• Byzantine Engagement with Islamicate Alchemy

    Author(s):
    Alexandre Roberts (see profile)
    Date:
    2022
    Group(s):
    Alchemy, Byzantine Studies, Graeco-Arabic Studies, Islamicate Studies, Science Studies and the History of Science
    Subject(s):
    Alchemy--Manuscripts, Alchemy
    Item Type:
    Article
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/15zp-gp14
    Abstract:
    https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721264 This essay analyzes the known evidence for Byzantine engagement with what are conventionally termed “alchemical” texts, theories, and practices of the Islamic world. Much of the evidence is difficult to date. Nevertheless, the aggregated direct, indirect, and circumstantial evidence suggests at least some engagement by Greek-speaking scholars throughout the Middle Ages. This engagement took various forms, from the use of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish terminology to the adaptation of whole Arabic treatises in Greek. Sometimes the Byzantine texts emphasize their Islamicate sources, and sometimes they do not mention these sources at all. The resulting picture is still fragmentary, but it indicates that medieval Greek-speaking scholars were active in the circulation of chemical knowledge and techniques in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Byzantium, therefore, should no longer be left out of research into long-term patterns in the history of science.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.1086/721264
    Publisher:
    University of Chicago Press
    Pub. Date:
    2022
    Journal:
    Isis
    Volume:
    113
    Issue:
    3
    Page Range:
    559 - 580
    ISSN:
    1545-6994
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    1 year ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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