kamal
n. countablen. an old tool used by sailors to find their way at sea by looking at the stars. It uses a small wooden board and a piece of string to measure how high a star is above the water.
n. a celestial navigation instrument used by early Arab and Indian sailors to determine latitude. It consists of a small rectangular wooden card and a knotted string used to measure the altitude of Polaris or other stars above the horizon.
The sailor used a kamal to find his way across the ocean.
Historians believe the kamal was a precursor to more advanced tools like the sextant for measuring latitude.
By holding the wooden card at a distance determined by knots in the string, the navigator could use the kamal to maintain a consistent latitude during long transoceanic voyages.
Typically appears in historical or maritime contexts; often associated with medieval Indian Ocean trade.