Circular brass astrolabe with dense engraved scales, a pierced star map, and silver inlay.

Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (public domain). Original record.

Objects / Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf
Object

Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf

The museum title preserves the maker’s name. Its dated record, component measurements, and multiple plate images make it possible to examine the object as a working set rather than as a single decorated disc.

Institution
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Accession
91.1.535a–h
Date
690 AH / 1291 CE
Made in
Yemen
Material
Brass; cast and hammered, pierced, chased, silver inlay
Case size
Maximum width 19.4 cm; diameter 15.6 cm; depth 0.6 cm
Image rights
Public domain / The Met Open Access
Open museum record

What can be observed

A dense pierced network sits over the engraved plate. Around it, scales and inscriptions occupy almost every available band. The museum record identifies a case, bar, net, four plates, and pin, so this view represents an assembled instrument with removable parts.

Making and identity

The institutional record attributes the instrument to ‘Umar ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn Rasul al-Muzaffari. ArtifactView retains the full museum title because shortening it would remove the recorded maker identity.

The record names silver inlay alongside chased and pierced brass. Those techniques describe how the visible contrast and openwork were produced; they do not by themselves establish who used the instrument.

Compare

Compare the Mashhad astrolabe →. The two records are separated by more than three centuries and name different production places.

Sources and revisions

Curator's evidence fileobjects / ASTROLABE-OF-UMAR-IBN-YUSUF

Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf

Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (public domain). Original record .

Evidence register
ObserveDescribe material, form, marks, wear or spatial relation without assigning identity or purpose. Begin with “What can be observed.”
ContextLocate the record in excavation, collection, restoration and display history. Check the chain against Original record and Open museum record.
InferRead inscriptions, scale geometry, alloy, workshop practice and latitude-related design together, while keeping later ownership separate from original use. Tie every attribution to the feature that supports it and retain competing readings.
WithholdDo not extend “Making and identity” beyond the date, sample, comparison or provenance actually documented.

Provenance checkpoint

List each custody or documentation gap separately; an unknown interval is evidence about the record, not permission to invent continuity.

Catalogue note

The museum title preserves the maker’s name. Its dated record, component measurements, and multiple plate images make it possible to examine the object as a working set rather than as a single decorated disc. Mark later repairs, labels and digital reconstructions as later interventions rather than original features.

Research-room prompt

What single comparison object, technical test or archive entry would most change the interpretation of Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf?