Astrolabe Glossary and Notes

Throne

The throne at the top of the instrument both offered a means of orienting the astrolabe and of suspending the instrument so that it could be used to make observations. The Arabic term is كرسي (kursi). Islamic astrolabe makers, particularly in the eastern part of the Islamic world, frequently decorated the كرسي with inscriptions from the Qur‘an or with their own signatures.
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