374 Dr. DojiN's Description of an Arabic Celestial Globe. 



Ideler of Berlin ;* whose instructive annotations greatly enhance the value of 

 his translation, and have afforded me considerable assistance in describing the 

 constellations of the globe preserved in the museum of the Royal Asiatic 

 Society. 



Alcazvini, however, was not the only astronomer who did honour to his 

 native country : many others might be enumerated if the limits of this essay 

 permitted me to expatiate upon the subject : but as brevity is necessary, the 

 only remark I presume to add is, that the author of the treatise on the con- 

 struction of the astrolabe, from which I have inserted extracts in this me- 

 moir, as explanatory and confirmatory of what Alcazvini asserts, appears to 

 have been a Persian, altiiough of a later period ; his name is Abd ul Raii- 

 man Slierif, and his work was compiled in 1743, under the title of ju^iiu 

 t^JlLJl Maksed Ulmutalib. 



It was especially under the patronage of the Khalifs of the Abbasside 

 race, who began to reign A. D. 749, that the flourishing state of the science 

 of astronomy commenced: for these Klialifs, contrary to the usual bigotry 

 of Mohammedan princes, delighted to sacrifice ancient prejudices to the 

 welfare of literature, and assembled around them the learned of all de- 

 nominations. The first of them who introduced a decided taste for tlie 

 sciences into his kingdom, and wlio may be designated as the founder of 

 the successful cultivation of astronomy, was Almansur, who ascended 

 the throne in the year 754 ; and the astronomer who may claim the merit 

 of having seconded and carried into effect Almansur's noble designs, 

 and thus left a precedent to otliers, was Mohammed ben Ibrahim Al- 

 fazari. 



The Khalif Mahdi succeeded liis father Almansur, and inherited his 

 taste for literature : he was succeeded by Harun Alrashid, who was not 

 less distinguished for the zeal witli wliich he promoted all literary pur- 

 suits. It is a fact well known, tiiat he presented to the emperor Charle- 

 magne (amongst other valuable presents) an astronomical watch : which 

 proves the great progress the Arabs had made in the arts and sciences 

 during his reign. Under his auspices many Greek authors were translated 

 into Arabic. The works of Ptolemy chiefly attracted the attention of the 

 mathematicians and astronomers ; and the Almagest (the title given by the 



* Untersuchungen iiber den Ursprung und die Bedeutungcn der Stemnamen, von L. Ideler. 

 Berlin, 1809, 8vo. 



