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Museum to highlight precious objects

SHARJAH - The Sharjah Islamic Museum will introduce the general public to its precious exhibits and encourage visitors to select an "object of the month." The object selected for this month is a brass celestial globe from Lahore, circa late 18th century AD.

The globe measures 23.3am in length. This sphere was made by Nasir eddin Attoolsi in 1205 Hijri. The brass cast globe has the zodiacal constellations depicted in raised patterns covering its entire surface. The signs are portrayed with delightful representational images of humans and animals. The ecliptic and celestial equator are engraved on two raised bands.

Serious Islamic interest in astronomy dated back to the early Abassid period when they excelled and achieved many great works. Their contributions in those fields were plainly shown in translating many astronomical studies from Greek, Persian and Sanskrit.

The earliest Islamic celestial globes were made of carved wood or stretched leather over a wood frame. Different kinds of globes were later made out of metals, dating back to the fifth century Hijri, which came from various parts of the Islamic world, from Spain to the Punjab.

The museum is also organising a course in the art of marbling, known as Ebru, in cooperation with the Sharjah Childrens Centres. The courses will run from June 15 till July 15 every Sunday and Monday.