A map of the world centered on Makkah created in Safavid Persia in the 17th century has been sold for £1.86 million ($2.33 million) in London through auction house Bonhams.
Nima Sagharchi, the director of Middle Eastern and Islamic art at Bonhams, described it as one of the most valuable items of sophisticated Islamic craftsmanship ever to be sold at auction — particularly given the current “challenging market.”
“With what’s going on in the Middle East right now, the focus of the world is not particularly on the art market,” Sagharchi told Arab News. “But when something like this comes up, it’s an opportunity for institutions that they cannot miss.”
He explained that the circular brass object was purchased by an anonymous institution based in the Gulf region. “It makes sense because the object is centered on the Gulf. It is where it belongs,” he said.
It is reportedly one just three surviving complete examples of such intricate mapmaking with Makkah at its center, which Sagharchi said was “a kind of forgotten tradition.” A tricky object to decipher, the map contains a compass and is engraved with delicate calligraphy and a central grid pattern, based on the latitude and longitude of Earth.
“The whole world is within a 22-centimeter diameter,” Sagharchi said. Some of the squares are filled with names of cities of the Islamic world, including Isfahan and Istanbul (Kostantiniyye on this map).
Meanwhile, the empty spaces could be updated with newly discovered places. “It has to preserve all of the scientific and geometrical accuracy of a map,” noted Sagharchi. “It’s not only about making it look beautiful, but making it with no margin of error. Everything has to be perfectly measured and spaced.”
The map is a multifunctional item, with which the user could calculate the distance to — and direction of — Makkah for prayer, as well as tell the time (the map includes a lid that can act as a sundial). Atop the lid stands a triangular ruler, which can be moved around the map, allowing the reader to measure the space between a particular city and Makkah.
“It is very advanced,” Sagharchi said. “All the academics say that it’s almost like a computer.”