The 18th century brass astrolabe, an instrument for measuring movements of the Moon and stars, was engraved by maker Haji Ali in Latin and Arabic, but Hebrew characters are also faintly visible.
For Dr Henry Kim, the director and chief executive of the new Aga Khan Museum, this object is redolent of a more tolerant age about which we may have forgotten.
“What people often find surprising about art and artefacts from the Islamic civilisation is their secular nature, and how often they embraced all religions and different facets of cultures,” Dr Kim says.
Driven by the need to know prayer times and better navigate across an expanding empire, the Muslim world perfected the astrolabe, which was first described by the Greeks.
It helped to establish the times of day and night, measured the movements of the stars and determined positions when travelling.
The astrolabe, along with four other items, are from the private collection of the Aga Khan and have been passed down through the family.
More http://www.thenational.ae/uae/matchless-tolerance-of-the-18th-century-brass-astrolabe
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