The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book

634 Pages·2014·40.78 MB·English

by  Raphael Patai

The Jewish Alchemists

The Jewish Alchemists
A HISTORY AND SOURCE BOOK
Raphael Patai
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1994 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the Umted Kingdom Princeton University Press,
Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Catalojjing-in-PubhcMion Data
Patai, Raphael, 1910-
The Jewish alchemists a history and source book /
Raphael Patai
p cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 0 691 03290 4
ISBN 0 691 00642 3 (pbk )
1 Jewish alchemists 2 Alchemy—History I Tide
QD24 A2P38 1994
540' 11'2089924—dc20 93 35687
This book has been composed in Adobe Galliard
Princeton University Press books are printed
on acid free paper and meet the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources
Third printing, and first paperback printing, 1995
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton Academic Press
3 5 79 10 8 64
To the memory of
Harry Starr
Whose chance remark on Jews and alchemy,
made many years ago,
first planted the idea of this book
in my mind
and
To my brother
Saul Patai
the chemical encyclopedist,
from whom I learned
how much more—and less—
chemistry is than alchemy
The vocable alchemia (or some alternate form such as
ars chemica) appears in the West from the twelfth cen
tury onward in reference to the medieval quest for a
means of transmuting base metals into gold, for a uni
versal cure, and for the "elixir of immortality " The
alchemist's quest was not scientific but spiritual
Mircea Eliade,
"Alchemy" in Encyclopedia of Religion
Alchemy is the art of liberating parts of the Cosmos
from temporal existence and achieving perfection which
for metals is gold, and, for man, longevity, then
immortality, and finally, redemption
H J Sheppard,
"Chinese Alchemy" in Encyclopedia of Religion
At times alchemy was an organic part of a comprehen
sive tradition which in some manner embraced all as
pects of human existence The transmutation of base
metals into gold is certainly not the true goal of al
chemy Alchemy treats the soul as a "substance"
which has to be purified, dissolved, and
crystallized anew
Titus Burckhardt,
Alchemy
Alchemy is usually defined as the art of transmuting
base metals into gold
Encyclopedia Americana
CONTENTS
Illustrations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations
PART ONE: Prelude
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction 3
CHAPTER TWO
Biblical Figures as Alchemists 18
CHAPTER THREE
Alchemy in Bible and Talmud? 41
PART TWO: The Hellenistic Age
INTRODUCTION TO PART TWO 49
CHAPTER FOUR
Jews in Hellenistic Alchemy 50
CHAPTER FIVE
Maria the Jewess 60
CHAPTER SIX
Zosimus on Maria the Jewess 81
PART THREE: The Early Arab World
INTRODUCTION TO PART THREE 95
CHAPTER SEVEN
Abufalah's Alchemy 98
CHAPTER EIGHT
A Hebrew Version of the Book of Alums and Salts 119
CHAPTER NINE
Pseudo-Khalid ibn Yazid 125
Vlll CONTENTS
PART FOUR: The Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries
INTRODUCTION TO PART FOUR 139
CHAPTER TEN
Artephius 141
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Great Jewish Philosophers 144
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kabbalah and Alchemy: A Reconsideration 152
PART FIVE: The Fourteenth Century
INTRODUCTION TO PART FIVE 173
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Raymund de Tarrega: Marrano, Heretic, Alchemist 175
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Quinta Essentia in Hebrew 204
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Flamel's Jewish Masters 218
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Two Spanish-Jewish Court Alchemists 234
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Abraham Eleazar 238
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Themo Judaei 258
PART SIX: The Fifteenth Century
INTRODUCTION TO PART SIX 263
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Simeon ben Semah Duran 264
CHAPTER TWENTY
Solomon Trismosin and His Jewish Master 268
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Abraham ben Simeon's Cabala, Mystica 271
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Isaac Hollandus and His Son John Isaac 289
CONTENTS IX
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Johanan Alemanno and Joseph Albo 293
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Pseudo-Maimonides 300
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Three Kuzari Commentators 314
PART SEVEN: The Sixteenth Century
INTRODUCTION TO PART SEVEN 321
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Esh M'saref: A Kabbalistic-Alchemical Treatise 322
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Taitazak and Provencali 336
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hayyim Vital, Alchemist 340
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
An Alchemical Miscellany 365
CHAPTER THIRTY
Labi, Hamawl, and Portaleone 376
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Manchester (John Rylands) Manuscript 381
PART EIGHT: The Seventeenth Century
INTRODUCTION TO PART EIGHT 395
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Leone Modena, Delmedigo, and Zerah 399
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Four Seventeenth-Century Manuscripts 407
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Benjamin Mussafia 437
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Benjamin Jesse 447
PART NINE: The Eighteenth Century
INTRODUCTION TO PART NINE 453