Artephius (or Artefius) (c. 1150) is a writer to whom a number of
alchemical texts are ascribed. Although the roots of the texts are unclear and the identity of their author obscure, at least some of them are Arabic in origin. He is named as the author of several books, the ''Ars sintrillia'', ''Clavis sapientiae'' or ''Clavis maioris sapientiae'', and ''Liber secretus''.
Confusion over identity
Alchemical
pseudepigraphy
A pseudepigraph (also anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the wor ...
makes it difficult to identify who the historical Artephius may have been. His identity remains an open question. As ''The Secret Book of Artephius'' was respected and mentioned by
Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon (; or ', also '' Rogerus''; ), also known by the Scholastic accolades, scholastic accolade ''Doctor Mirabilis'', was a medieval English polymath, philosopher, scientist, theologian and Franciscans, Franciscan friar who placed co ...
many times, Artephius’ writing is dated to around 1150. One author,
Restoro d'Arezzo, conflated
Orpheus
In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
with Artephius in his ''Composizione del Mondo'' in 1282.
[Austin, H.D. 1937. "Artephius-Orpheus." ''Speculum'' 12: 251–54.] This mistake was due to a translation error, with the Arabic for Orpheus and Artephius being very similar. This transcription error gave us "Artephius", an alchemist without a historical personality.
[Levi della Vida, G. 1938. "Something More about Artefius and His Clavis Sapientiae." Speculum 13: 80–85]
Artephius has also been misidentified as a Jewish convert,
[Patai, Raphael. ‘‘The Jewish alchemists: A history and source book.’’ Princeton University Press. 1994. p. 142] Apollonius of Tyana
Apollonius of Tyana (; ; ) was a Greek philosopher and religious leader from the town of Tyana, Cappadocia in Roman Anatolia, who spent his life travelling and teaching in the Middle East, North Africa and India. He is a central figure in Ne ...
,
Stephanos of Alexandria,
Al-Tughrai,
and
Ibn Umail.
The discovery of a 13/14th-century copy of ''Clavis Sapientia'' confirms that the text was first written in Arabic by a Muslim author.
Legacy
A
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
tradition held that Artephius had been born in the first or second century and died in the twelfth, thanks to having discovered the alchemical elixir that made it possible to prolong life. In his ''Secret Book'', Artephius indeed claims to be more than a thousand years old.
In printed form, works attributed to Artephius became well known in the seventeenth century. A work ''Artefii clavis majoris sapientiae'' was printed in Paris in 1609. Later it would also appear within Volume IV of
Theatrum Chemicum, printed originally in 1613.
Then in 1624, Eirenaeus Orandus provided an English translation of the 'secret booke'.
The Latin editions of ''Clavis Sapentia'' are highly abridged and lack the original diagrams found in the Arabic text.
Notes
Sources
*Austin, H.D. 1937. "Artephius-Orpheus." ''Speculum'' 12: 251–54.
*Levi della Vida, G. 1938. "Something More about Artefius and His Clavis Sapientiae." Speculum 13: 80–85.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artephius
12th-century Arabic-language writers
12th-century alchemists
Alchemists of the medieval Islamic world
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown