The material culture of metal workshops: crafting astronomical instruments in medieval Hebrew (Provence and Catalonia)

This article delves into the significant evolution and standardization of Hebrew technical terminology for constructing instruments in the Provençal and Catalan regions in the second half of the fourteenth century. While a substantial body of Hebrew astrolabe terms emerged earlier, it was in the fourteenth century and in the western area of the Mediterranean basin – particularly through the works of Levi b. Gershon but most notably through those of Immanuel b. Jacob in Tarascon and Jacob ibn al-Corsuno in Barcelona – that Hebrew terminology for instrument construction crystallized. By examining the terminology of astrolabe construction and their contexts, and focusing on a significant case study, this article illuminates a hitherto unknown aspect of astronomy among medieval European Jews: the material culture of medieval astronomy through the language used in Hebrew texts from the second half of the fourteenth century.