Fourteenth-Century Islamic Astrolabes

Timeline

1. 1300–1350Damascus · DamascusBuilding on traditions such as those of Ibn al-Shatir, Syrian craftsmen achieved more precise engraving and latitude plate combinations on brass astrolabes; the instruments served as aids to astronomical observation, timekeeping, and geographic orientation, becoming a material embodiment of the Islamic world's scientific prestige.
2. 1381–1390Cairo and Damascus · LevantIn the 1380s, Mamluk Egypt and Syria still maintained active production of astronomical instruments; astrolabes circulated among mosques, courts, and scholars as tools for prayer times and calendars, and some fine pieces entered European collections through Mediterranean trade, reflecting the continuing influence of Islamic scientific instruments in the late Middle Ages.