Mary the Jewess
Encyclopedia
Maria the Jewess is estimated to have lived anywhere between the first and third centuries AD. She is attributed with the invention of several chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first non fictitious alchemist in the Western world.
and the prophet Aaron
, but the evidence supporting this claim is scarce.
The most concrete mention of Maria the Jewess in the context of alchemy
is by Zosimos of Panopolis
, who wrote in the 4th century the oldest alchemy books known. Zosimos describes several of her experiments and instruments. In his writings, Mary is almost always quoted as having lived in the past and mentioned as one of the "sages".
George Syncellus
, a Byzantine chronicler of the eighth century, presents Mary as a teacher of Democritus
, whom she met in Memphis, Egypt
at the time of Pericles
. The tenth century Kitāb al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim
cites her as one of the fifty-two most famous alchemists, knowing the preparation of the caput mortuum
. The Roman philosopher Morieno called her "Mary the Prophetess" and the Arabs knew her as the "Daughter of Plato", a name that in Western alchemical texts was reserved for the white sulfur.
In the Alexander book (2nd part) of the Persian poet Nizami, Maria, a Syria
n princess, visits the court of Alexander the Great, and learns from Aristotle
(384 BC – 322 BC), among other things, the art of making gold.
. This work describes for the first time an acid salt and other acids that can be identified with acetic acid
. There are also several recipes for making gold, even from root vegetables such as the Mandragora
.
Several cryptic alchemical precepts have been attributed to Maria Prophetissa. She is said to have spoken of the union of opposites:
The following was known as the Axiom of Maria
:
Psychologist Carl Jung
used this as a metaphor for the process of wholeness and individuation.
, though this is not accepted by most science texts. Also attributed to her are the invention of the alchemical apparatuses known as the tribikos, kerotakis and the bain-marie.
with three arms that was used to obtain substances purified by distillation. No one knows for sure whether Mary the Jewess was its inventor, but Zosimos credits the first description of this instrument to her. In her writings (quoted by Zosimos), she recommends that the copper or bronze used to create the tubes be the thickness of a frying-pan, and the joint between these tubes and the still-head be sealed with flour-paste.
Later, this instrument was modified by the German Franz von Soxhlet
in 1879 to create the extractor that bears his name, Soxhlet extractor
.
, extensively used in chemical processes in which gentle heat is necessary. This term was introduced by Arnold of Villanova in the fourteenth century AD.
Sources
No tangible details exist of the time or place of her life. She is mentioned by early alchemists always as an authority and with uttermost respect. The alchemists of the past believed she was Miriam, the sister of MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and the prophet Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
, but the evidence supporting this claim is scarce.
The most concrete mention of Maria the Jewess in the context of alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
is by Zosimos of Panopolis
Zosimos of Panopolis
Zosimos of Panopolis was an Egyptian or Greek alchemist and Gnostic mystic from the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th century AD. He was born in Panopolis, present day Akhmim in the south of Egypt, ca. 300. He wrote the oldest known books on alchemy, of which quotations in the Greek language...
, who wrote in the 4th century the oldest alchemy books known. Zosimos describes several of her experiments and instruments. In his writings, Mary is almost always quoted as having lived in the past and mentioned as one of the "sages".
George Syncellus
George Syncellus
George Syncellus was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. He had lived many years in Palestine as a monk, before coming to Constantinople, where he was appointed syncellus to Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople...
, a Byzantine chronicler of the eighth century, presents Mary as a teacher of Democritus
Democritus
Democritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....
, whom she met in Memphis, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
at the time of Pericles
Pericles
Pericles was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age—specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars...
. The tenth century Kitāb al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim
Ibn al-Nadim
Abu'l-Faraj Muhammad bin Is'hāq al-Nadim , whose father was known as al-Warrāq was a Shia Muslim scholar and bibliographer. Some scholars regard him as a Persian, but this is not certain. He is famous as the author of the Kitāb al-Fihrist...
cites her as one of the fifty-two most famous alchemists, knowing the preparation of the caput mortuum
Caput mortuum
Caput Mortuum is a Latin term whose literal meaning is "dead head" or "worthless remains", used in alchemy and also as the name of a pigment.-Alchemy and chemistry:...
. The Roman philosopher Morieno called her "Mary the Prophetess" and the Arabs knew her as the "Daughter of Plato", a name that in Western alchemical texts was reserved for the white sulfur.
In the Alexander book (2nd part) of the Persian poet Nizami, Maria, a Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n princess, visits the court of Alexander the Great, and learns from Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
(384 BC – 322 BC), among other things, the art of making gold.
Writings
It is known that Mary wrote several texts on alchemy. Though none of her writings have survived in their original form, her teachings were widely quoted by later hermetic authors. Her main surviving work is an extract made by an anonymous Christian philosopher, named The Dialogue of Mary and Aros on the Magistery of Hermes, in which are described and named operations that would later be the basis of Alchemy, leukosis (whitening) and xanthosis (yellowing). One was made by grinding and the other by calcinationCalcination
Calcination is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. The calcination process normally takes place at temperatures below the melting point of the product materials...
. This work describes for the first time an acid salt and other acids that can be identified with acetic acid
Acetic acid
Acetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CO2H . It is a colourless liquid that when undiluted is also called glacial acetic acid. Acetic acid is the main component of vinegar , and has a distinctive sour taste and pungent smell...
. There are also several recipes for making gold, even from root vegetables such as the Mandragora
Mandrágora
For other uses see Mandragora .La Mandrágora was a Chilean Surrealist group "officially founded" on 12 July 1938 by Braulio Arenas , Teófilo Cid and Enrique Gómez Correa . The group had met in Talca and first started exchanging in 1932...
.
Several cryptic alchemical precepts have been attributed to Maria Prophetissa. She is said to have spoken of the union of opposites:
The following was known as the Axiom of Maria
Axiom of Maria
Axiom of Maria is a precept in alchemy: "One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth." It is attributed to 3rd century alchemist Maria Prophetissa, also called the Jewess, sister of Moses, or the Copt...
:
Psychologist Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
used this as a metaphor for the process of wholeness and individuation.
Inventions
Mary was a respected worker who invented complicated laboratory apparatuses for the distillation and sublimation of chemical materials. Mary is said to have discovered hydrochloric acidHydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water, that is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....
, though this is not accepted by most science texts. Also attributed to her are the invention of the alchemical apparatuses known as the tribikos, kerotakis and the bain-marie.
Tribikos
Mary perfected the three-armed distillation chamber, or still. The tribikos was a kind of alembicAlembic
An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube...
with three arms that was used to obtain substances purified by distillation. No one knows for sure whether Mary the Jewess was its inventor, but Zosimos credits the first description of this instrument to her. In her writings (quoted by Zosimos), she recommends that the copper or bronze used to create the tubes be the thickness of a frying-pan, and the joint between these tubes and the still-head be sealed with flour-paste.
Kerotakis
The kerotakis is the most important invention of Mary the Jewess, a device used to heat substances used in alchemy and collect vapors. It is an airtight container with a sheet of copper suspended on the top. When working properly, all joints are in a tight vacuum. The use of such sealed containers in the Hermetic arts led to the term "hermetically sealed". Mary the Jewess and her colleagues believed that the reaction that took place in the mystical kerotakis was a reconstitution of the formation process of gold that was going on in the bowels of the earth.Later, this instrument was modified by the German Franz von Soxhlet
Franz von Soxhlet
Franz Ritter von Soxhlet was a German agricultural chemist from Brno. He invented the Soxhlet extractor in 1879 and in 1886 he proposed that pasteurization be applied to milk and other.-References:...
in 1879 to create the extractor that bears his name, Soxhlet extractor
Soxhlet extractor
A Soxhlet extractor is a piece of laboratory apparatusinvented in 1879 by Franz von Soxhlet. It was originally designed for the extraction of a lipid from a solid material. However, a Soxhlet extractor is not limited to the extraction of lipids...
.
Bath
Her name survives in the invention of the water-bath or bain-marieBain-marie
A bain-marie is a French term for a piece of equipment used in science, industry, and cooking to heat materials gently and gradually to fixed temperatures, or to keep materials warm over a period of time.- Description :...
, extensively used in chemical processes in which gentle heat is necessary. This term was introduced by Arnold of Villanova in the fourteenth century AD.
External links
- Mary the Prophetess: The Dialogue of Mary and Aros on the Magistery of Hermes