Inventory no. 54471 - Former Display Label
?Syro-Egyptian CELESTIAL GLOBE
718 A.H. = 1318/19 A.D.
Brass, with inlaid silver stars. Signed, at the North ecliptic pole, 'Work of the 'Abd ar-Rahmân b. Burhân al-Mawsilî [i.e. of Mosul] in the months of the year eighteen and seven hundred [A.H. = 1318/19 A.D.]'. Inscribed, at the South ecliptic pole, 'Drawn under the supervision of Ghyâth, known as al-Mansûr, in the months of the year [?eight]een and seven hundred', and 'For the library (or cabinet of curiosities) of the Sultân al-Malik al-'Adil Ulugh Beg'.
The constellations are not engraved on the globe, but the principal stars are represented by inlaid silver points, with the name of each star engraved adjacent to the appropriate point. Also engraved on the globe are the equatorial circle (calibrated in degrees), the ecliptic circle (calibrated in degrees and marked with the names of the Signs of the Zodiac) with great circles passing through the Zodiacal divisions and through the poles of the ecliptic, the North and South poles, and the poles of the ecliptic. The stand is of later date than the globe.
Formerly in the Chadenat Collection.
[57-84/181; Mayer, p. 31]
Billmeir Collection
Other narratives:
- Syro-Egyptian instruments
- Special Exhibition Label: 'Al-Mizan: Sciences and Arts in the Islamic World' (26/10/2010 - 20/03/2011)