Testing metals is a precise and varied process in the ancient world. It's a crucial skill in ensuring fair trade and preventing fraud....

After the 642 AD Islamic conquest of Egypt, the center of alchemy moves to Muslim lands. Medieval Arab alchemists study and expand upon...

The practice of naming planets comes from the work of the Babylonians. The concept passes into the Greek, and from there, Romans begin...

Astrology and astronomy blur boundaries in the ancient world. Similar at a glance, the two serve different needs in society and progress....

Among the showy flowering plants, perennial Asphodelus is an elegant and adaptable beauty. A genus of the Asphodelaceae or aloe family,...

The Ottoman-Venetian Wars are seven major conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice from the late 14th to the 18th...

Gnosticism emerges in the 1st century AD as a philosophical and religious movement seeking a unique perspective on spiritual...

As humanity evolves, so does study of astrology. Settlement, and the advent of writing c. 3200 BCE, lead to concise development of...

Medieval Islamic astrology and astronomy begin in traditions of the Hellenistic and Roman eras. Early astronomy observes seasonal changes...

Abū Bakr al-Rāzī c. 864 - 930 AD is a Persian alchemist, philosopher and physician during the Islamic Golden Age . One of the most...

Calcination is a crucial process in sciences such as metallurgy and chemistry. A process of ancient alchemists, it's used allegorically...

Stephanus of Alexandria (c. 580 - 640 AD) is a Christian philosopher bringing Alexandrian thought to Byzantine society. Despite moving to...

Azoth emerges from the mystical world of alchemy. It represents a universal panacea or potent solvent sought by alchemists for...

Pseudo-Geber is a mysterious figure or collective identity linked to a corpus of alchemy texts from the late Middle Ages. The writings...

Jabir ibn Hayyan is a medieval Islamic figure. Alchemy, magic, philosophy and religion come together in a vast corpus of writings. As his...

Spiritual Alchemy uses the concepts of alchemy combined with analytical psychology to improve well-being, find one's inner Philosopher's...

Islamic alchemy gives a glimpse of a world where science and mysticism intertwine and the pursuit of knowledge transcends boundaries. In...

Yumuktepe (Yümüktepe Höyük) is a Neolithic mound site active from c. 6300 BCE to Byzantine times. On the turquoise Turkish Mediterranean,...

Karaca Dağ (Karacadağ, Karaca Dag) is a primeval shield volcano in today's SE Turkey. Migrating birds disperse countless seeds for...

Ugarit is an ancient coastal city-state of northern Syria. In the amiable climate of the East Mediterranean, Bronze Age Ugarit grows a...