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

Salt is important from ancient to Renaissance alchemy, and still used today in alchemical projects, dyeing, cuisine and medicine. In...

Rust is a complex chemical reaction from the interaction of iron, oxygen, and moisture. This common phenomenon produces striking colors...

Goethite is common but like hematite a remarkable iron oxide mineral. In geology and mineralogy, goethite has piqued the interest of...

Iron is abundant in Earth's crust and one of the seven metals of antiquity . Essential for life, iron can form various oxides and change...

Make non-toxic iron oxide pigments for painting, dyes, glazes, artistic to industrial uses. Iron oxide (Fe2O3) or rust exists on Earth...

Sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) is one of the most important chemicals in the world, with many uses from car battery production to fertilizer...

The Corycian Cave system is a Neolithic ritual site and sanctuary on Mount Parnassus used from c. 4000 BCE. To ancient Greeks it's home...

Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey. A saline soda lake, it's fed by numerous mountain streams. Van lacks a water outlet, making it...

Limonite is an iron earth mineraloid among the first colors of the Stone Age palette. Grinding limonite produces yellow ochre. Other...

Carnelian (early: cornelean ) is already used in the Stone Age to make beads. Pebbles of the reddish orange gemstone might be polished by...

Nephrite jade is the foremost commodity to travel along the Pacific Coasts of the East. The seaway route is the original Jade Road named...

Turquoise is beloved for thousands of years by people from royals to the richly challenged. The world's first known turquoise mine is...

One of the crystals known since ancient times, amethyst holds it own characteristics, magic and myth. Purple is hard to get ancient...

Asteria or Star Stones create a star-like inner glow. Star sapphires belong to this group. In the ancient world they're valued by Greeks...

Abundant in native form, sulfur (sulphur) is a mysterious and essential component of natural life. All living things contain sulfur. It...

In the 1st century BCE Julius Caesar writes about the tribes of Germania. He's struck by the apparent sparsity of the Germanic pantheon,...

The Metals of Antiquity are the seven metals identified and used by humans in Europe and the Middle East in prehistoric times. They are...

Beloved in gardens, gnomes bring blessings of Earth. Thought to dwell in underground tunnels, caverns, soil and rocks, chthonic gnomes...

One of the most fascinating creatures of German mythology and folklore is the Kobold. Elusive and canny, Kobolds are house spirits, ship ...