Alchemy, Arabic European

While no book on the subject could be exhaustive, The Bathhouse at Midnight does describe and assess all the literary sources of magic, witchcraft, astrology, alchemy, and divination from Kiev Rus and Imperial Russia, and to some extent Ukraine and Belorussia. Where possible, Ryan identifies the sources of the texts (usually Greek, Arabic, or West European) and makes parallels to other cultures, ranging from classical antiquity to Finnic. He finds that Russia shares most of its magic and divination with the rest of Europe... 

It is in Arabic alchemy that two concepts that were to become central to European alchemy are encountered for the first time the Philosopher s Stone and the elixir of life. The Philosopher s Stone was a substance reputedly able to transform base metals into gold. In spite of the name, it wasn t thought of as a stone and was often... 

Arabic alchemy was unknown in the west until the eleventh century when the first translations from Arabic into Latin were made. Two Arab alchemists were especially well known and widely read Jabir ibn Hayyan, known to Europeans as Geber, and Abu Bakr ibn Zakariyya al-Razi, known as Rhazes. Of more than 2,000 pieces of writing attributed to Jabir, most were compiled by a Muslim religious sect called the Faithful Brethren or Brethren of Purity after he died. The works are written in different styles, which would indicate that they were penned by different authors. The compilation was completed around the year 1000, more than a hundred years after Jabir died. However, it has been established that the work translated into Latin under the title Summa Perfectionis was based on translations of Jabir s writing. Thus, although little is known about his life, we know something about the role Jabir played in the evolution of alchemical theory. 

The appearance of Arabic alchemical works in Latin translation launched European alchemy during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Although the European alchemists never succeeded in making... 

Right in a 14th-century woric on alchemy an Arab is shown unlocking the gate to a town, probably symbolizing knowledge. The Arab contribution to alchemy was fully recognized by European alchemists. 

Above Arab symboBc figures and diagrams of stills (on the right) from a 12th-century Arab text on alchemy. In gener the Arab alchemists were less secretive about their discoveries, and the Arab manuscripts are less shrouded in complicated symbolism than the later European chemical works. 

In Arabic, khemeia became al-kimiya, the prefix al being their word for the. The word was eventually adopted by Europeans as (in English) aU chemy, and those who worked in the field were alchemists. The term alchemy is applied now to the entire course of chemical history from about 300 B.c. to A.D. 1600, a period of nearly two thousand years. 

The best of Arabic alchemy came at the start of the period of their domination. Thus, the most capable and renowned of the Moslem alchemists was Jabir ibn-Ha5ryan (c. 760-c. 815), who was known to Europeans, centuries later, as Geber. He lived at the time when the Arabic empire (under Haroun-al-Raschid of Arabian Nights fame) was at the height of its glory. 

Characteristics of Arabic alchemy are evident in the work of the following personages identified with it. Although the actual existence of some of these personalities as individuals is questionable, they were, as composites or otherwise, historically influential The fairly clear written records of their work were the base on which European alchemy was to be built. 

European academics at these universities began to study newly translated Arabic and Greek texts on mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, medicine—and alchemy. Through the work of these academics the information was eventually assimilated Encyclopedists compiled the information in encyclopedias, Scholastics interpreted the knowledge in the context of revealed religion, and Empiricists tried the new knowledge out. 

Arab works on medicine, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and alchemy— with influences from India and China mingled in— were translated and preserved. Of the people who translated works pertinent to chemistry, the names of most non-European Arabs and Jews have been lost. Some names of European workers are, however, still known. For instance one Gerald of Cremona made translations of al-Razi, Aristotle, Euclid, and Galen and the Canon of Avicenna ca. 1150. Another two on whom we have some biographical information are Robert of Chester and Adelard of Bath. 

Let us mention the old tradition known from ethnology for the preparation of soaps by boiling animal fat with the ash that remains after the burning of beech wood. This ash contains potassium carbonate and hydroxide which serve as bases for the saponification. Interestingly, in the Arabic language, the word for ash is kali. The terms alkali or kalium (for the element potassium) were derived from this root. The arabic culture and tradition strongly influenced European alchemy and its transformation into modem chemistry. 

The first laboratory workers were alchemists, and their principal goal was the conversion of base metals into gold. Alchemy was first practised in Alexandria, and the Hellenistic phase of alchemy lasted until the seventh century AD, when the dramatic expansion of Islam occurred. For the next 500 years the chief practitioners of alchemy came from the world of Islam. Then, in the twelfth century, when Islamic power was in decline, Arabic alchemical manuscripts began to be translated into Latin, and the European phase of alchemy began. The art was practised in Europe for the next 500 years, before entering a slow decline. 

It is well known that the Arabs had contacts with the Chinese via the Silk Road, the great trade route between China and the Mediterranean. It is notable that the concept of the elixir of lifey a medicine with the power to prolong life, is found in Islamic alchemy, but is entirely absent from its Alexandrian precursor. The transmission of this idea from China is highly likely. It is also possible that the word chemistry is derived from the Chinese word for gold. The best representation for the sound this word made in the early Chinese dialects is probably kimy from which the Arabs could have derived their word al-kimiyOy from which in turn the Europeans obtained the words alchemy and chemistry. An alternative theory is that the Arabs derived al-kimiya from Khemy which means Black Landy and is the ancient name for Egypt. 

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