Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoism and Indian alchemy with the Dharmic faiths. One can distinguish at least three major strands, which appear to be mostly independent, at least in their earlier stages: Chinese alchemy, centered in China Indian alchemy, centered on the Indian subcontinent and Western alchemy, which occurred around the Mediterranean and whose center has shifted over the millennia from Greco-Roman Egypt to the Islamic world, and finally medieval Europe. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships. The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "black Land", by contrast with the "red Land", the surrounding desert) so this etymology could also explain the nickname "Egyptian black arts".Īlchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. This Coptic word derives from Demotic kmỉ, itself from ancient Egyptian kmt. According to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge, the Arabic word al-kīmiyaʾ actually means "the Egyptian ", borrowing from the Coptic word for "Egypt", kēme (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval Bohairic dialect of Coptic, khēme). Others trace its roots to the Egyptian name kēme (hieroglyphic 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 khmi ), meaning 'black earth', which refers to the fertile and auriferous soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand. Hermanm Diels argued in 1914 that it rather derived from χύμα, used to describe metallic objects formed by casting. The first was proposed by Zosimos of Panopolis (3rd–4th centuries), who derived it from the name of a book, the Khemeu. Several etymologies have been proposed for the Greek term. Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of transmutation by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. The Arabic al-kīmiyā in turn was a borrowing of the Late Greek term khēmeía ( χημεία), also spelled khumeia ( χυμεία) and khēmía ( χημία), with al- being the Arabic definite article 'the'. This name was itself adopted from the Arabic word al-kīmiyā ( الكيمياء). The word alchemy comes from old French alquemie, alkimie, used in Medieval Latin as alchymia. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts.
The latter interests historians of esotericism, psychologists, and some philosophers and spiritualists. 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. Holmyard and Marie-Louise von Franz that they should be understood as complementary. 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. 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). In Europe, the 12th-century translations of medieval Islamic works on science and the rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy gave birth to a flourishing tradition of Latin alchemy. 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. Islamic and European alchemists developed a basic set of laboratory techniques, theories, and terms, some of which are still in use today. The concept of creating the philosophers' stone was variously connected with all of these projects. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical magnum opus ("Great Work"). 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. Īlchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD.
Depiction of an Ouroboros from the alchemical treatise Aurora consurgens (15th century), Zentralbibliothek Zürich, SwitzerlandĪlchemy (from Arabic: al-kīmiyā from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, khumeía) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe.
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