“Al -Madar” .. a unique window that reveals the amazing accuracy of the universe and its expansion

The “Al -Madar” section in the Biennial of Islamic Arts is in its second edition, currently located under the title “What is between them”, in the Western pilgrims hall in Jeddah, a unique window that reviews the deep relationship between calculation and creativity across continents, civilizations and different eras.
Al -Madar tells the story of numbers throughout Islamic countries, as it combines distinctive historical holdings with contemporary artistic performances to explore and seek man to understand the universe around him, through more than 265 artistic pieces provided by more than 30 partner institutions that represent more than 20 countries.
The “Al -Madar” takes its visitors on an extended trip across continents and civilizations, following the path of numbers, mathematics, astronomy, engineering and design, to reveal the various ways in which man tried to realize his position in this vast universe.

The oldest is a historian

The “Al -Madar” section, the oldest of Asrallab, dated the Al -Sabah family, dates back to the Abbasid era, formed a way out to identify the orbits of the sky and meditate on the greatness of divine creation in its unlimited breadth, and helps him to measure it and draw its features, which allowed them to measure the distances and know the times.
This Astrolalab “Nastolos” designed one of the most famous makers of Al -Asatalabat in the Abbasid court in Baghdad, and he left his signature, adding to him a symbol of letters indicating the year 315 AH.

Al -Madar restores a scientific and cultural heritage that is full of innovation and research in the secrets of the universe, and includes the oldest Abbasid Astrobes to the rare spherical astrolabe, and from the elaborate mechanisms to the lamps that lit the mosques of ancient time.

An ongoing discovery journey

This exhibition reflects how knowledge and creativity formed a harmonious mixture in Islamic civilizations.
While we sail between these pieces, we realize that the journey of discovery has not stopped, but rather continues to inspire and excite the curiosity of a deeper understanding of the greatness of divine creation and the breadth of this amazing universe.
The “orbit” embraces an arrogant archeology with a elderly calendar that is the oldest completely developed machine in the world, and the gear runs a lunar calendar window in the upper part of the back that shows the change of the moon’s faces and its domesticity over a full month, while the lower windows indicate the movement of the moon represented by the silver point and the sun.
In this automatic innovation and wonderful decoration, Muhammad bin Abi Bakr sought to embody the brilliant creativity in a tangible form as an amazing phenomenon that cannot be fully absorbed in its endless complexity.