The Alchemic Arts as Spoken by She Who Is Wise Cleopatra the Alchemist
| Cleopatra the alchemist | |
|---|---|
 Imaginative depiction of Cleopatra the Alchemist from Mylius' 1618 Basilica philosophica "Seals of the Philosophers". | |
| Born | c. tertiary century Advert |
| Era | Aboriginal philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| Main interests | Alchemy |
| Notable ideas | Alembic |
| Influences
| |
Cleopatra the Alchemist (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα; fl. c. 3rd century Ad) was a Greek alchemist, author, and philosopher. She experimented with practical alchemy simply is as well credited as one of the four female person alchemists who could produce the Philosopher's stone. Some writers consider her to be the inventor of the alembic, a distillation appliance.[1]
Cleopatra the Alchemist appears to accept been active in Alexandria in the tertiary century or 4th century A.D. She is associated with the school of alchemy typified by Mary the Jewess and Comarius. These alchemists used complex apparatus for distillation and sublimation.[2]
Identity and misnomers [edit]
Cleopatra is a pseudonym for an unknown author or grouping of authors. She is not the aforementioned person as Cleopatra VII. However, she is referred to as Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, in some afterward works.[3] One instance of this can be found in Basillica Philosophica by Johann Daniel Mylius (1618), where her seal is pictured alongside the motto: "The divine is subconscious from the people according to the wisdom of the Lord".[iv] She is also conflated with Cleopatra the Medico. The two supposedly lived during the same time and are said to have similar styles in their writing, both having 1000 imagery.[5] Cleopatra is used as a character within the dialogue of the alchemical texts themselves.
Contributions to alchemy [edit]
Cleopatra was a foundational effigy in alchemy, contemporary with or fifty-fifty pre-dating Zosimos of Panopolis. Michael Maier, author of Atalanta Fugiens (1618), names her as one of the four women who knew how to make the philosopher's stone, along with Maria the Jewess, Medera, and Taphnutia.[6] Cleopatra was mentioned with great respect in the Arabic encyclopedia Kitab al-Fihrist from 988. She is sometimes credited with the invention of the alembic.[7] Besides trying to quantify alchemy and its experiments, Cleopatra worked with weights and measures.[8]
Three alchemical texts related to Cleopatra survive. The text titled A Dialogue of Cleopatra and the Philosophers exists, simply cannot exist attributed to her.[2] Jack Lindsay calls this discourse "the well-nigh imaginative and deeply felt document left by the alchemist".[3]
- Ἐκ τῶν Κλεοπάτρας περὶ μέτρων καὶ σταθμῶν. ("On Weights and Measures")
- Χρυσοποιία Κλεοπάτρας ("Gold Making of Cleopatra")
- Διάλογος φιλοσόφων καὶ Κλεοπάτρας ("A Dialogue of the Philosophers and Cleopatra")
Cleopatra's employ of imagery reflects conception and nativity, the renewal and transformation of life. The philosopher alchemist who contemplates their work is compared to a loving female parent who thinks about her child and feeds it.[5]
Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra [edit]
Cleopatra is about noted for the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra (Greek: Χρυσοποιία Κλεοπάτρας), a single sheet document which contains only symbols, drawings and captions (all of which are pictured below). It is kickoff found on a single leaf in a tenth-to-eleventh century manuscript in the Biblioteca Marciana, Venice, MS Marciana gr. Z. 299.[9] A later copy tin be institute at Leiden University, located in kingdom of the netherlands.[5] Chrysopoeia translated is "aureate-making".[5]
An case of the imagery is the snake eating its ain tail equally a symbol of the eternal return, called the Ouroboros: "a snake curving around with its tail in its mouth (eating itself) is an obvious emblem of unity of the cosmos, of eternity, where the beginning is the end and the end is the first".[3] Besides on the Chrysopeoia is an inscription in a double ring this describing the Ouroboros:
I is the Ophidian which has its poison according to two compositions, and I is All and through it is All, and by it is All, and if you have not All, All is Nothing.
Within the inscription ring is also symbols for gold, silvery, and mercury. Along with those are drawings of a "dibikos" (Greek: διβικός) and an instrument similar to a kerotakis (Greek: κηροτακίς or κυροτακίς), both alchemical apparatuses. Another of her symbols is the eight-banded star. It is believed that the drawing of these star symbols and the crescent shapes in a higher place them are a pictorial depiction of turning lead into silver.[5]
Images from Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra
Citations [edit]
- ^ El Daly, Okasha (January 2013). Egyptology: The Missing Millennium, Aboriginal Egypt in Medieval Standard arabic Writings. London: University College London Press.
- ^ a b Taylor, F. Sherwood. "A Survey of Greek Alchemy". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 50 (1930): 109–139.
- ^ a b c Lindsay, Jack (1970). The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Arab republic of egypt. New York: Barnes and Noble.
- ^ Stanislas Klossowski de Rola. The Gilt Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century. 1988. p. 150.
- ^ a b c d e Marianne Offereins; Renate Strohmeier. Apotheker, Jan; Sarkadi, Livia Simon (eds.). European Women in Chemical science. Wiley-VCH GmbH & Co. KGaA. pp. 5, vi. ISBN978-3-527-32956-4.
- ^ Raphael Patai. The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book. p.78
- ^ Stanton J. Linden. The alchemy reader: from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton Cambridge University Press. 2003. p.44
- ^ Rowbotham, Sheila (Sep 2, 2003). Mitter, Swasti; Rowbotham, Sheila (eds.). Women Encounter Technology: Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World. Routledge. p. 56. ISBN9781134799510.
- ^ Berthelot, Marcillien (1887). Collection des ancien alchimistes grec. Tome i. Paris: Steinheil. p. 128.
References [edit]
- Apotheker, Jan & Sarkadi, Livia Simon. European Women in Chemistry Wiley-VCH GmbH & Co. KGaA (2011)
- Klossowski de la Rola, Stanislas. The Gold Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century Thames & Hudson. (1997)
- Lindsay. Jack. The Origins of Abracadabra in Graeco-Roman Egypt Barnes and Noble NY. (1970)
- Mitter, Swasti & Rowbotham, Sheila. Women Meet Technology: Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World. Routledge (2003)
- Patai, Raphael. The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book Princeton Academy Printing. (1995)
- Stanton J. Linden. The alchemy reader: from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton Cambridge University Printing. (2003)
- Uglow, Jennifer S. The Macmillan dictionary of women'due south biography Macmillan. (1982)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_the_Alchemist
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