An astrolabe – Greek for ‘star finder’ – is an instrument with over 2,000 years of history. They could be incredibly intricate, and were used to help keep time, navigate and cast horoscopes. Curator William Greenwood looks at an example from the Islamic world, and explains how you’d go about using one. | British Museum

What is an Astrolabe? Think of the astrolabe as the “smartphone of the medieval world.” Long before GPS or Google Maps, scholars, sailors, and astronomers used this intricate instrument to read the stars, measure time, find direction, and even calculate prayer timings. It’s a flat, disk-shaped device, often made of brass, with moving parts that mimic the sky. A Brief History The astrolabe has roots going back to ancient Greece, but it truly flourished in the Islamic Golden Age. Muslim scholars r