Among the exhibits of the museum in Verona (Italy), an astrolabe with Hebrew and Arabic inscriptions, created in the 11th century, was found. Scientists state in the journal that the discovery is evidence of Islamic-Jewish scientific exchange. Nuncius.
Historian Federica Gigante recently saw a published image of the astrolabe on the website of an Italian museum. The museum did not know the purpose of the item and thought it might be fake. The astrolabe was covered with engraved inscriptions in Hebrew and Arabic. It was passed from hand to hand over the centuries. Various owners – Muslims, Jews, European Christians – modified the instrument and added inscriptions. It was used to calculate time, distance, determine the position of the stars and draw horoscopes.
“This is not just an incredibly rare object. “This is an impressive experience of scientific exchange that has taken place between Arabs, Jews and Christians for hundreds of years,” said the author of the find.
The astrolabe was probably made in Toledo, a Muslim-ruled region of Spain, in the eleventh century. On one side of the plate it is written in Arabic “For the latitude of Cordoba, 38°30′” and on the other side it is written “For the latitude of Toledo, 40°”. At the time, Toledo was a thriving center of coexistence and cultural exchange between Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The instrument also contains the texts of Muslim prayers and North African latitudes. The second shows that the astrolabe was used at some point in Morocco or Egypt.
Hebrew inscriptions on the astrolabe were added by more than one hand. One series of insertions are deeply and neatly engraved, while the other series of transfers betray a very light, uneven and uncertain hand. These additions suggest that the astrolabe left Spain or North Africa and circulated among the Jewish diaspora in Italy, where Arabic was not understood and Hebrew was used instead. Inaccuracies in the Hebrew inscriptions indicate that the person who left them was not an astronomer or astrolabe maker. Also on the astrolabe were the Arabic names of the zodiac signs Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries, translated into Hebrew.
The astrolabe has corrections written not only in Hebrew but also in Western numerals. It is possible that these additions were made for Latin or Italian speakers in Verona.
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