This astrolabe is signed by one ‘Abd al-Aimmah’ and dated to the year 1715. Iranian astrolabes fall into two categories: those made from the 10th to the 16th centuries, which continue in much the same style as the earliest Iranian astrolabes; and those made from the end of the second half of the 16th century, when there was a resurgance in astrolabe-making. These later astrolabes are decorated in the highly ornate style popular in Iran at this period. Numerous surviving examples from the 17th and 18th centuries reflect the popularity of astrology at court. The retes of these astrolabes - that is, the part of the instrument that maps the stars, made up of a rotating disk with pointers - feature patterns of vine scrolls, bearing leaf-shaped star pointers. The various components, as well as the rims and the backs, usually have patterns or inscriptions, sometimes Persian verses in either naskh or nastaliq scripts. Astrolabes from this period also often have a signature within a cartouche below the shadow square on the back.