Astronomy and the Art of the Astrolabe in the Islamic World
Religion
Craft
Art
Science
To hold the sky in your hands.
That is the promise of the astrolabe, the most iconic of early scientific instruments. First devised by ancient Greek astronomers, it was improved, transformed, made and used in the Islamic World for over 1,000 years. Discover how science, art, craft and religion were brought together in the astrolabe.
This exhibition marked the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and was created in partnership with the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford.
Science
Craft
Art
Religion
The sky has been shared across time, place and peoples. Astrolabes preserve the movement of star names and constellation stories between cultures. As part of the medieval “science of the stars”, the instrument was not just for astronomers: almost everyone agreed that the heavens influenced the earth. In modern terms, the astrolabe embodied both astronomy and astrology. By observing the sun or stars it could tell the time, but it also simplified the casting of horoscopes: a truly universal device.
Circles and Stars: The small celestial globe [1] shows in three dimensions what the astrolabe represents in two. It has inlaid silver dots for bright stars and a series of circles. The two most prominent circles cut each other at an oblique angle. They are the equator and the ecliptic; the latter carries the names of the zodiac signs. The ecliptic is also prominent in the celestial part of an astrolabe, the rete. Known in Arabic as the ankabut (spider) from its web-like shape, three examples are shown here.
The off-centred circle in each is the ecliptic, for the sun’s annual motion through the zodiac signs. Each pointer is a bright star. When the rete is rotated once, a day has passed. The rete’s framework exists only to join together the star pointers and ecliptic circle, so its design is a matter of taste rather than astronomical necessity. Rete [2] is an austere early form, whose Arabic inscriptions are supplemented by later Armenian additions. Next is a much more elaborate Persian rete [3], with a Qur’anic verse shaped in the metal itself. Rete [4] returns to simplicity in a plain Ottoman style.
Art
Craft
Science
Religion
The earliest Islamic astrolabes were plain and functional. They were primarily problem-solving devices. Over time, their design became more elegant. The finest examples were beautiful works of art, commissioned by princes and meant to be admired at court. Their calligraphy and decoration used the same techniques as other Islamic artistic metalware, and their engraving was celebrated for its mathematical precision. Some astrolabes even created the appearance of a harmonious sky that was more symmetrical than the actual pattern of the stars.
Heavenly Beauty Astrolabes rose to a pinnacle of artistic perfection in 1600s Iran. Some were signed not only by the maker but also by a calligrapher, and even occasionally by an astronomer, to certify the highest quality of both script and design. One of the most celebrated astrolabe makers was Muhammad Mahdi al-Yazdi. The rich surface decoration of his astrolabe [1] is matched by the elegance and balance of its design. The inset silver on one of its plates underlines the high status of its first owner.
The upper part of this astrolabe (known as the throne) contains the Qur’anic throne verse, with the appropriate phrase “God’s throne extends over the heavens and the earth”. But figurative decoration is also found on other instruments. Look closely at the throne of [2] to see a hunting scene, with a man on a horse and a hare and hounds. Although not so refined as [1], the plate from [2] shows that decorative and calligraphic flourishes were widespread.
Art
Science
Religion
Craft
Almost all surviving astrolabes are made of brass: a durable alloy of copper and zinc which can be worked and engraved with relative ease. The making of astrolabes required skilled workers, fine tools and the supply of materials, just like other forms of metalwork. But, unlike decorative objects or utensils, astrolabes were documented in treatises which explained the principles of their construction. They represent a distinctive combination of craft skills and scientific knowledge – both material and intellectual.
The Mindful Hand: The expertise to cut, file and engrave brass by hand required discipline and practice. Astrolabe makers also needed to understand geometry and astronomy. The Indo-Persian astrolabe [1] is unusually wide-ranging in its features. The symmetry of the separate plate looks like abstract decoration, but arises from combining two astrological projections into one. The instrument is also unusual in having a sighting tube rather than an alidade with sights.
Some astrolabes preserve a few traces of their construction process. On its concentric circles for the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer and the Equator, astrolabe plate [2] has many faint marks used to divide and lay out the instrument’s arcs.
Treatises described how to construct an astrolabe and its parts from scratch, using practical geometry. But that work could be simplified. The wooden board [3] is an extremely rare survival: a template which shortened some of the labour of manufacture. It enables the degree circle and other scales for the back of an astrolabe to be transferred onto a metal blank. The template still houses an incomplete astrolabe.
Religion
Craft
Art
Science
Astronomers in the Islamic World extended and improved the basic form of the astrolabe. They introduced many new features, and created entirely new designs. For Islamic religious observance they added special scales and lines, so that the times of prayer and the direction of Mecca (qibla) could be determined by observation. As a mirror of the universe, the astrolabe was also richly symbolic. Seeing humans as a microcosm, the Sufi poet, jurist and scholar Rumi (d. 1273) called humankind “the astrolabe of God”.
Astronomy in the Service of Islam: Performing daily prayers is one of the five pillars of Islam. The times are defined by astronomical phenomena such as dawn and by shadow lengths. The astrolabe was adapted to determine these times in different places, throughout the year. Each of the five hatched lines on the lower half of the plate [1] is for a prayer time. The astrolabe it belongs to comes from the Great Mosque of Tangier. Prayer should be towards the Kaaba in Mecca. After magnetic compasses were introduced, this direction could be indicated by a simple compass carrying a set of tables: a qibla indicator [2]. But before the era of compasses (and now smartphone apps), astronomers devised ingenious graphs which allowed the qibla to be determined by observing the sun.
One such graph is on the back of [3]. But this astrolabe demonstrates its piety on the front too. The upper part of an astrolabe (usually with a ring to hold it) is known as the throne (kursi). The throne here is engraved with a Qur’anic inscription: appropriately enough, the so-called “throne” verse (Qur’an, 2:255). There is also an invocation for the Prophet’s family around the instrument’s outside edge.
Lines of Faith Astronomy the Art of the Astrolabe in the Islamic World
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Transcript
Astronomy and the Art of the Astrolabe in the Islamic World
Religion
Craft
Art
Science
To hold the sky in your hands.
That is the promise of the astrolabe, the most iconic of early scientific instruments. First devised by ancient Greek astronomers, it was improved, transformed, made and used in the Islamic World for over 1,000 years. Discover how science, art, craft and religion were brought together in the astrolabe.
This exhibition marked the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and was created in partnership with the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford.
Science
Craft
Art
Religion
The sky has been shared across time, place and peoples. Astrolabes preserve the movement of star names and constellation stories between cultures. As part of the medieval “science of the stars”, the instrument was not just for astronomers: almost everyone agreed that the heavens influenced the earth. In modern terms, the astrolabe embodied both astronomy and astrology. By observing the sun or stars it could tell the time, but it also simplified the casting of horoscopes: a truly universal device.
Circles and Stars: The small celestial globe [1] shows in three dimensions what the astrolabe represents in two. It has inlaid silver dots for bright stars and a series of circles. The two most prominent circles cut each other at an oblique angle. They are the equator and the ecliptic; the latter carries the names of the zodiac signs. The ecliptic is also prominent in the celestial part of an astrolabe, the rete. Known in Arabic as the ankabut (spider) from its web-like shape, three examples are shown here.
The off-centred circle in each is the ecliptic, for the sun’s annual motion through the zodiac signs. Each pointer is a bright star. When the rete is rotated once, a day has passed. The rete’s framework exists only to join together the star pointers and ecliptic circle, so its design is a matter of taste rather than astronomical necessity. Rete [2] is an austere early form, whose Arabic inscriptions are supplemented by later Armenian additions. Next is a much more elaborate Persian rete [3], with a Qur’anic verse shaped in the metal itself. Rete [4] returns to simplicity in a plain Ottoman style.
Art
Craft
Science
Religion
The earliest Islamic astrolabes were plain and functional. They were primarily problem-solving devices. Over time, their design became more elegant. The finest examples were beautiful works of art, commissioned by princes and meant to be admired at court. Their calligraphy and decoration used the same techniques as other Islamic artistic metalware, and their engraving was celebrated for its mathematical precision. Some astrolabes even created the appearance of a harmonious sky that was more symmetrical than the actual pattern of the stars.
Heavenly Beauty Astrolabes rose to a pinnacle of artistic perfection in 1600s Iran. Some were signed not only by the maker but also by a calligrapher, and even occasionally by an astronomer, to certify the highest quality of both script and design. One of the most celebrated astrolabe makers was Muhammad Mahdi al-Yazdi. The rich surface decoration of his astrolabe [1] is matched by the elegance and balance of its design. The inset silver on one of its plates underlines the high status of its first owner.
The upper part of this astrolabe (known as the throne) contains the Qur’anic throne verse, with the appropriate phrase “God’s throne extends over the heavens and the earth”. But figurative decoration is also found on other instruments. Look closely at the throne of [2] to see a hunting scene, with a man on a horse and a hare and hounds. Although not so refined as [1], the plate from [2] shows that decorative and calligraphic flourishes were widespread.
Art
Science
Religion
Craft
Almost all surviving astrolabes are made of brass: a durable alloy of copper and zinc which can be worked and engraved with relative ease. The making of astrolabes required skilled workers, fine tools and the supply of materials, just like other forms of metalwork. But, unlike decorative objects or utensils, astrolabes were documented in treatises which explained the principles of their construction. They represent a distinctive combination of craft skills and scientific knowledge – both material and intellectual.
The Mindful Hand: The expertise to cut, file and engrave brass by hand required discipline and practice. Astrolabe makers also needed to understand geometry and astronomy. The Indo-Persian astrolabe [1] is unusually wide-ranging in its features. The symmetry of the separate plate looks like abstract decoration, but arises from combining two astrological projections into one. The instrument is also unusual in having a sighting tube rather than an alidade with sights.
Some astrolabes preserve a few traces of their construction process. On its concentric circles for the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer and the Equator, astrolabe plate [2] has many faint marks used to divide and lay out the instrument’s arcs.
Treatises described how to construct an astrolabe and its parts from scratch, using practical geometry. But that work could be simplified. The wooden board [3] is an extremely rare survival: a template which shortened some of the labour of manufacture. It enables the degree circle and other scales for the back of an astrolabe to be transferred onto a metal blank. The template still houses an incomplete astrolabe.
Religion
Craft
Art
Science
Astronomers in the Islamic World extended and improved the basic form of the astrolabe. They introduced many new features, and created entirely new designs. For Islamic religious observance they added special scales and lines, so that the times of prayer and the direction of Mecca (qibla) could be determined by observation. As a mirror of the universe, the astrolabe was also richly symbolic. Seeing humans as a microcosm, the Sufi poet, jurist and scholar Rumi (d. 1273) called humankind “the astrolabe of God”.
Astronomy in the Service of Islam: Performing daily prayers is one of the five pillars of Islam. The times are defined by astronomical phenomena such as dawn and by shadow lengths. The astrolabe was adapted to determine these times in different places, throughout the year. Each of the five hatched lines on the lower half of the plate [1] is for a prayer time. The astrolabe it belongs to comes from the Great Mosque of Tangier. Prayer should be towards the Kaaba in Mecca. After magnetic compasses were introduced, this direction could be indicated by a simple compass carrying a set of tables: a qibla indicator [2]. But before the era of compasses (and now smartphone apps), astronomers devised ingenious graphs which allowed the qibla to be determined by observing the sun.
One such graph is on the back of [3]. But this astrolabe demonstrates its piety on the front too. The upper part of an astrolabe (usually with a ring to hold it) is known as the throne (kursi). The throne here is engraved with a Qur’anic inscription: appropriately enough, the so-called “throne” verse (Qur’an, 2:255). There is also an invocation for the Prophet’s family around the instrument’s outside edge.