planispheric astrolabe
Date: circa 1620
Inventory Number: DW0596
Classification: Astrolabe
Subject:
Maker: Ṣafavid dynasty ? (1501 - 1722)
Maker: Persian
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
12.9 x 8.9 x 3.2 cm (5 1/16 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/4 in.)
Material:
DescriptionThis planispheric astrolabe has a a cast mater with a decorative kursi (or throne). The back of the mater is damaged and poorly repaired. The damage goes through to the interior of the mater. The alidade is simple with pinhole sights. The bolt, washer, and horse are present.
The mater recto is divided every 1° uniformly around the limb. By contrast, each quadrant of the limb of the mater verso is divided differently, with the two lower limbs divided non-uniformly. These are scales of cotangents in "feet" and "fingers." The two upper limbs are altitude scales in degrees. The upper right quadrant gives arcs of the azimuth of the qibla, which are graphed across arcs of solar declination. The upper left quadrant gives angles of sines. The lower left quadrant has a shadow square divided into feet, and the lower right quadrant has a shadow square divided into "fingers."
The interior of the mater has a gazetter of 24 cities laid out in concentric circles. The name of each city is given with its longitude, latitude, and qibla. The cities include Mecca, Medina, Misr (Cairo), Baghdad, Basra, Shushtar, Shiraz, Yazd, Hamadan, Qazvin, Jurbadaqan (misspelled as Jurfadafan), Isfahan, Kashan, Qum, Talaqan (Iraq), Simnan, Damghan, Tus, Astarabad, Tabriz, Ardabil, and Shirvan. Most of their values for longitude, latitude, and qibla follow those in the astronomical handbook that was compiled in the 15th century in the Timurid summer residence of Kish near Samarqand. The gazetteer is engraved by a different craftsman than the one who engraved the rest of the mater.
The rete has 24 stars labeled in Arabic, a turning knob, and the ecliptic divided into signs of the zodiac, with each sign subdivided into 6° units. The back of the rete shows earlier layout lines. The rete is in a Maghribi (Western) style typical of astrolabes from Spain and North Africa, whereas the rest of the instrument is in the Mashriqi (Eastern) style typical of Persia and Safavid Iran.
There are four typmans. Seven out of eight sides show the stereographic projection of the horizon, altitudes, and azimuths for a single latitude, and unequal hours. The eighth contains stereographic projections of the quarter horizons of 48 different latitudes.
The tympans are labeled for these latitudes (with alternative readings of the Arabic in parentheses):
(1a) 29° 13' 52"
(1b) 35° 14' 27"
(2a) 21° 43' 17" (or 57" for the 17")
(2b) 22° 13' 21" (or 32° for the 22°; 53' or 43' for the 13')
(3a) 32° 14' 07" (or 22° for the 32°; 54' for the 14')
(3b) 34° 14' 16" (or 54' for the 14'; 56" for the 16")
(4a) 33° 13' 35" (or 23° for the 33°)
(4b) 48 quarter horizons, including those for 26°, 34°, 42°, 50°, 57°, 66°
The mater recto is divided every 1° uniformly around the limb. By contrast, each quadrant of the limb of the mater verso is divided differently, with the two lower limbs divided non-uniformly. These are scales of cotangents in "feet" and "fingers." The two upper limbs are altitude scales in degrees. The upper right quadrant gives arcs of the azimuth of the qibla, which are graphed across arcs of solar declination. The upper left quadrant gives angles of sines. The lower left quadrant has a shadow square divided into feet, and the lower right quadrant has a shadow square divided into "fingers."
The interior of the mater has a gazetter of 24 cities laid out in concentric circles. The name of each city is given with its longitude, latitude, and qibla. The cities include Mecca, Medina, Misr (Cairo), Baghdad, Basra, Shushtar, Shiraz, Yazd, Hamadan, Qazvin, Jurbadaqan (misspelled as Jurfadafan), Isfahan, Kashan, Qum, Talaqan (Iraq), Simnan, Damghan, Tus, Astarabad, Tabriz, Ardabil, and Shirvan. Most of their values for longitude, latitude, and qibla follow those in the astronomical handbook that was compiled in the 15th century in the Timurid summer residence of Kish near Samarqand. The gazetteer is engraved by a different craftsman than the one who engraved the rest of the mater.
The rete has 24 stars labeled in Arabic, a turning knob, and the ecliptic divided into signs of the zodiac, with each sign subdivided into 6° units. The back of the rete shows earlier layout lines. The rete is in a Maghribi (Western) style typical of astrolabes from Spain and North Africa, whereas the rest of the instrument is in the Mashriqi (Eastern) style typical of Persia and Safavid Iran.
There are four typmans. Seven out of eight sides show the stereographic projection of the horizon, altitudes, and azimuths for a single latitude, and unequal hours. The eighth contains stereographic projections of the quarter horizons of 48 different latitudes.
The tympans are labeled for these latitudes (with alternative readings of the Arabic in parentheses):
(1a) 29° 13' 52"
(1b) 35° 14' 27"
(2a) 21° 43' 17" (or 57" for the 17")
(2b) 22° 13' 21" (or 32° for the 22°; 53' or 43' for the 13')
(3a) 32° 14' 07" (or 22° for the 32°; 54' for the 14')
(3b) 34° 14' 16" (or 54' for the 14'; 56" for the 16")
(4a) 33° 13' 35" (or 23° for the 33°)
(4b) 48 quarter horizons, including those for 26°, 34°, 42°, 50°, 57°, 66°
Signedunsigned
Curatorial RemarksReading of Arabic and comments on the gazetteer were provided by Sonja Brentjes in 2007. According to Brentjes, "None of the Safavid astrolabes discussed by King agrees fully with the figures of [this] astrolabe. There are, however, some peculiarities that link it with the astrolabes made in Isfahan by Muhammad Mahdi, Muhammad Yazdi [now in Greenwhich], Muhammad Khalil [now in Frankfurt am Main], 'Abd al-A'imma [now in Oxford] and in Mashhad by Muhammad Zaman [now in Berlin], as well as with an anonymous astrolabe of 1109/1687-8 [qibla of Qom, Talaqan, Shiraz, Yazd, and Jurbadaqan]. The values for the qibla of Isfahan [45;29], Ardabil [17;43], and Astarabad [78;78] seem to be singular to the present astrolabe and result most likely from reading mistakes."
The rete is in a Maghribi (Western) style typical of astrolabes from Spain and North Africa, whereas the rest of the instrument is in the Mashriqi (Eastern) style typical of Persia and Safavid Iran. It is a marriage of parts. (Schechner, 3/4/2015)
XRF analysis of the metals was done by Katherine Eremin and Sara Schechner in August 2007.
The rete is in a Maghribi (Western) style typical of astrolabes from Spain and North Africa, whereas the rest of the instrument is in the Mashriqi (Eastern) style typical of Persia and Safavid Iran. It is a marriage of parts. (Schechner, 3/4/2015)
XRF analysis of the metals was done by Katherine Eremin and Sara Schechner in August 2007.
ProvenanceChavenant, Paris auction, May 24, 1956 (lot 12); purchased by David P. Wheatland, Topsfield, MA, 1956; gift to CHSI
Published ReferencesElio Brancaforte and Sonja Brentjes, From Rhubarb to Rubies: European Travels to Safavid Iran (1550-1700) (Houghton Library exhibition catalogue, forthcoming, 2008), item 52.