alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, an athanor (, ''at-tannūr'') is a furnace used to provide a uniform and constant heat for alchemical digestion. Etymologically, it descends from a number of Arabic texts of the period of the Caliphate which use the term "al-tannoor" in talismanic alchemy, meaning a bread-oven, from which the design portrayed evidently descends. The athanor was also called Piger Henricus ("Slow Henry"), because it was chiefly used in slower operations, and because when once filled with coals, it keeps burning a long time. For this reason the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

referred to it as "giving no trouble", as it did not need to be continually attended. It was also called the Philosophical furnace, Furnace of Arcana, or popularly, the Tower furnace.
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Other references

In the work ''Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Apollonius'' by

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; ; 170s – 240s AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He flourished during the reign of Septimius Severus ...

the Athenian, an allegorical description is given of an occult hill. The author gives this hill the name "Athanor". "Athanor" is the name of two works by 20th century German artist

Anselm Kiefer Anselm Kiefer (born 8 March 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Peter Dreher and Horst Antes at the end of the 1960s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan h ...

: one currently displayed in the

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

and the other commissioned by the

Louvre museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in 2007 and displayed there. The word was also used the title of a 1968 book of poetry by the

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

author Gellu Naum, a musical work for orchestra by French composer Joël-François Durand (written in 2001 and premiered by the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

in 2003), a 1990s noel series by American author

Jane Lindskold Jane M. Lindskold (born September 15, 1962) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short story, short stories and novels. Early life Jane M. Lindskold was born on 15 September 1962, and grew up in Washington, D.C., and the Chesap ...

, a photo collage by Romanian artist Geta Bratescu (b. 1926), and an artwork by Janet Saad-Cook located at Boston University's Photonics Center. The Athanor Academy of Performing Arts Passau founded in 1995 in the German town

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

is named after this furnace, as is the Belgian , a

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

. The ''Athanor'' magazine is a review of language philosophy, history, and international politics, published once or twice a year.

References

External links

Athanor as an occult hill
- by Philostratus; selection of extracts from the translation of F. C. Conybeare, including translator's introduction (1912) Alchemical tools {{chem-hist-stub