Found in second-hand shop, this is now among rarest objects in Scotland
The remarkable tool was used for purposes such as time keeping, wayfinding, astronomy and astrology.
A rare relic held in Scotland has reached a milestone by turning 1,000 years old.
The artefact, an intricately crafted brass astrolabe, was made in 11th‑century Spain and is among the oldest surviving signed and dated astrolabes in Europe.
The historic instrument is part of National Museum Scotland’s collection and was recently returned to Scotland after being loaned to the British Museum.
It was initially gifted to to the museum in the 1950s by a collector who purchased it in a second-hand shop.
The stunning object was made in Cordoba by Muhammad ibn al-Saffâr, and is dated 417 AH (the Islamic calendar), which equates to 1026-1027 AD.
Astrolabes were used to observe, calculate and predict the position of the Sun and the stars. The sophisticated tool was used for purposes such as time keeping, wayfinding, astronomy and astrology. The objects revealed how early scholars mapped the cosmos long before the invention of modern telescopes.
The instrument is now seen to be one of the rarest and most historically significant artefacts in Scotland. Researchers say it offers viewers a glimpse into a millennium of astronomical knowledge.
It was thanks to collector James H. Farr why the astrolabe is on show today.
Mr Farr, who ran Wardie Garage on Ferry Road in Edinburgh, gifted the item to the museum in 1959.
In a newspaper interview in 1960, he was quoted as saying that he purchased it in a second-hand shop in Edinburgh's Lawnmarket. He was a wide-ranging collector, from military memorabilia to locomotives and automobiles, and Secretary of the Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers.
Principal Curator of Science at the museum, Dr Rebekah Higgitt, said: “As this incredible object turns 1,000 years old, we reflect on how a single object can connect science, history and culture. It reveals to us how early scholars observed the stars and helps us understand how past learning has helped shape the modern world. We are privileged to share this story with our visitors as we mark this remarkable milestone.”
The astrolabe is on permanent display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, within the Earth in Space gallery on Level 1.
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