The Astronomical Observatory of the Abbot de Beauchamp in Baghdad

Abstract In 1786, the Abbé Joseph de Beauchamp, vicar general of the bishopric of Babylon, vice-consul in Baghdad and correspondent of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, completed the description of the astronomical observatory he had installed on a terrace of the house of the Missionary Fathers of the Congregation of the Faith in Baghdad. A crossroads between Parisian and Middle Eastern astronomical practice, between scholarly, religious and diplomatic networks in France and abroad, Beauchamp’s observatory was destroyed by the wind in 1783, then carefully reconstructed and well equipped with observation and measurement instruments received from France. The notes, descriptions and detailed drawings carefully recorded by the astronomer explain the organization of this learned space, the function, construction and operation of each of the elements for the various types of observations (stars, the Sun and the planet Mercury, in particular) made within it.