Stephanos of Alexandria

Stephanos of Alexandria. The alchemical works of Stephanos of Alexandria translation and commentary by F. Sherwood Taylor. Ambix 1, no. 2 (Dec 1937) 116-139. Parallel Greek and English texts. Ibid2 (1) Jun 1938, 38-49... 

Stephanos of Alexandria. "From The great and sacred art of the making of gold." In The alchemy reader, ed. Stanton J. Linden, 54-60.. ... 

Taylor, Frank Sherwood. The alchemical works of Stephanos of Alexandria. Ambix 1 (1937) 116-139. 

These events horrified the young Khalid, and he withdrew from court life to study the sciences. In Alexandria, Khalid furthered his studies of alchemy under a Christian scholar by the name of Morienus, who is supposed to be have been a pupil of Stephanos of Alexandria (fl. 610—641), perhaps the most eminent alchemist in Egypt since the time of Zosimos. 

From the seventh through the thirteenth centuries, the study of alchemy flourished openly in the Islamic world. The first Muslim with an interest in alchemy may have been Khalid Ibn Yazid (d. 704), a Umayyad prince. He reputedly was tutored in alchemy by a student of Stephanos, Morienus of Alexandria (who is quoted by the author of the Splendor Solis). Whether or not this account is accurate, it is clear that Alexandria was the primary influence on Islamic alchemy The Islamic alchemists quoted Zosimos, Democritos, and Stephanos, as well as other Alexandrian alchemists such as Ostanes and Maria Prophetissa (second to third century often referred to as Mary the Jewess ). In addition, the Muslim alchemists also absorbed influences from Persia and Syria. 

The alchemists Zosimos and Stephanos, writing in Alexandria during the first Christian centuries, had described the chemical process in the form of a story of ritual sacrihce incorporating priest and initiates. In a well-known study, Mircea Eliade sought for the origins of such bloody accounts in ancient shamanism and metal-smithing. The materials of the stone, like the human body and soul, died and underwent purihcation, prior to their resurrection in a glorious body. 

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