Source:
lost-civilizations.net
Earliest Chemical Manuscripts of the Chemical Arts In Egypt
Egypt is generally recognized as the mother of the chemical and
alchemical arts, but unfortunately her monuments and literature have
left little of the early records that explain these arts.
Some of these ideas have been transmitted to us through Greek and
Roman sources but the character of these sources do not enable us to
discriminate between the matter derived from Egypt and the confused
interpretation or additions of the early Greek alchemists.
Much of this has to do with the Hermetic teachings passed down
through the ages as part of the mystery school teachings.
Somewhere around 290 A.D. the Emperor Diocletian passed a decree
compelling the destruction of the works upon alchemical arts and on
gold and silver throughout the empire, so that it should not be the
makers of gold and silver to amass riches which might enable them to
organize revolts against the empire. This decree resulted in the
disappearance of a mass of literature that doubtless would have
furnished us with much of interest in the early history of chemical
arts and ideas.
There have been saved to our times two important Egyptian works on
chemical processes; the earliest original sources on such subjects
discovered at Thebes (South Egypt), and both formed part of a
collection of Egyptian papyrus manuscripts written in Greek and
collected in the early years of the nineteenth by Johann d’Anastasy
vice consul of Sweden at Alexandria. The main part of this
collection was sold in 1828 by the collector to the Netherlands
government and was deposited in the University of Leyden. In 1885,
C. Leemans completed the publication of a critical edition of the
texts with Latin translation of a number of these manuscripts, and
among these was one of the two works above mentioned.
It is known as the Leydon Papyrus.
The French chemist Marcelin Berthelot who was interested in the
history of early chemistry, subjected this Papyrus to critical
analysis and published a translation of his results into French with
extensive notes and commentaries.
On the basis of philological and paleography evidence, he concluded
its date is about the end of the third century A.
D. It is, however, manifestly a copy of a work previously written,
as slight errors evidently due to a copyist, are found. That the
original is later than the first century A. D. is certain, as there
are included in it extracts from the Materia Medica of Dioscorides.
The work is a collection of chemical recipes and directions for:
- Making metallic alloys
- Imitations of gold, silver or electrum
- Dyeing and other related arts
The Leyden papyrus comprises about seventy-five recipes pertaining
to the making of alloys, for soldering metals, for coloring the
surfaces of metals, for testing the quality of or purity of metals,
or for imitating the precious metals.
There are fifteen recipes for writing in gold or silver or in
imitation of gold and silver writing. There are eleven recipes for
dyeing stuffs in purple or other colors. The last eleven paragraphs
are extracts from the Materia Medica of Dioscorides, relating to the
minerals or materials used in the processes involved.
One interesting fact is a test for pure gold. Test for purity of
gold, remelt and heat it. If pure, it keeps its color after heating,
and remains like a coin. If it becomes whiter, it contains silver,
if it becomes rough and hard, it contains copper and tin, if it
softens and blackens it contains lead.
To write in letters of gold - take quicksilver, pour it into a
suitable vase and add gold leaf. When the gold appears dissolved in
the quicksilver, shake well, add a little gum, one grain for
example, and letting it stand, write in letters of gold.
Manufacture of asem (electrum):
Tin, 12 drachmas; quicksilver, 4 drachmas; earth of Chios, 2
drachmas. To the melted tin add the powdered earth, then add the
mercury, stir with an iron, and put it into use.