How far to Makkah al-Mukarramah?

This elegant instrument may resemble an astrolabe, but it is not a map of the heavens—it is a map of the world. Remarkably, it features a projection of the Earth that predates any similar known map from before the 14th century AH/20th century CE.

Instead of depicting the land masses and seas seen in traditional world maps, this instrument represents the earth’s sphere as a curved, mathematical grid of latitudes and longitudes. It is a map grounded in Muslim science, with the calculations behind the grid traceable to zij (tables) produced in Islamic lands as early as the 9th century AH/15th century CE, if not earlier. 

It was a map made for Muslims, with Makkah al-Mukarramah at its center, serving as the pivot of a brass rule that spans the diameter of the map. Within the grid, 149 cities—from Córdoba in the West to Khan Baligh (Beijing) in the East—are marked by small, punched dots, with their names engraved within the grid’s squares. However, the map offers more than just the relative positions of these cities; it shows their relationship to Makkah in both distance and orientation. A scale on the rule measures the distance in farasikh (parasangs), while the tip of the rule indicates the qiblah direction in degrees, engraved around the grid. To find the qiblah, there was once a magnetic compass housed within the recessed roundel. A brass sundial, now missing, would have allowed one to determine times for prayer.This highly original invention combined a clear concept with ease of use. Remarkably, only one other example is known. Its genius lies in its universal solution to the question of finding the qiblah, while also adapting the field of geography to the practical needs of Islam.