2024/03/01 by Federica Gigante · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · #Historical and Linguistic Studies #Medieval and Classical Philosophy #Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1163/18253911-bja10095
openalex publication_date 2024/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract This article presents a hitherto unknown remarkable astrolabe from Al-Andalus which likely belonged to the collection of Ludovico Moscardo (1611–1681) assembled in Verona in the seventeenth century. The astrolabe is datable to the eleventh century and features added Hebrew and Latin inscriptions. It underwent many modifications, additions, and adaptations as it changed hands and owners over time thus becoming a palimpsest object. With its added translations from Arabic into Hebrew, the astrolabe closely recalls the recommendations prescribed by the Spanish Jewish polymath Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) in the earliest surviving treatise on the astrolabe in the Hebrew language written in 1146 precisely in Verona. The astrolabe—today preserved in the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo—stands out as a testimony to the contacts and exchanges among Arabs, Jews and Europeans in the medieval and early modern periods.