Brass sheet qiblah compass, engraved, with hinged lid and hasp, Iran, 1800-1875.

Brass sheet qiblah compass, engraved, with hinged lid and hasp; magnetic iron needle under a glass held in place by a pierced brass place, to which a rotable pointer and folding simple gnomon are attached. The plate has a rotating pointer pivoted at the centre, which serves to set the direction of Mecca and a simple gnomon that shows noon when its shadow falls on itself, after the compass has been correctly orientated.

This compass is typical of a number of small qiblah compasses being produced in Iran in the 19th century. Examples in the Khalili collection show inscriptions which vary in content some of which relate to principle places of pilgrimage for Twelver Shi'is, others which contain verses instructing the owner of the compass on its use. The literature of the determination of the qiblah is extensive: it appears that the compass in the astronomical compendium Sanduq al-yawaqit ('The Chest of Rubies') made in 1365-6AD by Ibn al-Shatir is the first known example with a pivoted needle, and of a qiblah compass. The introduction of the magnetic compass from China made it possible to manufacture small instruments which, when correctly orientated by means of the pivoted needle, would show the azimuth of the qiblah from a number of places marked on the compass plate.

Muslims face the holy city of Mecca when they perform their prayers, an orientation known as the Qiblah. Over the centuries many methods have been devised to determine the Qiblah, some more accurate than others. The magnetic compass, introduced from China in the Middle Ages, was an element in many Qiblah finders, including this type, produced in some numbers in nineteenth-century Iran. The brass case is densely engraved with a gazetteer that gives the geographical coordinates of the Qiblah at many cities in the Islamic world.

574-1878