In front of the entrance to museum, the visitor encounters
a large globe, which is a reconstruction of one of the most important achievements of the Islamic scientific tradition.
The map on the globe was constructed by order of
Caliph al-Ma'mun (who reigned from 198-218 H./813-833 CE.).
Using a globular projection, the map displays, with surprising accuracy. The geography of the part of the world which was known at that time.
The discovery, historical reconstruction and presentation of the Ma'mun globe, as well as the other artefacts displayed in the museum,
are the work of
Professor Fuat Sezgin, who in 1982 founded the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/ Main.