA 36-17 AST0548 IC1042 A17 E5555-1 E5555-2 E5555-3 E5555-4), this is an astrolabe, made in Damascus, Syria, Islamic world, dated 1230-31. The Atlas places it in the Medieval Period (500 – 1400) of its Instruments collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: brass. Recorded dimensions: Overall: 50 x 175 x 114 mm; Diameter: 116 mm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.

Atlas type guide

Astrolabes, quadrants and astronomical compendia

The planispheric astrolabe is a two-dimensional model of the sky. A pierced rotating star map (the rete) turns over a plate engraved for a particular latitude; by aligning a star or the sun with its observed altitude, the user can read the time of day or night, the time of sunrise and sunset, and solve many other astronomical problems. Developed in the Hellenistic world and refined by astronomers in the Islamic world from the eighth century, it reached Latin Europe through al-Andalus.

Quadrants, compendia, armillary spheres and later orreries belong to the same family of instruments that model the heavens. They were teaching tools, status objects and practical time-finders. Many surviving examples are signed and dated, which makes them important evidence for the history of instrument-making workshops in Baghdad, Isfahan, Lahore, Toledo, Louvain, Nuremberg, London and elsewhere.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.