Message #28672

[Bianca]

A depiction of a Medieval Islamic astronomer.
Thought by some to represent Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi.

The illustration above is a section of a painting showing workers at the observatory of Taqi al-Din at Istanbul in 1577. The particular painting is from the epic poem Shahinshah-nama by 'Ala ad-Din Mansur-Shiazi. It was written in honour of Sultan Murad III who reigned from 1574 to 1595. Though it is common to speak of Arabic astronomy the more correct term would be Arab-Islamic astronomy. Many of the astronomers (and peoples) were not Arabs but were from the regions of (modern-day) Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Arabic was the scientific language and lingua franca for followers of the Islamic religion. The language of the religion was Arabic. It is correct to speak of Greek science being passed to the Arabs. Arab rulers of Arab states, for example the 'Umayyad dynasty (which collapsed in the 740s, funded and patronised the transmission process through Syriac sources The following 'Abbasid dynasty can also be considered as an Arab regime.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gtosiris/page11-26.html










                                                           Observatories





The first systematic observations in Islam are reported to have taken place under the patronage of al-Mamun. Here, and in many other private observatories from Damascus to Baghdad, meridian degrees were measured, solar parameters were established, and detailed observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets were undertaken.

In the 10th century, the Buwayhid dynasty encouraged the undertaking of extensive works in Astronomy, such as the construction of a large scale instrument with which observations were made in the year 950CE. We know of this by recordings made in the zij of astronomers such as Ibn al-Alam.

The great astronomer Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi was patronised by prince Adud o-dowleh, who systematically revised Ptolemy's catalogue of stars. Sharaf al-Daula also established a similar observatory in Baghdad. And reports by Ibn Yunus and al-Zarqall in Toledo and Cordoba indicate the use of sophisticated instruments for their time.

It was Malik Shah I who established the first large observatory, probably in Isfahan. It was here where Omar Khayyám with many other collaborators constructed a zij and formulated the Persian Solar Calendar a.k.a. the jalali calendar. A modern version of this calendar is still in official use in Iran today.