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Chymes
Chymes () was a Greco-Roman alchemist who lived before the third century. He is known only through fragments of text in the works of Zosimos of Panopolis and Olympiodorus of Thebes.Taylor, F. Sherwood. “A Survey of Greek Alchemy”. ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 50 (1930): 109–139. Some theorists state that Chymes is the eponymous founder of alchemy.Jamal J. Elias. ''Aisha's Cushion: Religious Art, Perception, and Practice in Islam''. Harvard University Press. 2012. p. 177 Zosimus associates him with Mary the Jewess. He may likely date from this earliest period of alchemy. Etymology Chymes' name has also been recorded as Chemas, Cheimas, Chimes, Chemes, and Chimas. He was referred to by Ibn al-Nadim as both "Kimas" and "Shimas". Jewish-Hellenistic traditions have equated Chymes with Cham, the biblical figure known as Ham (son of Noah) Ham (in ), according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was the second son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alchemist
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. 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.. Greek-speaking alchemists often referred to their craft as "the Art" (τέχνη) or "Knowledge" (ἐπιστήμη), and it was often characterised as mystic (μυστική), sacred (ἱɛρά), or divine (θɛíα). 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 co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zosimos Of Panopolis
Zosimos of Panopolis (; also known by the Latin name Zosimus Alchemista, i.e. "Zosimus the Alchemist") was an alchemist and Gnostic mystic. He was born in Panopolis (present day Akhmim, in the south of Roman Egypt), and likely flourished ca. 300 AD. He wrote the oldest known books on alchemy, which he called "Cheirokmeta," using the Greek word for "things made by hand." Pieces of this work survive in the original Greek language and in translations into Syriac or Arabic. He is one of about 40 authors represented in a compendium of alchemical writings that was probably put together in Constantinople in the 7th or 8th century AD, copies of which exist in manuscripts in Venice and Paris. Stephen of Alexandria is another. Arabic translations of texts by Zosimos were discovered in 1995 in a copy of the book ''Keys of Mercy and Secrets of Wisdom'' by Ibn Al-Hassan Ibn Ali Al-Tughra'i', a Persian alchemist. The translations were incomplete and seemingly non-verbatim. The famous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympiodorus Of Thebes
Olympiodorus of Thebes (; born c. 380, fl. c. 412–425 AD) was a Roman historian, poet, philosopher and diplomat of the early fifth century. He produced a ''History'' in twenty-two volumes, written in Greek, dedicated to the Emperor Theodosius II, detailing events in the Western Roman Empire between 407 and 425. The history is lost, but much of it is known from its use by other writers. His friends included philosophers, provincial governors and rhetoricians. He made several journeys in an official capacity, accompanied for twenty years by a parrot. He was a "convinced but discreet" pagan, who flourished in a Christian court, and whose work influenced several subsequent historians, including writers of ecclesiastical history. Life Olympiodorus was born between 365 and 380 in Thebes (modern Luxor, Egypt), in the Roman province of Thebaïd, into a curial family. Thebes at that point was a flourishing centre of literary learning, and a cradle of politicians and public figures. He r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eponymous
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovations, biological nomenclature, astronomical objects, works of art and media, and tribal names. Various orthographic conventions are used for eponyms. Usage of the word The term ''eponym'' functions in multiple related ways, all based on an explicit relationship between two named things. ''Eponym'' may refer to a person or, less commonly, a place or thing for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. ''Eponym'' may also refer to someone or something named after, or believed to be named after, a person or, less commonly, a place or thing. A person, place, or thing named after a particular person share an eponymous relationship. In this way, Elizabeth I of England is the eponym of the Elizabethan era, but the Elizabethan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary The Jewess
Mary or Maria the Jewess (), also known as Mary the Prophetess () or Maria the Copt (), was an early alchemist known from the works of Zosimos of Panopolis () and other authors in the Greek alchemical tradition. On the basis of Zosimos's comments, she lived between the first and third centuries A.D. in Alexandria. French, Taylor and Lippmann list her as one of the first alchemical writers, dating her works at no later than the first century. She is credited with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first true alchemist of the Western world.. Through Zosimos many of the beliefs of Mary the Jewess can be observed. Mary incorporated lifelike attributes into her descriptions of metal such as bodies, souls, and spirits. Mary believed that metals had two different genders, and by joining the two genders together a new entity could be made. History The primary source for the existence of "Mary the Jewess" within the context of alchemy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibn Al-Nadim
Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq an-Nadīm (), also Ibn Abī Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the '' nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn an-Nadīm (; died 17 September 995 or 998), was an important Muslim bibliographer and biographer of Baghdad who compiled the encyclopedia '' Kitāb al-Fihrist'' (''The Book Catalogue''). Biography Much known of an-Nadim is deduced from his epithets. 'an-Nadim' (), 'the Court Companion' and 'al-Warrāq () 'the copyist of manuscripts'. Probably born in Baghdad ca. 320/932 he died there on Wednesday, 20th of Shaʿban A.H. 385. He was a Persian or perhaps an Arab. Little is known about Ibn an-Nadīm's life. Some historians say that he was of Persian descent , but this is not certain. However, the choice of the rarely used Persian word pehrest (fehrest/fehres/fahrasat) meaning "The List" as the title for a handbook on Arabic literature is noteworthy in this context. From age six, he may have attended a ''mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ham (son Of Noah)
Ham (in ), according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was the second son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. Ham's descendants are interpreted by Josephus and others as having populated Africa. The Bible refers to Egypt as "the land of Ham" in Psalm 78:51; 105:23, 27; 106:22; 1 Chronicles 4:40. Etymology Since the 17th century, a number of suggestions have been made that relate the name ''Ham'' to a Hebrew word for "burnt", "black" or "hot", to the Egyptian word '' ḥm'' for "servant" or the word '' ḥm'' for "majesty" or the Egyptian word '' kmt'' for "Egypt". A 2004 review of David Goldenberg's ''The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam'' (2003) states that Goldenberg "argues persuasively that the biblical name Ham bears no relationship at all to the notion of blackness and as of now is of unknown etymology." In the Bible indicates that Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Alchemists
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500, ending with the Early Muslim conquests, expansion of Islam in late antiquity. The three-age system periodises ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages vary between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was Exponential growth, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
