Tag: this is really freaking cool

presentpasts:

Gilt-brass astrolabe with Hebrew characters, c. 1350, Spain. At the British Museum, London.

Astrolabes were based on ancient Greek astronomical and mathematical texts, and represent the exchange of knowledge between Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars in Medieval Europe. They were taken across Europe by traveling scholars. This is one of the few known astrolabes made in Europe with markings in Hebrew.