29. Celestial Globe

The Muslims lands lead the world in Science from the 9^th to the 15^th C. In the 9^th C the greatest text on Astronomy was still Ptolemy’s Almagest, circa 150 CE. Inconsistencies and omissions prompted Caliph al-Mamun to build the first Arab observatory, in Baghdad, and the Muslims were first to raise reasoned doubts about Ptolemy’s models. Copernicus on developing his sun centric model in 1543, relied heavily on Islamic astronomy and ideas.  The Muslim’s sense of enquiry led to major advances in many other fields such as  mathematics, medicine and mapping. This globe made in Mosul of brass inlaid with silver, shows 48 constellations inscribed with their names in Arabic. This globe and stand is dated with the date 1275/1276 and stands about 50 cms tall and was likely made for the observatory at Maragha in Iran.