Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was once practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD.. Greek-speaking alchemists often named their craft "the Art" () or "Knowledge" (), and it was often characterised as mystic (), sacred (), or divine ().
Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical magnum opus ("Great Work"). The concept of creating the philosopher's stone was variously connected with all of these projects.
Islamic and European alchemists developed a basic set of laboratory techniques, theories, and terms, some of which are still in use today. They did not abandon the Ancient Greek philosophical idea that everything is composed of four elements, and they tended to guard their work in secrecy, often making use of cyphers and cryptic symbolism. In Europe, the 12th-century translations of medieval Islamic works on science into Latin and the associated rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy gave birth to a flourishing tradition of Latin alchemy. This late medieval tradition of alchemy would go on to play a significant role in the development of early modern science (particularly chemistry and medicine).
Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its exoteric practical applications and its esoteric spiritual aspects, despite criticisms by scholars such as Eric J. Holmyard and Marie-Louise von Franz that they should be understood as complementary. The former is pursued by historians of the physical sciences, who examine the subject in terms of early chemistry, medicine, and charlatanism, and the philosophical and religious contexts in which these events occurred. The latter interests historians of esotericism, psychologists, and some philosophers and spiritualists. The subject has made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts.
Etymology
The word alchemy comes from Old French , used in Medieval Latin as . This name was itself adopted from the Arabic word (). The Arabic in turn was a borrowing of the Late Greek term (), also spelled () and (), with al- being the Arabic definite article 'the'. Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of transmutation by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. Several etymologies have been proposed for the Greek term. The first was proposed by Zosimos of Panopolis (3rd–4th centuries), who derived it from the name of a book, the Khemeu.George Syncellus, Chronography, 18–9On the ancient definitions of alchemy in ancient Greek and Syriac texts see Matteo Martelli. 2014. "The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition", In: Dupré S. (eds) Laboratories of Art, Springer, Cham. Hermann Diels argued in 1914 that it rather derived from χύμα,Hermann Diels, Antike Technik, Leipzig: Teubner, 1914, pp. 108–109. Read online used to describe metallic objects formed by casting.
Others trace its roots to the Egyptian name , meaning 'black earth', which refers to the fertile and auriferous soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand. According to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge, the Arabic word ʾ actually means "the Egyptian [science]", borrowing from the Coptic word for "Egypt", (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval Bohairic dialect of Coptic, ). This Coptic word derives from Demotic , itself from ancient Egyptian . The ancient Egyptian word denoted both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "black land", by contrast with the "red land", the surrounding desert).
History
Alchemy comprises a plurality of philosophical traditions extending across approximately four millennia and spanning three continents. The marked tendency of these traditions toward esoteric and highly symbolic modes of expression renders it difficult to reconstruct their patterns of mutual influence and genealogical relationships. Three major strands exist which appear to be mostly independent, at least in their earlier stages: Chinese alchemy, centered in China; Indian alchemy (Rasayana), centered on the Indian subcontinent; and Western alchemy, which occurred around the Mediterranean Basin and whose center shifted over the millennia from Greco-Roman Egypt to the Muslim world, and finally medieval Europe. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoism and Indian alchemy with the Dharmic faiths. In contrast, Western alchemy developed its philosophical system mostly independent of but influenced by various Western religions. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.
Hellenistic Egypt
The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to Hellenistic Egypt, where the city of Alexandria was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods.New Scientist, 24–31 December 1987 Following the work of André-Jean Festugière, modern scholars see alchemical practice in the Roman Empire as originating from the Egyptian goldsmith's art, Greek philosophy and different religious traditions. Tracing the origins of the alchemical art in Egypt is complicated by the pseudepigraphic nature of texts from the Greek alchemical corpus. The treatises of Zosimos of Panopolis, the earliest historically attested author (), can help in situating the other authors. Zosimus based his work on that of older alchemical authors, such as Mary the Jewess,See Pseudo-Democritus, and Agathodaimon, but very little is known about any of these authors. The most complete of their works, the Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, were probably written in the first century AD.
Recent scholarship tends to emphasize the testimony of Zosimus, who traced the alchemical arts back to Egyptian metallurgical and ceremonial practices. It has been argued that early alchemical writers borrowed the vocabulary of Greek philosophical schools but did not implement any of its doctrines in a systematic way. Zosimos of Panopolis wrote in the Final Abstinence ( the Final Count)The title of the τελευταὶα ἀποχή is traditionally translated as the "Final Count". Considering that the treatise does not mention any count nor counting and that it makes a case against the use of sacrifice in the practice of alchemy, a preferable translation would be "the Final Abstinence". See that the ancient practice of "tinctures" (the technical Greek term for the alchemical arts) had been taken over by certain "demons" who taught the art only to those who offered them sacrifices. Since Zosimos called the demons "the guardians of places" () and those who offered them sacrifices "priests" (), it appears that he was speaking about the gods of Egypt and their priests. While critical of the kind of alchemy he associated with the Egyptian priests and their followers, Zosimos nonetheless saw the tradition's recent past as rooted in the rites of the Egyptian temples.
Mythology
Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to Pharaonic Egypt where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion. Alchemical writers used classical figures from Greek (e.g., Hades), Roman (e.g., Lucius), and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation.Yves Bonnefoy. 'Roman and European Mythologies'. University of Chicago Press, 1992. pp. 211–213 These included the pantheon of gods related to the classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason, and many others.
The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegistus (). His name is derived from the god Thoth and his Greek counterpart, Hermes.A survey of the literary and archaeological evidence for the background of Hermes Trismegistus in the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth may be found in Bull, Christian H. 2018. The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill, pp. 33–96. Hermes and his caduceus or serpent-staff, were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to Clement of Alexandria, he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes", covering all fields of knowledge.Clement, Stromata, vi. 4.
Hermetica and Emerald Tablet
The Hermetica are a compendium of texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Many of them have close historical connections with Western alchemical philosophy and practice (which was sometimes called the Hermetic philosophy by its practitioners). By modern convention, the Hermetica is usually subdivided into two main categories: the "technical" and "religio-philosophical" Hermetica. The "technical" Hermetica deals with alchemy, astrology, medicine, pharmacology, and magic. Its oldest parts were written in Greek and may go back as far as the second or third century BC.; . Garth Fowden is somewhat more cautious, noting that our earliest testimonies date to the first century BC (see ).
Many of the texts in the "technical" Hermetica were later translated, first into Arabic and then into Latin, often being extensively revised and expanded throughout the centuries. Some of them were originally written in Arabic. In other cases their status as an original work or translation remains unclear.. These Arabic and Latin Hermetic texts were widely copied throughout the Middle Ages. The most famous of these texts is the Emerald Tablet, also known as the Smaragdine Table or the Tabula Smaragdina, a compact and cryptic text.. The earliest known versions of it are four Arabic recensions preserved in mystical and alchemical treatises between the 8th and 10th centuries AD—chiefly the Secret of Creation () and the Secret of Secrets ().; . From the 12th century onward, Latin translations—most notably, the widespread so-called Vulgate (not to be confused with the late-fourth-century Latin translation of the Tanakh and Christian New Testament known as the Vulgate)—introduced the Emerald Tablet to Europe,; ; ; . where it attracted great scholarly interest. Medieval commentators such as Ortolanus interpreted it as a "foundational text" of alchemical instructions for producing the philosopher's stone and making gold.; ; .
Technology
The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of metallurgy, extending back to 3500 BC. Many writings were lost when the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (AD 292). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived, most notable among them the Stockholm papyrus and the Leyden papyrus X. Dating from AD 250 to 300, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver.Caley, E. R. (1927) "The Stockholm Papyrus : An English Translation with brief notes" Journal of Chemical Education IV:8 : 979–1002. These writings lack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, but do contain the works of Bolus of Mendes (or Pseudo-Democritus), which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the classical elements.A History of Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent, Isabelle Stengers, Harvard University Press, 1996, p13 Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.
Philosophy