This astrolabe is full of surprises that unite worlds

Preciously preserved by Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo From Verona, the medieval astrolabe turned out to be much more than a “simple” astronomical measuring instrument. The device dates back to the 11th century^H It was examined through the analyzes of Dr. Federica Gigante, who works at the University of Cambridge. In a study published in review Nonsius 1^any March, the historian presents her observations and hypotheses. The unique feature of the device has aroused great interest among academics, which is that it is engraved with inscriptions in Latin, Arabic and Hebrew. A peculiarity that suggests that the body was widely distributed in southern Europe and around the Mediterranean basin. It would have passed from hand to hand, before ending up in the collection of a 17th-century Italian nobleman.^H a century.

An instrument made in Islamic Andalusia

Since ancient Greece, scholars have developed projections and maps of the country UniverseUniverseThis caused the creation of special astronomy objects over the centuries. If the astrolabe and similar mechanisms existed in the Middle Ages, at this time their use saw a real revival. From the ninth^H In the 20th century, a number of astronomical instruments were created during the Abbasid Dynasty, so much so that museums have no shortage of medieval astrolabes. The artefact preserved in Verona also comes from one of the provinces of the Islamic Caliphate in its golden age. Dr. Gigante points in particular to the similarity of the Arabic letters to the Arabic letters stylestyle Among the achievements of a person named Ibrahim bin Saeed Al-Sahli, residing in Toledo, between 1018 and 1085. Some sentences similar to the instructions refer to latitudeslatitudes Toledo and Cordoba, two cities located respectively in central and southern Spain. It is inscribed on the original plate, and confirms the authenticity of the astrolabe's origins, which was probably made in the 11th century.^H century in the Iberian Peninsula.

A mystery across the centuries

On the base of the astrolabe are more recent paintings that were affixed during the centuries following its creation. Thus, the sentence in Arabic refers to the latitude of North Africa, which could be located at the level of the present-day Maghreb. But the Hebrew glyphs show that the astrolabe changed owners over time, as it crossed several regions in the Mediterranean basin. Although astrolabes were relatively widespread during the Middle Ages, they were expensive items reserved for a limited portion of the population. However, the Verona mechanism may have been used by people who did not commonly use astrolabes. Dr. Gigante explains that some numbers are written in full (7 before “seven”), which is an unusual practice, as Arab astronomers do not resort to such transliteration.

The general structure ofSpiderSpider The Verona Astrolabe asserts that it was designed in the province of Andalusia, but some elements found in this part of the dial point to the Barcelona Astrolabe Spider, dating from^H century and features Carolingian letters. Instrument saved by Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo It is a puzzle with a diameter of 19 cm, and it is a real mystery that spans the centuries. If he ended his journey in the seventeenth century^H Set in the twentieth century in northern Italy, and in the hands of the Veronese nobleman Ludovico Moscardo, the Verona astrolabe had a long and rich history. This ancient mechanism, a fascinating subject of study, is a sign of the true transmission of knowledge in medieval Europe.