التقاليد التقنية للإسكندرية _ التصوف السكندري .. الإسكندريه والسيمياء

The Alexandrian Polytechnic _ Alexandrian Sufism .. Alexandria and Semiotics

The Alexandrian Polytechnic:

The Unknown Craftsman:

We got information about gold because one of the craftsmen recorded his production techniques on paper and the Swedish diplomat who found these sets in the nineteenth century had the prudence to acquire them and ship them to Europe. After 85 years, the study contains, scientists were certain that two of the Flavans described the chemist.

Since they were written in the same handwriting and at about the end of the third century. It is probably most likely copied from ancient works, which could cause the slight accompanying copying. As for that, it is likely that they were written after 100 years (BC).

The basic contains recipes for dyeing, fixing and preparing imitation gemstones. And for preparing copper acetate (verdigris), a green substance for the use of synthetic emeralds, the following recipe was given. It is noteworthy that copper was clearly visible on the agreement of the agreement, as we mentioned, the materials used were rarely pure. Sometimes it contains some substances that it controls itself - the chemical control specific to it because of the impurities that it could not, and it takes responsibility for controlling the different substances from different sources
It cannot come as completely different substances.

Clean well made of onion copper with a light stone and water, dry it and then lightly grease it with oil, spread the paint and then wrap a rope around it. It is then hung in the wooden disc with strong vinegar so that it does not come in contact with the vinegar and then leads to the contractual barrel to prevent evaporation. If a layer (in the barrel) in the copper in the morning, then the patina can be carefully scraped off in the evening... then hang it again until it is completely consumed... and the vinegar becomes unusable (2).

The second papyrus seems to be mainly concerned with metals, including very realistic recipes for making false gold.

Making asima, an alloy of silver and gold: Take soft tin in small pieces, purify it forty times, take four parts of it, three parts of pure white copper, and one part of asima. Melt it, purify it several times after casting, and do with the result whatever you wish. Asima will be of such high quality that it will deceive even craftsmen (3).

These recipes may have been used by a craftsman in a workshop, a process without any hint of mysterious secrets or without any attempt to conceal the contents, quite unlike the later semiotic writings. How they were preserved remains a mystery; one might think that they were hidden in a mummy's coffin to ensure its safety. The owner may have wished to be buried with valuable possessions, and the written steps may have been the most valuable possession of a craftsman.

The roots of this practical treatment can be traced back to Greece. For a time the centre of learning moved from Athens to Alexandria, but Athens did not suddenly become a ghost town. In fact, Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Debate Society were active for another 700 years. While the traveling Greek philosophers (the peripatetics) gave private lessons, preached to the public, and collected whatever gifts they could, they carried Greek natural philosophy throughout the Hellenistic world. But Aristotle's successor in the Debate Society, Neophrastus (c. 315 BC), was more than just a philosopher. He was an astute observer of practical chemistry, as is evident from his description of the production of lead acetate (white lead).

The lead was placed in an earthenware vessel over strong vinegar, and after it had acquired a certain thickness of rust, which usually occurred within ten days, the vessel was opened and the rust scraped off... The scraped rust was ground to a powder and boiled (in water) for a long time. What finally settled at the bottom of the vessel was white lead (4).

He also describes the use of the paste of Paris:

The stone from which gypsum is made by burning is similar to alabaster. Its strength and heat when wet are very strange. They prepare it for use by crushing it into powder and pouring water over it, and they stir and mix it constantly with wooden tools because they cannot do it by hand because of the heat. It is prepared in this form immediately before use because it becomes solid within a short period (5).

The practical practice of chemistry could have continued without modification if Alexandria had not been the next port of call.

Alexandrian Mysticism

In Alexandria. This pragmatism floated in a sea of ​​other doctrines: Aristotelianism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, and Mithraism (*), and there may have been other doctrines whose names have been lost.

(1) A Persian religious belief that flourished in the late Roman Empire and competed with Christianity, attributed to the god Mithra, who is the light and truth and protects mankind from evil, that is, from darkness, the symbol of Satan and sin. The sun symbolizes the god Mithra (references).

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have had a great importance for chemistry, and the roots of Judaism can be traced back to about 1800 BC, when God ordered a man named Abram, according to traditional accounts, to change his name to Abraham (Abraham), indicating his new status as the ancestor of all people. In fact, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all consider themselves sons of Abraham, and are followers of the three major religions that have influenced the modern world. The first successful civilization, the Hebrews, were similar in many ways to those of their neighbors. The Hebrews were equally brutal, cruel, and provincial. Their mastery of chemical technology was close to that of the civilizations around them.

They knew gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin, and how to work them. However, the Hebrews had a special peculiarity: the God of Abraham, according to the accounts, insisted on being the only God, thus initiating an unprecedented concept of monotheism.

Monotheism helped ensure the continuity of the culture. A monotheistic religion is not compromised by its assimilation of other gods or customs. Just as important is the fact that Abraham was a nomadic people and his god was also a nomadic god, not tied to a shrine or any particular sacred site. This made the religion transmissible and enabled Hebrew civilization to survive as a culture even after the Hebrews were expelled from their land and scattered.