Astrolabe

Description:: The astrolabe is an adjustable instrument that maps the stars, and has many other functions. The device can be set to the user’s location on earth, and to the correct time. On the front, the curling pointers on the openwork plate (al-`ankabut in Arabic, or spider) are each labelled with a star’s name. Invented in late classical times, the astrolabe was perfected in the early Islamic period. Astrolabe, brass and silver, instrument with six latitude plates, openwork rete (`ankabut), sight-rule (alidade), wedge (faras) and pin, engraved mapping lines and labels, dedicated to Safavid shah Sultan Husayn, produced and decorated by `Abd al-Husayn ibn `Abd al-A'imma', Isfahan, Iran, dated 1120H, 1708-1709.

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