AN ALCHEMICAL COMPILATION OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, A.D. 
71 
Astus . * 1 
Alexander . 2 
Batrus 1 (addressing a King). 
Balinus, (Apollonius) 3 * S — the quota- 
tion including a reference to De- 
mocritos. 
Bilus (?).* 
Sergius Rasu-l-'Aini . 6 * 
Aflatun (Plato). 
The Wazir (addressing the King in 
the Kitabu-l-Wuzara). 
Plato, Aristotle, and, in more modern times, Galen, practised the Art (ed. cit., p. 352). Jabir may have aided the 
spread of the idea, as he wrote a series of treatises with the general title ‘ Beliefs of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, 
Democritos,’ etc., (id., p. 357), but the Batin alchemical treatises ascribed to Aristotle and Plato are almost certainly 
forgeries of the Middle Ages (cf. B., La Chimie , I, p. 248). 
1 Nothing is known about either of these alchemists, though the name of the first also occurs in the Fihrist among 
the philosophers who have spoken of the Art (p. 353, 1 . 23). 
2 Probably either Alexander Aphrodisiensis, the Carian philosodher who flourished c. 200 A.D., or Alexander 
Trallianus, the eminent physician of Lydia, who wrote in the 6th Cent. A.D. ; the latter being more likely, as A. Tralli- 
anus laid great stress on the use of charms and amulets in medicine. 
S Cf. p. ii, note (3), supra. 
* A Greek treatise of an alchemist called Nilus is found recorded in the Index to the St. Mark ’s MS. (vide B. , Introd. , 
p. 175). He was apparently a priest who lived at the same time as Zosimus (B., Coll., Trans., II, p. 187). 
5 The following brief account of this distinguished Syrian translator is quoted from B. Jungmann’s ed. of Fessler’s 
Institutiones Patrologice (1896, Innsbruck ed., II, p. 654). 
“ Memorandus etiam hie est illustris presbyter et medicus Sergius Rhaesinensis, qui primus inter monophysitas libros 
Aristotelis e graeco syriacos fecit, et post multas peregrinationes in Antiocham et Romani, Constantinopoli obiit paulo post 
annum 535. Servantur in codd. M. Br. ejus translatio Isagogis Porphyrii, categoriarum et logicae Aristotelis et de mundo 
ad Alexandrum quern tractatum edidit P. de Lagarde, Analecta syriaca, p. 134 sqq. ; ejus tractatus De Anima, De 
causis Universi, De genere, specie et mdividuo, De lunae influxu aliaque nonnulla (vide W. Wright, Catalog. 1154 sqq. ; 
1 187-1 188 ; et "A Short History , ’ pp. 99-103).’ ’ Rasu-l-‘ Ain (lit. ‘ 1 the Spring Head ” ) is in Northern Mesopotamia on the 
Nahru-l-IQiabur, a branch of the Euphrates. An-Nadim records an alchemical book by this Sergius, dedicated to 
Bishop Quiri of Edessa, as well as one by ‘ the Monk Sergius ’ (loc. cit., p. 354). 
« Cf. Sayce, Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, pp. 130 and 131. 
“ The god of Hermopolis was Thoth, the Egyptian Dehuti (= he who is attached to the ibis). Thoth seems to have 
been at the outset the Moon, which was thus, as in Babylonia, of the male sex .... The first month of the year 
was his, and he was the measurer of time, who had invented arithmetic and geometry, music and astronomy, architec- 
ture and letters. He knew the magic formulae which could bind the gods themselves, and, as minister of the Pharaoh 
Thames, had introduced writing and literature into Egypt. Henceforward he remained the patron of books and educa- 
tion, on which the culture of Egypt so largely rested. He was, in fact, the culture-god of the Egyptians to whom the 
elements of civilisation were due. ’ ’ 
See also previous note on Hermes supra. 
1 Cf. p. 65, note (5). 
8 The Index at the head of the St. Mark’s MS. ascribes four alchemical treatises (now unfortunately disappeared) to 
the Emperor Heraclius (B., Jntrod., p. 174), and under the name of Hercules his opinions passed into the alchemical 
writings of the Middle Ages. An-Nadim mentions (p.354) the ‘ Great Book of Heraclius in 14 books. ’ 
8 The celebrated physician, A.D. 130-200. 
lo An-Nadim refers to this man as Safidas (op. cit., p. 353), and perhaps also when he mentions the ‘ ‘ Book of Saqras 
on his philosophy to the Emperor Adrian ” (op. cit. idem). In the latter case, the writer’s date would lie between 
1 17 and 138 A.D. On the other hand, this alchemist may be the same as Sophe the Egyptian, two of wdiose treatises are 
given by Berthelot in Vol. II of his Coll., pp. 205-208. Another variation of the name is found on p. 129 of the same 
Volume, where Ostanes is quoted by Zosimus as referring to Sophar, a former inhabitant of Persia. 
'1 An-Nadim (p. 354) mentions an Epistle of Balakhus on the Art, and the alchemist referred to may be Pelagius, 
one of whose works will be found at the beginning of Vol. Ill of Berthelot 's Coll. , and who is also quoted by 
Khalid, c one of the Moderns,’ in 
his poem beginning “ O seeker 
after knowledge.” 
Hermes, in the “ Book of Thoth.” 6 
Risamus (Zosimus ). 1 
Hiraql (Heraclius ). 8 * lo 
Jalinus (Galen). s 
Saqdis the Sage.' n 
Balakhus." 
Rusam ( (?) Zosimus). 
