In Synchrony with the Heavens: Studies in Astronomical Timekeeping and Instrumentation in Medieval Islamic Civilization. Vol. 2. Instruments of Mass Calculation (Studies X-XVIII)

David A. King9789004141889, 900414188X

Astrolabes, beautiful metal devices used for calculating time using the stars, and one of the great scientific inventions of medieval Islam, are documented in encyclopedic detail in this massive volume. King (history of science, J.W. Goethe U., Frankfurt, Germany) presents 20 essays, half of them previously published in other languages or earlier versions. Ten essays are devoted to specific astrolabes now in museums and originally made in medieval Spain, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Syria, India, and the Ottoman world. (He uses the term “medieval” in the title to denote an Islamic era “neither classical nor modern.) The chapter on the 8th-century astrolabe in the Archaeological Museum in Baghdad includes a survey of all the astrolabes contained in that museum. A lengthy (110-page) initial chapter surveys astronomical instrumentation in the Islamic world. Other chapter topics include a lengthy treatment of the formula used for timekeeping, universal horary quadrants and dials, the origin of the astrolabe according to medieval sources, astronomical instruments used in Muslim India, geographical data on early Islamic astronomical instruments, and the quatrefoil as decoration on astrolabes. A checklist identifies all known Islamic astronomical instruments up to c.1500, grouped according to location. Each chapter is richly illustrated with b&w and some color plates. The first volume (published by Brill in 2004) presented an analysis of over 500 manuscripts documenting the use of the sun and stars to keep time, an essential task in Islamic lands for determining the hour of prayer.

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Table of contents :
Table of Contents……Page 8
Preface 1……Page 10
Statement on previous publication of parts of this volume……Page 17
Bibliography and bibliographical abbreviations……Page 20
Part X Astronomical instrumentation in the medieval Islamic world……Page 78
XI An approximate formula for timekeeping (750-1900)……Page 188
a) On the universal horary quadrant for timekeeping by the sun……Page 276
b) On universal horary dials for timekeeping by the sun and stars……Page 336
XIII Selected early Islamic astrolabes, preceded by a general overview of astrolabes……Page 414
a) The neglected astrolabe—A supplement to the standard literature on the favourite astronomical instrument of the Middle Ages……Page 416
b) The oldest astrolabe in the world, from 8th-century Baghdad……Page 480
c) The earliest astrolabes from Iraq and Iran (ca. 850 – ca. 1100)……Page 516
d) A medieval Italian testimonial to an early Islamic tradition of non-standard astrolabes……Page 622
e) On the origin of the astrolabe according to medieval Islamic sources……Page 652
XIV Selected late Islamic astrolabes……Page 690
a) An astrolabe made by the Yemeni Sultan al-Ashraf……Page 692
b) Some astronomical instruments from medieval Syria……Page 736
c) A monumental astrolabe for the Ayyubid Sultan al-Mu’zzam……Page 802
d) An astrolabe for the Sultan Ulugh Beg……Page 822
e) Two astrolabes for the Ottoman Sultan Bayezit II……Page 852
f) Brief remarks on astronomical instruments from Muslim India……Page 874
g) A universal astrolabe from 17th-century Lahore……Page 892
XV An astrolabe from medieval Spain with inscriptions in Hebrew, Arabic and Latin……Page 908
XVI The geographical data on early Islamic astronomical instruments……Page 992
XVII The quatrefoil as decoration on astrolabe retes……Page 1040
XVIII A checklist of Islamic astronomical instruments to ca. 1500, ordered chronologically by region……Page 1070
Indexes of instruments and personal names……Page 1098
Addenda and corrigenda to Vol. 1……Page 1138