Papyrology and the History of Early Islamic Egypt

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Papyrology and the History of Early Islamic Egypt

Papyrology and the History of Early Islamic Egypt

Edited by Petra Sijpesteijn and Lennart Sundelin

Books

Available
Publication year: 2004


Series:	Islamic History and Civilization, 55
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 13886 5
ISBN-10:	90 04 13886 2

Cover:	Cloth with dustjacket
Number of pages:	xxii, 274 pp. 8 illus.

List price:	€ 121.00 / US$ 180.00

Readership

All those interested in Egypt, papyrology, archaeology, Late Antiquity, Byzantine history, early Islamic history, Eastern Christianity, Greek, Coptic, the early development of Arabic language and literature, and contact linguistics.

About the author(s)

Petra Sijpesteijn, Ph.D. (2004) in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, holds a junior research fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford. She has published several editions of Arabic papyri and is currently working on a study of the agricultural history of early Islamic Egypt.
Lennart Sundelin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. He has taught Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern history at St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia) and Dartmouth College.

Tens of thousands of documents dating form the late Byzantine and early Islamic periods have been found in Egypt. These texts, written on papyrus and a variety of other materials, in Greek, Coptic Egyptian, and Arabic, offer a unique, but underutilized resource for the study of a society experiencing a profound transformation, this volume collects papers given at the conference “Documentary Evidence and the History of Early Islamic Egypt”, including editions of previously unpublished Greek, Coptic, and Arabic documents, historical and linguistic studies which make use of documentary evidence, a discussion of the importance of Arabic literary papyri, and an introduction to papyrology and its relevance for the study of this period of Egyptian history.

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