According to Cicero, reporting the Roman astronomer Gaius Sulpicius Gallus in the 2nd century BC., the first celestial globe was created by Thales of Miletus in the 6th century BC. Although it is uncertain as to how celestial globes were used by the great astronomers of the past, what is certain is that these models were built using the vast knowledge of astronomy and planetary movement then available and contributed greatly to the advancement of astronomy.
All such globes were based on the concept that Earth is the centre of the universe and an outer sphere of stars and celestial bodies are moving around it.  Astronomers in the Islamic world produced an improved version of the Greek sphere in the 8th century and contributed to the accuracy of earlier information by adding more stars and their coordinates. Islamic celestial globes were used to give observers a representation of the sky, depending on the observer’s location and time of day. Our globe shows a view of the stars from ‘outside’ the universe and was probably used for teaching purposes. It is finely incised with the twelve signs of the zodiac set against a naturalistic background; the names of the days of the week and of the zodiac signs are also inscribed whereas stars are represented by inlaid silver and bronze discs. The globe is dated to 1306 Islamic Hijra year. (LK) - (FF.129)