Mary the Jewess

Not to be confused with Maria al-Qibtiyya (died 637), mother of the prophet Muhammad's son.
Mary the Jewess
Engraving depicting Maria Prophetissima from Michael Maier's book Symbola Aurea Mensae Duodecim Nationum (1617)
Other names
  • Maria the Jewess
  • Mary the Prophetess
  • Maria the Copt
OccupationAlchemist
Notable ideas
Axiom of Maria

Mary or Maria the Jewess (Latin: Maria Hebraea), also known as Mary the Prophetess (Latin: Maria Prophetissa) or Maria the Copt (Arabic: مارية القبطية, romanized: Māriyya al-Qibṭiyya),[1] was an early alchemist known from the works of Zosimos of Panopolis (fl. c. 300) and other authors in the Greek alchemical tradition.[2] On the basis of Zosimos's comments, she lived between the first and third centuries A.D. in Alexandria.[3][4] French, Taylor and Lippmann list her as one of the first alchemical writers, dating her works at no later than the first century.[5][6]

She is credited with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first true alchemist of the Western world.[7]

Through Zosimos many of the beliefs of Mary the Jewess can be observed. Mary incorporated lifelike attributes into her descriptions of metal such as bodies, souls, and spirits. Mary believed that metals had two different genders, and by joining the two genders together a new entity could be made.[8]

  1. ^ Raggetti 2022, p. 21; Martelli 2022, p. 40.
  2. ^ Raggetti 2022, p. 21.
  3. ^ Feldman, Louis H.; Reinhold, Meyer (1996-10-01). Jewish Life and Thought Among Greeks and Romans: Primary Readings. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-567-08525-2.
  4. ^ Chemical History Tour, Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science Adele Droblas Greenberg Wiley-Interscience 2000 ISBN 0-471-35408-2
  5. ^ Taylor, F. Sherwood (1930). "A Survey of Greek Alchemy". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 50 (1): 109–139. doi:10.2307/626167. ISSN 0075-4269. JSTOR 626167.
  6. ^ French, Marilyn (2002). From Eve to Dawn, a history of women - volume 1: Origins. Toronto: McArthur. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-55278-268-2. Open access icon
  7. ^ Patai 1995.
  8. ^ Eisen, Arri; Laderman, Gary (2015-03-04). Science, Religion and Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Controversy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-46013-8.