Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/377

329 — THE

329 powers and

ti^iis

are mentioned

Jf:VISII

Abraham.

252),

iii.

—

Stat I'd. into

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lhelot does not question liis exi.stencc. The followimrwork is attributed to him: "Liber Secretorum Arlis ex Ilebraoin Araliicum ct ex Arabico in

These recipes in the papyrus and in llie Moses " are identical with those attributed to Pseiido- Demetrius, and belong to a imrticular class talions. " Book of

.

.

.

Latinuni versus Incerto Interprele." This treatise has often been n-jiriiited in Manget, "Bibliotheca C'heniica." ii. 1H3, and in the "Thealrum f'heinicum," V. 18(5. Strasburg, IGliO. Steinschneider (" Hebr. Uebers." pj). 852. 853) doubts the existence of a translation from "the Hebrew into Latin." as he has not seen it. and believes the slaleiiieiit to be an invention of the alchemists. Such a translation may have belli made from the Arabic into Helircw. as other treatises are in existence of which heretofore not the slighlesl indication had been found. The Jewish writers of the Middle Ages were ac((uainted with this science. Judali ha Levi mentions it in his "Cuzari " (iii. chap. liii.). Maimonides knew the writings of Hermes (" Moreli." iii. chap, xxix., w herealsoothersinii:

of practical recipes (Hertlielot. l.r. iii. 2M8. notel. Many of these recipes of practical metalluriry are to be found in the Latin ci/nijiimilii'iHx of the eijrhth The dale of the above-naniid pa|)yrus is century. of the second or third century (eoni|iare liiithelot. " La Chimie au Moyen Ajre." i. OTi. Berlhelot refers to this work and lo similar ones in order to show the Jewish oriu'ln of .some portions of it (Hertlielot, " Lcs Oriirines de I'Alehimie." pp. 53-57. F'aris. 1885). Kin^r Solomon also comes in for a share in the history of Alchemy and his " Labyrinth " is one of iIk' old formula' which have survived. Johanan

"

Alchemy

and then into Arabic or. as it is often Hebrew lead from the tirst to the second perind. Kalid b. Ja.siki that is. Khalid b. Ya/.id (died 708) figures as the oldest alchemist and Ber-

Isjiae.

Jacob, the an.ircl Michael, and th<' Temple of JeniSiileni. This work is lh<- so called "Kiirlilh Hook of Moses." or "The Kej' of Moses": the prototype for so many subse<|uent mairical cliiririihr, containinj; recipes intei ininirled with invocations and iiican-

Alemanno. in his "llcshek Shelonioh Desire) mentions a book of Alchemy as

Alcan, Michel

ENCYCLOPEDIA

(Solomon's

lar pseudepigniphic treatises are men-

work

of Solomon (.see Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." the

tioned);

"Solomon,"

under

2296). One who lived mudi larlier had been credited with the knowled-e of chanfiin,!; copper into j;ol(i The name of Me-zahab. H. V. ("Waters of Gold"; col.

cs-r~-^ - < >

—

interpreted

— according

y

r,^^

^

Li£

beans, whose statues of Ihe planets corresi)oiiiI to the seven iiicials and the seven

—^Uiuiiv-ii^Mliltj^-*

'

I

CD..

f

~

^ ^

Jt ^i,,.^-^ -~

r"Qy~l

j

cliiiiales.

f"^^ Q_Lj

Gerson b. Solomon, author of Ihe compendium "Sha'ar the

39), was to mean to Ibn

E/ra

'-^^

JLS<I^ d-^<i ^X



conunen-

Gen. xxxvi.

in his

ha Shamavim." gives a succinct description

the fundamental theory of^".Mkiniiiiiya " (ii. chap, ii.), being the science of changing base metals of

on the passajje "he transmuted copper into lary

— that

Appamtus U sod

gold." Of a far less legendary character than all

(From

iiiaiiuM-rl|it Id

tliese seems to have been the .Jewess Mahia. who. nccording to Iloefer. madeon<- of the most important discoveries in chemistry, for she is said lo have diseoviTed hydrochloric acid. Her name Maria the survives in the /inluiiiiii nmriiv, the lull II -mil He Jewess. a waler-bath extensively used in chemical jirocesses in which

—

page 331. Jlanfjct, HibliotheeaChenncaCuriosa " (Geneva. 1702),

Rentle heat in his "

is

necessary



see cut.

imblishes (vol. ii plate x iii lig. (i) Ihe njiiiihiliin of "Maria llebnea .Moysis Sornr " (si'ecul on ne.l page). She is thus identi lied with .Miriam, Ihesisler of Moses. On the other liaiiil. Oslanes. one of Ihi' oldest (ireek writers, mentions her as "the daughter of the king of Saba" (Hirt helot, " IjiChindeau Moyen-Age. " iii. 125). Ill the .Mexaniler book (2(1 pari) of the Persian poet Ni/aini. Maria, a Syrian primcss. visits IIk' court of .leander the Great, and learns from Arislotli'. among other things, the art of nniking gold (see ISaclxr. " I.ebeii und Werke Ni/.ami's." ed. 1871, p. 7(1). Whatever the epoch of Maria may have l>een, her existence is a positive fact; anil since she was mentioned by Ostanes, she beUings lliiis to Ihe Urst period. Very extensive abslmcts of h<T alclie mistic works are given by Zosimiis. the greatest of.

the Greek

in the sjime

chapter Maimonides speaks of the Sa-

.

alclieiuist.s.

Syriac translations from tlie Gre<'k (Berlhelot, "ColU-ction lies Aneiens Alchiinistes Gifcs," ii. 107,

In

Alchemy.

into gold. Gerson derived all his knowlcd.sre on the subject

poMVMli'n -f Dr. Guter.)

from Hebrew translations of Arabic writings (see Steinschneider. " Helir. I'lbers." pp. 9 tt xei/.). Of the next important Arabic writer. .Mail Kasim Majrili (tenth century), only a fragment of the Hebrew translation has been l>reserved tillMunich niannscript. Xo. 214,

Known

to

Jewish

Writers.

" The .vim of the Wise ") kind of a compendium made by

D:nn n'^sn

—a

(

an anonymous writer of the fourteenth century containing merely the magical portion, and omitting the first part, which dealt with .VIchemy (see Steinselineider, "Zur Pseiidepignipliischen Literatnr. " pji. 28-51. and "Hebr. rebers." pp. 8.")3-8.")-l. This manuseript contains, in addition,

an alcheinistic

treatise ascribi'd lo

Maimonides. and

described by Steinschneider ("/ur Psi'udepignipliisehen Litenitur." pp. 2(l-27i. It is in the form of a letter, as so many alehenii.'ts' writings often are. .l the bottom of the last page (the wliole numbering four leaves: folio, 29/1-3.1/1) there is a note by tin- Spanish owner of the niaiiuseripl describing ii met 111 M of tmnsinutalioii of silver into gold. « hicb he i-laims lo have taken from an old book. This nianu.scripl which, according to SteiiiHclmeider. belongs contains, furthermore, a to the lifteenlh eenlurv treatise on divination i>y means of the palm-ln-e, ascribed to a certain .Mm .Mtah al Samkiisti; il is brielly

I

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