1,000-year-old bronze astrolabe expected to fetch millions at Sotheby's auction
The bronze astrolabe, originating from the 9th and 10th century Baghdad, forms part of the Sotheby’s ‘Arts of the Islamic World and India’ sale in London.
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00:15 Well, probably the best way of describing an astrolabe is a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional universe,
00:24 but that which can be held in the palm of your hand.
00:27 A multitude of uses, but probably mostly used over the centuries to tell the time using the sun,
00:35 the position of the sun during the day and the position of the moon during the night.
00:39 [Music]
00:41 The reason why this one is so special is just purely because of its age and location of origin.
00:46 So this was made most likely in Baghdad around circa 900 AD,
00:52 which puts it into one of the earliest groups of Islamic astrolabes ever built.
00:57 There are only around 20 of this type and date known at all, almost all of which are in global museums.
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