omen on the war with the Safavids (he also blamed Taqī al-Dīn for the plague that was occurring at the time). Due to political conflict, this observatory was short lived. It was closed in 1579 and, was demolished entirely by the state on 22 January 1580, only 11 short years after the imperial edict which called for its construction. Politics The rise and fall of Taqī al-Dīn and his observatory depended on political issues that surrounded him. Due to his father's occupation as a professor at the Damascene College of law Taqī al-Dīn spent much of his life in Syria and Egypt. During his trips to Istanbul he was able to make connections with many scholar-jurists. He was also able to use the private library of the Grand Vizier of the time, Semiz Ali Pasha. He then began working under Sultan Murad III's new Grand Vizier's, private mentor Sa'deddin. Continuing his research on observations of the heavens while in Egypt Taqī al-Dīn used the Galata tower and Sa'deddin's private residence. Although Murad III was the one who commanded an observatory to be built it was actually Sa'deddin who brought the idea to him knowing about his interest in science. The Sultan ultimately would provide Taqī al-Dīn with everything he needed from financial assistance for the physical buildings, to intellectual assistance making sure he had easy access to many types of books he would need. When the Sultan decided to create the observatory he saw it as a way to show off the power his monarchy had besides just financially backing it. Murad III showed his power by bringing Taqī al-Dīn and some of the most accomplished men in the field of astronomy together to work towards one goal and not only have them work well together but also make progress in the field. Murad III made sure that there was proof of his accomplishments by having his court historiographer Seyyid Lokman keep very detailed records of the work going on at the observatory. Seyyid Lokman wrote that his sultan's monarchy was much more powerful than others in Iraq, Persia, and Anatolia. He also claimed that Murad III was above other monarchs because the results of the observatory were new to the world and replaced many others. Instruments used at the Observatory Taqī al-Dīn used a variety of instruments to aid in his work at the observatory. Some were instruments that