Agathodaemon (, ''Agathodaímōn''; ) was an
alchemist in late
Roman Egypt
Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...
, known only from fragments quoted in medieval alchemical treatises, chiefly the ''Anepigraphos'', which refer to works of his believed to be from the 3rd century.
[Brian P. Copenhaver, ''Hermetica: the Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a new English translation, with notes and introduction''. Cambridge University Press, 1992. ] He is primarily remembered for his various descriptions of
elements and
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...
s, most particularly his descriptions of a method of producing
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
,
and of a substance he had created, which he called a 'fiery
poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
', and which, judging by his account, was
arsenic trioxide, a highly toxic
amphoteric oxide
An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation st ...
.
He described the 'fiery poison' as being formed when a certain mineral (most probably
realgar or
orpiment) was fused with
natron (naturally occurring
sodium carbonate), and that dissolved in water to give a clear
solution. He also wrote of how, when he placed a fragment of
copper into the solution, the copper turned a deep green hue, lending further validity to the suggestion that orpiment or realgar was used, as they are both
arsenic ores, and this would be the hue achieved from the copper after it had been placed in the arsenic trioxide had the substance formed been
copper arsenite.
[John Emsley, ''The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison''. Oxford University Press, 2006. .]
Agathodaemon's discoveries exist as part of the foundations for the later use of poison, as arsenic and related substances were used regularly in later centuries as a means of poisoning and murder. Since the only records of his existence are references in later works, he may be apocryphal, but since the practice of alchemy itself began to decline around the time he is believed to have lived, it may be that much of his writing was lost.
This information that was gathered by the Nestorians eventually passed on to the
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
s, and this in part contributed to the flourishing of alchemy in that region and in their hands; the modern English word "alchemy" comes from the
Arabic language
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, and many of the foundations for alchemy in Western nations were laid by the Arabs.
[Joseph Jastrow, ''Story of Human Error''. Ayer Publishing, 1936. ]
See also
*
Other Agathodaemons
*
Zosimos of Panopolis, a roughly contemporary Egyptian alchemist who mentioned creating a homunculus named "
agathodaemon"
*
Set (deity), the Egyptian god later confounded with the Greek
agathodaemon and probably also the alchemist, invoked in Islamic alchemy
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:AGATHODAEMON
Ancient alchemists
Egyptian alchemists
Egyptian chemists
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
4th-century Egyptian people