Astrolabe with Universal Lamina, by `Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Harrar, Taza, Morocco, 1327/8 | |||||||||||
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| Object is on display. | |||||||||||
| Inventory Number: | 50853 | ||||||||||
| Object Type: | Object | ||||||||||
| Persons: |
`Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Harrar (Maker) | ||||||||||
| Date Created: | Dated 728 A.H. (A.D. 1327/8) | ||||||||||
| Place Created: | Morocco Africa |
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| Subject Classification(s): | Astrolabes | ||||||||||
| Accession Number: | 1957-19 | ||||||||||
| Brief Description: | This astrolabe is a very rare example of a 'Universal Lamina'; it differs somewhat from the instrument described in the Libros del saber. The only other example known of an Islamic 'Universal Lamina' is the astrolabe by Ahmad bin Abi Bakr of 729 A.H., in the Benaki Museum in Athens. The 'Universal Lamina' described in the Libros del saber (c.1277) of Alfonso el Sabio, of Castile, was probably invented at Toledo in the 1000s CE by the astronomer Abu-l-Hasan Ali bin Khalaf ibn Ahmad. It was a precursor of the so-called az-Zarqellu projection (the saphæa arzachelis), also developed in Muslim Toledo in the 1000s CE. It reappeared in Europe in the 1500s CE as the 'Mathematical Jewel' of John Blagrave. | ||||||||||
| Primary Inscriptions: | صنعه علي بن ابراهيم الجزار المعذ في تازى حرسها الله سنة ذكد
"Made by Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Harrar, the muezzin, in Taza, God protect her, in the year 724 A.H." Engraved on the back of the upper left-hand quadrant. | ||||||||||
| Provenance: | Purchased from Ernst Weil with a grant from Lord Leigh's Fund in 1957.
Formerly in the L. Lapicirella Collection, Florence. | ||||||||||
| Collection Group: | Islamic World Collection | ||||||||||
| Material(s): |
Brass | ||||||||||
| Dimensions: |
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Permalink: http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/object/inv/50853