Arabic Mineralogy of the Tenth Century

Author(s): Martin Levey

Source: Chymia, Vol. 12 (1967), pp. 15-26
Published by: University of California Press
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 ARABIC MINERALOGY OF
THE TENTH CENTURY*

MARTIN LEVEY

THE three centuries of Islam, well known as a period of

FIRST
philosophical and religious ferment and activity, was also
one of great receptivity to scientific ideas. In the latter half
of the tenth century, about 970, there flourished a group in Meso
potamia known as the Ikhwan al-safa, "Brethren of Sincerity."1
Thename of this group was inspired by a story of the ring-dove in
the Kalila wa-Dimna, tales from the Persian, in which the theme is
that the animals by being faithful to one another were able to escape
the hunter.
The Brethren of Sincerity was an eclectic school based mainly on
a religious and political association with ultra Shii or Ism?cili
views. This group, which had branches in Basra and Baghdad, opposed
the existing political order. Their philosophical objective was to make
the soul become like God as far as is humanly possible. The Koran,
therefore, had to be interpreted not literally but allegorically. In
actuality, their purpose served to undermine the popular intellectual
system and religious beliefs. Their work survives in a collection of
fifty-two epistles; it is an encyclopedia which treats of the different
sciences?mathematics, geography, ethics, philosophy, and, in short,
all of knowledge.3
In spite of their eclecticism, the Brethren made a strong attempt to
portray in their work a unity of all forms of knowledge. This meant
that the theoretical ideas behind the various disciplines had to be
adapted to form the new unity. In this article, the ideas of the Brethren
as depicted in their mineralogical theory are described. The follow
ing account, taken directly from their work, is detailed in order to
offer a fairly accurate picture of the state of mineralogy in the Arab
world in the tenth century.3
PLACE OF ORIGIN OF MINERALS
This section is the root of the understanding of the origin of metals. Those

*This work was carried out with the support of U.S.P.H.S. Grant 12594.

15

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16 CHYMIA

various moistnesses in the innerpart of the earth, as the vapors which are there
locked up, dissolve when the heat of the pits surrounds them; they flow, be
come light, rise to the upper edge of the depths and caves, and remain there
for a time.Then, when the innerpart of the earth becomes cold in the summer,
it coagulates, becomes viscous, and'returns dripping down into the depths and
caves. In thisway, theymix with the dust of the region and its clay. It remains
there for a timewhile the heat of the pit matures and it simmers. It is purified
by long standing, and assumes a heaviness and thickness.
These moistnesses change by mixture of the dust particles producing a
heaviness and thickness, a and a mer
maturing simmering, giving trembling
cury. In the same way, oily, airy particles mixed in themidst of dust and heated
become sulfur after a time. Sulfur and mercury are mixed,
again compounded,
and gathered while hot and while both quantities are in a favorable ratio as to
maturation and heating. They harden to become differenttypesofminerals.
When the mercury becomes clear and the sulfur is pure, and their parts are
mixed and both quantities are in the proper ratio, then they unite. The sulfur
takes up themoistness of themercury and dries itswatery property. Further,
if the heat of the pit is just right in thematuring and decocting and does not
gather cold or dryness, then it hardens with time into gold. Should it be af
fected by cold before maturation, then it becomes silver. Should it become dry
due to excessive heat in that part of the world, then it hardens to red copper.
Should it become cold before the particles of sulfur and mercury unite, then it
hardens to tin-lead.
Should itmeet coldness before it is refined and the dust particles are present
in greater quantity, then it becomes black iron. If there is more mercury, less

sulfur, and less heat, then itwill harden to black-lead. If the heat is excessive
so that it is burned, then it becomes antimony. By this analogy, the mineral
obtained depends on the relative quantities and the varied conditions, whether
sulfur or mercury is in excess or is light, or the heat is too strong or weak,
or the minerals become cold before maturation, or they lose their proper
weights. This is true forall mineralsQ.e. metals] which may be melted.
However, the stony materials as crystal, carnelian,
hyacinth, chrysolite,
and similar ones which cannot be melted by fire,harden from rainwater and the
sediment which penetrate into caves, excavations, and in depths which are
found between mountains and hard stone. In these, there are no dust particles
or clay but they linger there a longer time, become more pure, heavier, and
more viscous than water. The heat of the pit makes them react until they
thicken and become hard stone ....

The color of the yellow hyacinth and pure gold, and the color of the crocus,
and similar plant colors are related by the lightof the sun and the shine of its
rays. In the same way, the light of the moon and the shine of its rays deter
mines the white of silver, salt, crystal, cotton, and similar plants ....

Earthy minerals arise in the following way. That water which is mixed with

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 ARABICMINERALOGY-TENTH CENTURY 17

the earth of its region is affected by the heat of the depth: it is affected, dis
solves, and becomes It is evaporated and the remainder of these moist
liquid.
nesses remains locked in and adheres to the earth particles to unite with them.
Heat affects it before it becomes mature and reacts so that it becomes thick
and hardens. Should this earth contain saltpeter or salt, then all kinds of natron
and alum arise. However, if this earth is acidic, then there arise all kinds of
green and yellow glass, calcite which is a kind of glass, and similar ones. If
this region, however, contains earth made up of pebbles and sand, then these
harden into all kinds of gypsum, white lead, and similar ones. If the earth of
this region consists of fine and warm clay, then it hardens to clods of earth.
From it come all varieties of grass, vegetables, forage, trees, and crops.

Compare, for example, trie origin of pearl in a pseudo-Aristo

telian work4 which is also very different from Theophrastus' work on
mineralogy but is related to a Syriac tradition5 of the second half
of the sixth century by Bar Serapion.
The oldest Muslim lapidary extant is by ^Ut?rid ibn. M. al-Katib
(fl. 9th cent.) and deals with precious stones. It is called, Kitab
manafical-ahjar or K. al-jawahir wa'l-ahjdr (unpubl.).6

DIFFERENTIATION IN THE ORIGIN OF MINERALS

There are three kinds of mineral. Some arise in dust, in clay, and some in
salty places. They mature in a year or less. These are sulfur, salts, alum,
vitriol, and the like.Others arise on the bottom of the sea and inwater reser
voirs, and mature in a year or more. These are which come from a
pearls
mussel, and coral, which is a mineral plant. Others arise in the depressions of
mountains, in the inside of rock, and in themidst of sand. They do not mature
before many years. These are gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and similar
ones. Others mature in decades or centuries as opal, onyx,
hyacinth, chrysolite,
ruby, turquoise, diamond, and similar ones.
We should like to relate and describe how one of the types ofmineral arose;
by analogy, thismay be applied to others. First, it is essential to state that the
world is in four parts, that its conditions changed, and so the situation changed
over the years. It may be said that the earth with its seas, mountains, steppes,
rivers, cultivated and waste regions is a sphere which is suspended at the mid

point of the world. There is a north and a south of the earth. The surfaces of
these are further subdivided into two to give four quarters. Every quarter is
subdivided into four, first into
steppes and wastes, seas, swamps and rivers,
mountains, hills, elevations, depths, and finally into cities, towns, cultivated
and pastures. All of these change with time into others ....
places
The mountain streams and rivers arise there and flow to the sea. The rays of
the sun, moon, and stars, in time, warm the mountain so that its moistness

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18 CHYMIA

becomes less. In this dry condition, it crumbles just as it does under thunder.
It thus becomes stone, rock, gravel, and sand. Heavy rains bring these down to
the river beds, then fartherto the bottom of the sea. There they remain a long
period until mountains arise in the sea just as in the desert where the wind
forms hills. This is a continuous ....
process
Of themountains, some are of hard rocks, solid stone, and smooth walls of
stone. On these, there is sparse vegetation. Others consist of soft stone masses,
thin clay, mixed with dust and sand. These parts seldom stick together and are
arranged one above the other in layers. There are many hollows, gorges,
crevasses, rivulets, springs, trees, streams, and various kinds of vegetation.
When the crevasses, depths, and hollows in the earth and mountains have no
exit, then the water remains locked in. Then, should the earth and the inner
mountain become warm, then the water is heated so that more is neces
space
sary. If there ismore space, then canals allow thewater to run off. Should the
surface be hard and fast, then this is impossible, and so the water is locked,
going to and fro in the depths in order to find a way out. The earth will then
split and so thewater will flow and the earth will sink. If there is no way out,
then itwill all cool and the water will become viscous. The more it remains,
the more viscous it becomes until it becomes a shivering quicksilver. This
mixes with the dust of that hollow and the heat begins to melt it so that the
mercury is brought to maturity. Thus arise the minerals from the various
parts of nature.
The dust is [usually] sulfurous. Because of the interaction of water [and dust
and air] with heat and cold in the process of temperature change, other sub
stances are formed as mercury, lead, salt, sulfur, natron,
pitch, naphtha,
alum, and similar ones. The formation of these depends on the differences
prevalent in thedust and air.
The characteristics, as has been stated, of the earth, the air, and soil deter
mine the differentkinds of minerals, plants, and animals. It is for this reason
that the air and earth must be known well. The elephant, giraffe,certain birds,
and plants can only arise under certain conditions. This is true for minerals as,
for example, gold which arises on sand steppes; silver, copper, and iron form
only on the inside of mountains as do other kinds which are mixed with a fine
dust. Sulfur, however, arises only in moist earths and oily moistnesses. Salts
arise only in salty and natron layers. Gypsum and white lead form only in
those earths which are composed of mixed sand and gravel. Glass and alum
arise only in acidic, dirty-colored dust. In this way, one may determine all
kinds of minerals....
It is clear, then, that minerals, in spite of the different types, natures, and

properties, are made up finally only of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and
water as the fundamental materials. Also, it is clear that its parts from which
a mineral has been made and constructed are a result of God's creation. Fur
ther, it is clear that the ultimate purpose of these minerals is use by man and

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 ARABICMINERALOGY-TENTH CENTURY 19

animal for the benefit and improvement of life.Minerals are formed only of
four elements even though theminerals' natures are so different in form and
material. Their effects, uses, and other matters concerning them in many
types of conditions do not obviate the fact that they are composed and com
pounded of only fourelements, in a dynamic settingof coming and going, arising
,and disappearing. The same happens to the heavens in its revolutions,move
ments of the constellations, and in other natural matters....
There are also minerals made from gathered dew as bezoar and amber.
Amber is nothing else but dew which fell upon the surface of the sea, then
hardened in a certain time and place. Bezoar, also, is nothing but dew fallen
upon certain kinds of stones and hardened under the proper conditions. So it is
with theBabylonian manna which is a dew upon a certain kind of thorn....

The to explain the formation of such things as

dew theory is used
lac, opium poppy, pearl, and other substances. Dew is defined as an
airy moistness which falls on stones, plants, and trees.

MINERALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

Everything has four causes, a material one, a formal one, a creative one, and
the end. In the case of minerals, nature is the creative cause. Further, the
material basis of minerals is mercury and sulfur. The formal cause is the
revolution of the sky and themovements of the constellations with regard to the
four elements. The end purpose is the use towhich minerals are put by man and
animal....

Quite different are the nature, taste, color, and odor of minerals. These
variations arise from the earth in the regions where the minerals are found,
and from the water and in the air there....
changes
The sphere of the earth, being of a variegated composition and nature, con
tains rocks, solid mountains, compact stone, smooth soft
pebbles, stotiy sand,
clay, thin dust, salt, saltpeter,mixed with one another or close to one another.
On the earth, there are also neighboring fields which are red, white, black,
green, blue, or yellow. Below mountains, there are red and white strips ol
various colors black. In regard to the dust and
including clay, some are sweet,
some bitter, some salty, some and others acidic and sour. The taste of
pleasant,
the water there varies as do their odors, their
viscosity or fluidity, their
heaviness or lightness; the latter are according to the dust of their zones and
the clay of their areas, their covered position, and where they are found.
Fire is the judge among theminerals, distinguishes among them, and is the
means to determine foreignmetal in an
alloy. The best mineral is that one
whose part the fire cannot separate. Gold and become such a unity
hyacinth
that no moistness is to be found therein. The reason that some minerals burn
and that the fire takes them so that it flames up
quickly as sulfur, arsenic,

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20 CHYMIA

pitch, naphtha, and similar ones, is that the oily and air particles are attached
to the dust particle.Without this, it could not have been unified; the liquid part
of it contributes littleand has nothing to offer in so far as the binding is con
cerned. When the heat of the fire affects it, itmelts rather quickly, dissolves,
and becomes smoke and vapor. They separate from the duct-like particles, go
into theair,mix with it,and are distributed among theparticles of theair.
One may ask why the gold melts and does not burn while hyacinth neither
melts nor burns. The reason that the gold melts and does not burn is that the
oily moistnesses have become unified with the dust particles. When the fire
hits it, then itmelts these and it flows among the earthy particles with which
they are bound. Thus, the gold does not burn because of the watery particles
which are bound with the earthy and air particles. These counter the fire,and
by means of their cold and dampness act as protection for the dust from the
blaze of the fire.When the gold is removed from the fire, then the oily air
particles separate and thewatery parts become thick and hard but the earthy
particles remain as theywere and are not burned by the fire.The same is
true forother bodies whichmelt.
The hyacinth, on the other hand, is composed of watery particles which,
because they had remained for a time between rock and stone, became thick
and pure. They mature until completion; the heat of the depth had affected it
continuously so that the particles became as one and dried. The hyacinth does
not melt in the fire since it does not contain any oily dampnesses. It comes
from the soil so pure since it does not contain any dark dust particles and is
completely composed of watery particles which became thick, pure, and well
done, ran, and then became dry. The fire cannot separate its particles since it
is unified and dry.Many bodies such as tin-lead and black-lead melt and burn,
therefore, so fast because thewatery and air particles are not unified with the
dust particles. They are black since they are not well done, and so heavy be
cause so many ....
they contain earthy particles
Minerals have many different and varied natures. Some are con
properties
trary to others and make way for the other. Others are similar to one another
and have an association with one another. affect one another in many
They
are attracted or repel some ....
ways, strongly
A propertywhich overcomes another is, for example, that of emery which,
by rubbing, consumes stone,making it even and polished. In this category there
is also the property of the dirty black-lead which seizes diamond, the hardest
of all stones. When diamond is placed on the anvil and beaten with a hammer,
then it penetrates the other without breaking. However, if it is placed covered
between two leaves of black-lead, then it is broken. Further, it has the property
of being moist, and in firehas the impatientmercury with it so thatwhen the
hard mine minerals as gold, copper, silver, and iron are rubbed, it weakens
and softens it so that one may break it easily and powder it.
It is also so with the stinking sulfur,which is master of the light-giving,

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 ARABIC MINERALOGY-TENTH CENTURY 21

shining stones and takes their colors and dyes from them. It lends power to the
fire over these so that they burn in the shortest time. This occurs because in
sulfur there is an oily, sticky, runningmass which, in contact with the fire,
comes intomotion so that itmelts, adhering to the bodies of stones and mixes
with them.When the fire is intense, then themass togetherwith the stone body
burns. Itmay be gold, hyacinth,or something else.
A clinging property is possessed by sal ammoniac, which penetrates the in
terior of the stone and purifies it of dirt. Another supportive property is, for
example, that of saltpeter, which assists the fire to make the mined stones
melt. Otherwise vitriol and alum cause clarity, lightness, and purity. Then,
there are . . . and alkali which help to effect a flow of pyrite (?) and sand, and
purify it in order to make transparent glass. In this way, mineral properties
operate and react upon one another.

TYPES OF MINERALS

There are untold types of minerals. Man knows only some of them. Some
scholars have declared that there are seven hundred, all different in nature,

form, color, taste, odor, weight, harmfulness, and usefulness ....

We begin with themost precious, gold and hyacinth, then take the others in
order. Gold is a material which has a
proportioned nature and a proper mix
ture; its soul and spirit are one, and the spirit is one with its body. The soul of
a mineral is the airy part; the spirit is the watery part, and the
body is the
earthy part.When all of these are bound and properlymixed, theywill neither
burn in the firenor separate from one another. Gold does not decay into dust
nor does it rustwith time or become changed by any accident. It is a fine
body
of yellow color, sweet taste, pleasant odor, and high
heavy, specific gravity.
Its yellow color comes from its imperviousness to fire, its purity, and its
shine from its airy parts. Its fineness comes from the oily moistnesses; its
weight comes from the earthy parts. The sulfur in gold is pure and its quick
silver is clear. The mixture of both of these is in the proper ratio. The inner
heat of the pitmatures both gradually and equally in time.When theheat of the
fire strikes gold, then the oily moistness of itmelts and surrounds its body
protecting it from the fireand hindering its effectson the gold. When it is then
taken from the fire, thesemoistnesses are affected. Thus it is that gold, when
it is hammered, expands whether it is cold or warm. Also itmay be made into
leaf or made into thread. It adjusts to every form of vessel and jewelry.
Gold may be alloyed with silver and copper. It may be separated from the
latter two by the gold-like marcasite which is a kind of sulfurwhich burns
other kinds of sulfurbut is itselfnot consumed by the fire.Gold is useful as an
ophthalmological remedy when it is in powder form; it also prevents pustules
on a burned spot and helps it to heal quickly. Gold is also very useful forblack
gall, snake and fox illness .... Because of its properties, so useful and supe

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22 CHYMIA

rior, marcasite is treasured by kings; for this reason, it is rarely found in

trade. It is valued not for its raritybut because people hide it away and keep it.
The hyacinth is a hard, dry, warm stone which has weight, clarity, and
transparency. It has many colors as red, yellow, green, and blue. All these
kinds of hyacinth come from sweet water which has remained a long time in
the interior of rocks, hard stones, and boulders, then thickens, becomes pure
and heavy. The interiorheat matures itwhen it remains a long time. It be
comes as one and so hard that firewill not affect it.This is so since it has so
few oily parts. It is shrunk so that themoistness is thick but not its color; it
acquires beauty and color, therefore.The red hyacinth is hard and dry so that
a filemakes no impression. This is true only for the diamond and emery. They
are rubbed in water when the experiment is tried. The mines of hyacinth are
south of the equator; it is rare and valuable. A use for it is in a seal ring
which protects one from pests and epidemics which afflict the population.
Further, the owner of such a ring is beloved in the eyes of man and his needs
are easy to come by.
The emerald and topaz are two dry, cold stones of a single category. They
are found in gold mines. The best are green, clear, and transparent. When
one looks intentlyupon the emerald, then the weakness of his eyes will be
healed.Whoever wears iton his belt or ringwill be protected fromepilepsy.
Malachite is the enemy of topaz. When they are in one place, then the for
mer takes away the color and shine of the latter.Malachite belongs to the
most excellent eye remedies.
Pearls . . . one from heart trouble, fear, and alarm, aids in cases
protect
of black bile for it refreshes the blood of the heart. It also belongs to the eye
remedies and strengthens the nerves of the eyes. It is also good for white
leprosyas a salve; itpacifies theepileptic.
Silver may be melted and stands next to gold. It is a cold dry body but
these two properties are in proportion. Itwould have been gold had it not been
disturbed before it had matured with cold. It mixes with copper or lead or
with both and may be purified of both readily. Sulfur blackens silver and
quicksilver dissolves it.Natron helps its color and aids inmelting it. It also
protects it from fire.When silver is beaten and added to medicines, it helps
in thickened phlegms; it burns in firewhen it is intense; in time, it turns into
dust.

Copper is generally warmer and drier but it is close to silver. Both are dif
ferent from one another only in dryness and color for silver is white and light
but copper is red, dry, and very dirty. The red comes from the powerful heat
of sulfur, its dryness from the dirt and thickness of it . . .When copper is

put into acid, it gives green vitriol which is a poison. If one should spread
mercury over copper, then the latter becomes soft and breaks up. If the

copper is melted and Syrian glass is thrown in, and then it is poured into
water, the color becomes golden. If it comes into contact with the fire, then

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 ARABICMINERALOGY-TENTH CENTURY 23

it blackens for the fire is the judge among mineral matters; it separates the
good among them.When food and drink remain for a long time in copper
vessels, then the contents are injurious to health. Fish in copper vessels
produce a bad odor. If one would cover a copper pot inwhich there is a boiled
or baked fish, then it becomes a deadly
poison....
Tin resembles silver in color but it differs in three properties, odor, soft
ness, and screaming tone; this comes from untoward conditions while it is
still buried just as accidents may befall the foetus of a mother. Tin is soft
since it contains much mercury; the screaming tone [of itwhen struck] is due
to the thick sulfurwhich is present in small quantity compared with the amount
of mercury. The screaming tone is because it is constructed of layer over
layer. It is malodorous since it is immature. It may be freed of these dis
abilities by adding to it chrysanthemum twigs, marcassite with salt, and
arsenic. When the tin is burned and used as a plaster, it heals wounds and
abscesses which occur in the eyes.

The black lead is the best lead; yet, it contains much sulfur, is not com
pletely mature, and its uses are well known.
Iron is of various types; it is partly fragile and soft.When it is thrown into
water, it becomes harder and more solid. The uses are important; to man it
is as indispensable as are water, fire, and salt....
Brass is a metal derived from craftsmanship. The same is true for copper
which becomes more yellow and fragilethroughvarious mixtures.
White metal is a mixture of copper and tin. There is an alloy of copper and
lead. Silver litharge comes from lead when it is burned. White lead comes
from lead and acid. Minium Is lead and sulfur.Cinnabar is frommercury and
sulfur. Verdigris is from copper and acid. The uses and harms of these
minerals are well known to people and are discussed inmedical texts.
Mercury and sulfur also belong to themineral group. The latter is an oily,
gluey stone which binds itself to mine minerals when theymelt. It burns in
fire and thoseminerals with it for it is very oily. Mercury, on the other hand,
is a moist, flowing body which is restless when the heat hits it. It has no
patience with heat. It mixes gradually with mineral bodies, softens,breaks up,
and weakens them.When the heat of the fire seizes these bodies, then the
mercury flies away and the minerals return to their original condition; they
become hard as earlier. is related to the minerals as water is to
Mercury
lime, which is dry.When water is sprinkled upon it, it softens and dissolves.
However, should fire or the heat of the sun affect it, then it becomes dry and
again as itwas.
Sulfur and mercury are the two original building blocks of minerals which
melt, as dust and water are the building blocks of fashioned bodies as building
bricks, pots, vessels, and all those which are made of clay. How these metals
arise and why their natures and properties are so differentiated has been
related.

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24 CHYMIA

In themineral group, there also belong the kinds of salt, alum, natron, and
vitriols. Some have a pleasant taste as table salt and very white salt; others
are bitter like the prepared salt [from the sea] . Others are hot like sal
ammoniac. Others draw together as alum and blue vitriol. Others are medi
cinal as naphtha and Indian metal. The natrons
[or boraxes] belong here;
they are useful for the dyer. In the latter category are also alkali [qali ^un
slaked lime,ashes and urine,which are also used by the chemist.
All of these are moist and watery and are mixed with the earth of the veins
.... Heat has affected them and turned them into and
salts, alums, boraxes,
different kinds of vitriol. Various other matters belong to the minerals as
arsenics, marcasite, magnesia, haematite, kuhl, tutty, glass, crystal,
minya, talc, agate, carnelian, turquoise, garnet, onyx, lapis lazuli, amber,
and malachite. (Then there are also others as pitch, naphtha, gypsum, white
lead, and others) '....

Malachite is a stone which originates in copper mines. Its nature is cold

and fragile for it is a smoke which arose in the copper mines as a result of
the sulfur there. It is green like verdigris .... This stone is mostly of a
green-smoky color. It has the property of a poison when taken orally; the in

testines are then affectedwith ulcers and the stomach is inflamed .... With
borax, it is effective in breaking up gold. The stone is used forwasp bites; with
it is used for sores ....
vinegar
The bezoar stone is a fragile, smooth stone of many colors .... It is costly
and has important effects since it protects one from deadly poison. It is warm
or cold and comes from animals, plants, or minerals.8

COMMENTS ON THE BRETHREN^ CHEMICAL THEORY

theoretical section of the Brethren's mineralogy

The is of interest.
The four elements, earth, air, fire, and water give rise to sulfur and
mercury in varying stages of maturity. In turn, these two substances
come together under different influences inside the earth to create all
kinds of minerals. The Arabic word for "minerals" is intended to
include any solid such as metals, sulfur, stone, salt, rock, and, in
some cases, what "arises" from solids, such as mercury. As a basic
material, sulfur may be driven off by heat and then reunited by heat
with a metal. This rule, appearing to apply to oxidation where sulfur
is named instead of the still unknown oxygen, was extrapolated by the
Brethren until it became worthless. It is, however, an interesting
observation.
In another work9 which includes mineralogy, of the eighth century
Job of Edessa, the author states that the various metals arose because

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 ARABIC MINERALOGY-TENTH CENTURY 25

of antagonistic movements of cold, heat, moistness, and dryness. Job

writes of the earthy and watery parts as do the Brethren but the
latter's oiliness of minerals is absent in the former. Job claims that
the cold of the earth contracted the four, cold, heat, moistness, and
dryness to cause them to become solids. When brought near the fire,
the metals expand, the cold is lost, and they become liquid. The
Brethren's account attributes this to the loss of moistness.
Job and the Brethren agree in giving emphasis to the amount of
earthiness in a mineral to determine its nobility [i.e. resistance to
reaction] and resistance to rust. Gold does not emit an unpleasant
odor but other minerals do since the latter deteriorate while gold
does not. According to Job, sulfur, yellow orpiment, and bitumen are
composed of the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water but the
latter predominates.10 As to alum and vitriol, the watery and earthy
parts predominate over the fiery and airy parts. This explanation is
not too different from that of the Brethren. Thus, both of these texts
show much Greek influence.
The relative proportion of the elements, according to Job and the
Brethren, determines the tastes, colors, and other properties of
minerals.11

From the text, it may be seen that the author of the Brethren's
mineralogy was greatly concerned with the explanation of the chem
ical and physical properties of metals and minerals. In fact, much of
the work is devoted to this subject. However, there is much valid
chemistry in the treatise as in the production of white lead, green
vitriol, and other compounds. Although the explanation is incorrect in
postulating mercury and sulfur as the basic building blocks of minerals,
it does indicate that the ancients understood that there were two main
opposing kinds of matter as far as they could determine. This was a
beginning of chemical understanding even though the level was very
low. It has, nevertheless, much common sense to it.

NOTES

xCf. M. L. Djum % Tarikh Falsa/at al-lsldm fi'l Mashriq wa I-Maghrib, Le Caire,

1927; Taha Hussain, Introduction aux Ras?~xil des Ikhwan al-Sifd, Le Caire, 1928, intro
duction; Kheir al-Din al-Zurkili, edition of RascPil ikhwan al-sifd, Le Caire, 1928.
2In this connection, cf. the encyclopedia of M. Khwarizmi, Mafatih al-fulu~m, ed. by G.
Van Vloten, Leyde, 1895.
3Fr. Dieterici, Die Naturanschauung und Naturphilosophie der Araber im zehnten Jahr
hundert, Berlin, 1861. This work is based on the Bibliotheque National Codex Arabe 1005;
Idem, Die Abhandlungen der Ichwdn es-Safa in Auswahl, Leipzig, 1883. The latter will be

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 26 CHYMIA

referred to as Dieterici
A.
4J.Ruska, Das Steinbuch des Arist?teles, Heidelberg, 1912, probably no later than the
ninth century. Theophrastus, by the way, was not known inArabic until centuries later. Cf.
G. Senn, "Theophraste et Pancienne biologie grecque," Archeion, 17, 130(1935).
5For the Syriac text of Theophrastus, cf. Karl Ahrens, Kiel, 1892. Cf also Max
Wellmann, "Arist?teles de lapidibus," Sitz. d. Preuss. Akad. phil Kl., 79-82 (1924).
6Cf M. Steinschneider, Z'eit. Deut. Morg. Gesell, 49, 249 (1895).
7Dieterici, op. cit., p. 130; Dieterici A omits this. p. 137.
8Dieterici A, p. 138. The earlier translation here precedes p. 138 of the Arabic text
beginning with p. 125.
9A. Mingana, Book of Treasures by Job of Edessa, Cambridge, 1935, p. 173.
I?Mingana,
11 op. cit., p. 178.
Cf. Mingana, op. cit., p. 180. The pseudo-Aristotelian work previously mentioned is
taken up with the description of stones and so does not have a theoretical or explanatory
section of any importance.

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