Just to add some additional information about one of the dials that has already been mentioned. The dial that Gianni mentions first in his response, the one that is in the grounds of a mosque next to Dubai Creek, was installed in or around 1987. It shows mean time by means of a shaped gnomon that was designed for the dial by Christopher Daniel. The same picture may be seen in Christopher’s Collection at http://bit.ly/cstjhdaniel.
Patrick Powers From: Gianni Ferrari Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 12:09 PM To: Thibaud Taudin Chabot ; Len Berggren Cc: LISTA INGLESE Subject: Re: Sundials in (or near to) Dubai Len, I know a single sundial in Dubai on the grounds of a mosque next to the Dubai Creek. http://www.intmath.com/blog/dubai-math-and-science/1199 I also read the news that is being built the largest sundial in the world using the shadow of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40114886 @ N05/6946793366 / http://nbnl.globalwhelming.com/2010/11/25/worlds-biggest-sundial-the-burj-khalifa-dubai/ I also know that an Italian architect ( Arch. Paolo Ficara- Canicattini Bagni- Siracusa) has designed and built a large sundial for an international exhibition in Dubai (but I do not think it is more visible). See the article in "The Journal of Sicily" of 01.12.2013 http://www.gds.it/gds/sezioni/vitapiaceri/dettaglio/articolo/gdsid/305695/ ------------------ - Thibaud, the general rule that you remember (a sundial in every mosque) is no longer followed by many years. Already a few centuries ago (starting from about the sixteenth century), almost all the sundials in the mosques were destroyed and replaced with mechanical clocks. Now from electronic billboards :-) The same thing happened of the sundials on public buildings and churches in Europe. Fortunately, some dials have remained intact. Almost all are from the Ottoman period, after 1350. A few dozen in Istanbul and in Turkey, very few in Cairo and in famous mosques in the Islamic world (Damascus, Kairouan, Tunis, etc.). All of these are described in my book “Le meridiane dell’antico Islam” See a description of this book in https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6616660/ISLAMIC%20SUNDIALS_Some%20pages.pdf https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6616660/ISLAMIC_SUNDIAL_Note.pdf The marks of midday ( noon indicator or better indicators of the instant of the prayer Zhur) are very rare and, in my research which has lasted for many years, I found only three, all in Isfahan (Iran). One, that you indicate, in the Masjid-e Shah Mosque or Mosque of the King, and was built by the mathematician and poet Sheikh Baha (1547-1625), a second in the Friday Mosque; a third, consisting of a rectangular stone, 75cm high, covered by a long inscription is in the Religious School named Chahar Bagh (Four Gardens), and was built in 1932 (8 Aban 1311 HE). It has now been moved and no longer indicates the hour of noon. I never knew of sundials in Dubai, with the exception of the modern mentioned above. ------------------ - Gianni Ferrari 2014/1/25 Thibaud Taudin Chabot <tcha...@dds.nl> In Dubai the general rule applies that in all major mosks there might be a sundial, sometimes an old one, sometimes a simple one that is just indicating noon. Many mosks also have what I call a 'noon indicator'. That is a stone often cleverly integrated in the environment which has an edge that is directly N-S. Result is that a side of the stone is shadow before noon and is sun lit after noon. Once you have seen one you recognize them easy. Attached one was found in the great mosk in Isfahan, Iran. (I hope the picture comes with this message) Thibaud At 18:56 24-1-2014, Len Berggren wrote: Hello. I'm going to be visiting Dubai and the region around it soon and I wonder if anyone knows of any sundials in that region? -Len -- J. L. Berggren Professor Emeritus Department of Mathematics Simon Fraser University 8888 University Dr. Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6 phone: 604-936-2268 fax: 604-936-2168 website: http://people.math.sfu.ca/~berggren/ --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Th. Taudin Chabot, . tcha...@dds.nl --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
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