Al-ʻIjliyyah bint al-ʻIjliyy ( ar, العجلية بنت العجلي )
was a 10th-century maker of
astrolabes
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
active in
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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, in what is now northern
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
.
She is sometimes known in modern popular literature as Mariam al-Asṭurlābiyya ( ar, مريم الأسطرلابي) but her supposed first name 'Mariam' is not mentioned in the only source that we have of her life.
Life
According to
ibn al-Nadim
Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Nadīm ( ar, ابو الفرج محمد بن إسحاق النديم), also ibn Abī Ya'qūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the ''nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn al-Nadīm ...
, she was the daughter of another astrolabe maker known as al-ʻIjliyy;
she and her father were apprentices (''tilmīthah'') of an astrolabe maker from Baghdad,
Nasṭūlus.
Al-ʻIjliyyah manufactured
astrolabe
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
s, an astronomical instrument, during the 10th century;
she was employed by the first Emir of Aleppo,
Sayf al-Dawla
ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...
, who reigned from 944 to 967.
Beyond that information, nothing is known about her. Her supposed name, "Mariam", is not supported by sources from her time, and the phrase "al-Asturlabiyy" in the names by which she and her father are known simply means "the astrolabist", and indicates their profession; astrolabes were long known by her time.
Legacy
The main-belt asteroid
7060 Al-ʻIjliya, discovered by
Henry E. Holt
Henry E. Holt (27 September 1929 - 5 May 2019) was an American astronomer and prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets, who has worked as a planetary geologist at the United States Geological Survey and Northern Arizona University.
Ca ...
at
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
in 1990, was named in her honor.
The naming citation was published on 14 November 2016 ().
She inspired a character in 2015 award-winning book
''Binti''.
She was named an extraordinary woman from the
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
by 1001 Inventions.
See also
*
Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world
Islamic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (9th–13th centuries), and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle ...
*
List of Muslim astronomers
Islamic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (9th–13th centuries), and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle ...
*
List of women astronomers
The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable women who have made contributions to the field of astronomy.
__NOTOC__
A
* Madge Adam (1912–2001), English solar astronomer
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), Engli ...
*
Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
References
External links
Astrolabe: the 13th Century iPhone– Daily Sabah
GPS and its Islamic origins The Star Online, 3 October 2013
{{Authority control
10th-century astronomers
Scientific instrument makers
Women astronomers
Medieval women scientists
Syrian women scientists
10th-century women
Medieval Syrian astronomers
Women scholars of the medieval Islamic world