Spanish Astrolabe

Astrolabe, c. 1345-55, Brass (?), 4 1/3 x 3 5/8 x 7/8 in. (11 x 9.2 x 2.18 cm), (British Museum, London)

Speakers: Pippa Couch, Rachel Ropeik

The text is inscribed with Hebrew letters, as well as with some Arabic words. The Astrolabe is thought to have been owned by a Sephardic Jewish scholar of the Iberian peninsula, during the "Reconquista," a period of approximately 700 years (lasting up until 1492). During this "Reconquest," Christians reclaimed most of Spain from the last fragments of the Umayyad caliphate, and all Jews and Muslims in the Iberian region were expelled, forced to convert, or arrested.