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Astrolabe: the 13th Century iPhone

J A N E L O U I S E
K A N D U R
The technology craze that has spread around the globe in
ISTANBUL
the past decades has led to almost every house today having
Published various kinds of gadgets. However, the phenomenon of
popular gadgetry is actually much older than one might
think. Even in the 13th century, technological gadgets were
in high demand such as the astrolabe

T oday if you want to learn what the time is, it is not very difficult –
everywhere we look we can see a clock. There are digital clocks on
our ovens, televisions, car dashboards and telephones. Neon signs in the
street tell us the date, time and temperature. How often today does a
passing stranger ask us the time? People have become self-sufficient in
telling the time, carrying some mechanism that will inform them.

This was not always the case. There was a time before iPhones, before
digital watches, before even pocket watches. In times before electronics,
all major cities had clock towers or, in the case of the Ottomans,
muvakkithane (clock rooms that were usually adjacent to the mosques).
The astrolabe was found in these rooms, where it helped the astronomer
or clock keeper to determine the time.

A depiction of Mariam al Ijliya, a famous astrolabe maker who lived in

Aleppo in the 10th century. (Courtesy of IGETEV, Muslim Women's
Historical Heritage)

The astrolabe has been compared to the iPhone for the 13th century, in
that it was the latest form of portable technology that all wanted to
possess. In fact, this is not an inaccurate comparison. The astrolabe not
only answered the simple question "What time is it?" which today may
seem prosaic to us, surrounded as we are by a number of gadgets, but
also performed a large number of tasks that answered questions
important to everyday life.

The astrolabe is an instrument that is made up of stationary and moving

parts – the rete is the moveable part on which the position of the sun and
stars are depicted. That is the rete acts as a model of the sky. The mater
is the rear part of the astrolabe; the mater has a number of scales carved
on it. By moving the rete and the plates, the user of the astrolabe can
adjust them to be in keeping with the position of the stars. On the back of
the astrolabe are charts that allow the user to determine the time
according to which latitude they are in.

The astrolabe has many uses, including allowing people to identify and/or
predict the position of the sun, the moon, the planets and stars. It is
possible to use the astrolabe to determine the time or the time in another
latitude (or if you know the time, but do not know in which latitude you
happen to be, you can find this out using an astrolabe). The astrolabe was
also used for surveying.

The astrolabe has special significance for Muslims. In the Islamic world, it
was used to determine the position of the qibla (the direction in which
Muslims pray) and to calculate the times for the daily prayers, which
change every day.

It is thought that the astrolabe was first invented in the fourth century
B.C. by Theon of Alexandria. However, it was Muslim civilization that
really led to the astrolabe taking off in popularity. The earliest Islamic
astrolabe can be dated back to the 10th century, with the earliest treatise
from this part of the world dating back to the ninth century.

That is to say, the astrolabe was used for all the purposes listed above
from classical antiquity to the Islamic Golden Age, the European Middle
Ages and even during the Renaissance.

The way in which the astrolabe helped people to perform all these
different functions was that it created a "stereographic projection" – that
is, it provided a 3-D image of the night sky onto a 2-D surface. As a result,
people had a celestial map that they could carry with them and refer to
whenever they felt the need.

According to Salim T. S. Al-Hassani, the chief editor of "1001 Inventions:

Muslim Heritage in Our World," the astrolabe is "based upon the model of
the Earth being at the centre [sic] of a spherical universe with an
imaginary observer positioned at a particular latitude and time outside
this sphere and looking down upon it. On the astrolabes that the
astronomer was holding, the major stars in the sky were represented on a
pierced metal late, which was set into a larger flat circular holder called a
mater. Because the plate with the stars was pierced, the astronomer
could see through it onto another plate, which would have lines
representing his particular geographical location."

So, if you want to know the time or perform any of the other functions the
astrolabe offers, all you have to do is select a star (if you are using it at
night). Then you measure the altitude by sighting the selected star with
the astrolabe. The next step is to identify the selected star on the front of
the device and move the plates to match the altitude of the star on the
back. The result is that you are now holding a model that corresponds to
the sky at that precise moment. In order to learn the time, you move the
rule to the date line and presto, you know the time!

Thus, it was possible for people from the eighth century to the 16th
century – the date at which the first pocket watches started to appear –
to determine the time.

There is good evidence that by the 14th century, children were using
astrolabes. Geoffrey Chaucer, better known for writing "The Canterbury
Tales" – the nightmare of every English lit student – wrote "A Treatise
on the Astrolabe." It is claimed to be the earliest treatise on scientific
instruments in the English language. Chaucer states, "This treatis, ..., wol
I shewe the ... in Englissh, for Latyn ne canst thou yit but small." That is,
"This treatise is being written in English because you only know a little bit
of Latin." Chaucer wrote this treatise for a child, but whether this was his
son, godson or another child he knew is still a matter of debate.

It is only natural to wonder how useful a brass instrument can be for

telling time. Even the smallest astrolabes tended to be bigger than the
pocket watches which were to come. How heavy would such an object be?
And surely, at such a time, a brass object that required a great deal of
skill to be made wouldn't have come cheap.

When you learn that the astrolabe was not just made of brass but also out
of paper and wood, it becomes clearer why so many people used them.
Indeed, the paper astrolabes could be carried in a purse or a pocket.

As mentioned above, the astrolabe had a large number of uses,

particularly in Islamic civilization. The Muslims developed it greatly due
to the fact that they wanted to determine the times for daily prayers. The
times for the five daily prayers change every day according to the
position of the sun. It made life a lot easier if people were able to keep
track of the changing times. The Ottomans set up mavakkithanes, time-
keeping rooms, next to the mosques for this purpose. Passers-by could
find out what time it was, and the muezzin would know when to recite the
call to prayer. In 1571, Mustafa Ibn Ali el-Muvakkit, the chief astrologer
for Sultan Mehmet II, wrote a treatise on the astrolabe.

The astrolabe occupied an important place in the Islamic world not only
for its time-keeping facilities but also because it was an efficient way to
determine direction. As a result, it was used extensively in determining
the direction of Mecca, the Qibla, that is, the direction in which Muslims
pray.

Today, the astrolabe is still included in middle and high school curricula.
Students learn how to make an astrolabe and then learn its applications in
their real day life. For example, to quote from the Indian Institute of
Technology, "Knowing an angle along with one other side helps to
determine heights because similar triangles always have the same angles
… The length of at least one other side needs to be known; usually the
distance from the object in question to a person with an astrolabe is
sufficient."
Tom Wujec spoke about the astrolabe in a TED talk he gave in July 2009.
Wujec states that telling time is just one use of the astrolabe, claiming that
it has up to 350 uses (one text even goes so far as to claim a 1,000 uses).
He states that only by attending a university course devoted to the
astrolabe is it possible to properly understand the uses of the instrument.
But more importantly, Wujec states that there is one characteristic of the
astrolabe which causes it to outshine modern technology. When you use
the astrolabe, you are forced to look up and observe the night sky. The
connection with nature, with the world around you is reaffirmed; that is,
the user of the astrolabe is absolutely aware of their surroundings, and
unlike modern human beings, affirms their place in the universe.

Not only this, the brass astrolabes are beautiful works of art, intricately
created by skilled masters. There is information about many such
masters of this intricate instrument. One such master of this instrument,
which could be as beautiful as it was functional, was a young lady living in
Aleppo in the 10th century. Although there is not a great deal of
information about her, the name Mariam al-Ijliya al-Astrulabi appears in
Al Fihrist, the biography/bibliography written by Ibn al-Nadim. In this
work, al-Nadim provides information about mathematicians, engineers,
musicians, astrologers and tool makers, as well as names of those who
made tools to be used by astronomers. Mariam al-Ijliya is included among
the 16 names of engineers listed. Mariam was the daughter of an
instrument maker, and both were members of the highly skilled
engineers and instrument makers of the ninth and 10th centuries. Both
Mariam and her father are cited as students of Bitolus, who was
apparently a famous astrolabe maker. Mariam was employed along with
her father at the court of Sayf al-Dawlah (944-967). It is possible to
understand that the daughter and father worked together in making the
instruments needed by astronomers.

The astrolabe is an instrument with a long and important history. Unlike

modern gadgets, it was a tool that required not only great engineering
skills but also a certain artistic flair. With this instrument people, even
children, could know what time it was, where the sun was, when it would
rise, how it would move across the sky and when it would set. But despite
the non-electronic nature of this instrument, the astrolabe has a clear
advantage – it requires the user to look up at the night sky. While looking
up, perhaps they will stargaze. Perhaps they will contemplate the celestial
heavens, making a much-needed connection with nature.

For further information, see: "1001 Inventions: Muslims Heritage in Our

World," edited by Salim T. S. Al-Hassani.

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