Al-ʻIjliyyah bint al-ʻIjliyy ()
was a 10th-century maker of
astrolabes
An astrolabe (; ; ) is an astronomical instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and physical model of the visible half-dome of the sky. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclinometer and an analog calculati ...
active in
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
, in what is now northern
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
.
She is sometimes known in modern popular literature as Mariam al-Asṭurlābiyya () but her supposed first name 'Mariam' is not mentioned in the only known source about her life.
Life
According to
ibn al-Nadim
Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq an-Nadīm (), also Ibn Abī Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the '' nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn an-Nadīm (; died 17 September 995 or 998), was an important Muslim ...
, 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 (; ; ) is an astronomy, astronomical list of astronomical instruments, instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and Model#Physical model, physical model of the visible celestial sphere, half-dome of the sky. It ...
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 Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (, 22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (, ), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, ...
, 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 at
Palomar Observatory
The Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in the Palomar Mountains of San Diego County, California, United States. 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 the 2015 award-winning book
''Binti'' and
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series
Vikings: Valhalla.
She was named an extraordinary woman from the
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century.
This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign o ...
by 1001 Inventions.
See also
*
Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world
Medieval 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 th ...
*
List of Muslim astronomers
Medieval Islamic astronomy comprises the Astronomy, 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 ...
*
List of women astronomers
*
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