Editing Celestial globe (section)

=== Ancient Greece ===
The Roman writer [[Cicero]] reported the statements of the Roman astronomer [[Gaius Sulpicius Gallus]] of the second century BC, the first globe was constructed by [[Thales of Miletus]]. This could indicate that celestial globes were in production throughout antiquity however, without any celestial globes surviving from this time, it is difficult to say for sure. What is known is that in book VIII, chapter 3 of [[Ptolemy]]'s [[Almagest]] he outlines ideas for the design and production of a celestial globe. This includes some notes on how the globe should be decorated, suggesting ‘the sphere a dark colour resembling the night sky’.{{sfn|Savage-Smith|1985|page=8}}

[[Image:Atlas (Farnese Globe).jpg|thumb|''[[Farnese Atlas]]'' ([[Naples National Archaeological Museum|Museo Archeologico Nazionale]], [[Naples]]), the oldest still existing celestial globe]]

The [[Farnese Atlas]], a 2nd-century AD Roman marble sculpture of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] which probably copies an earlier work of the Hellenistic era, is holding a celestial globe {{convert|65|cm|abbr=on}} in diameter, which for many years was the only known celestial globe from the ancient world.<ref name=Dekker>{{cite journal|last1=Dekker |first1=Elly |date=2009|title= Featuring the First Greek Celestial Globe |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/23993955|journal= Globe Studies|issue= 55/56|pages= 133–152|jstor=23993955 |access-date=2023-11-19}}</ref> No stars are depicted on the globe, but it shows over 40 classical Greek constellations in substantial detail.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Kristen |last1=Lippincott|chapter=Reflections on the Farnese Atlas: Exploring the scientific, literary and pictorial antecedents of the constellations on a Graeco-Roman globe |title=The Imagined Sky: Cultural perspectives|editor-last=Gunzburg|editor-first=Darrelyn | publication-place=Sheffield|publisher=Equinox Press|year=2016|pages=55–86}}</ref> In the 1990s, two smaller celestial globes from antiquity became public: one from brass measuring {{convert|11|cm|abbr=on}} held by the [[Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum]], and one from gilt silver measuring {{convert|6.3|cm|abbr=on}} privately held by the Kugel family.<ref name=Dekker />