Antimony (stibnite, Sb) is one of the elements known by the ancients, a primary source of black powder kajal or kohl. With its silvery gleam and maniacal crystal structures, stibnite is a fascinating creature going back to a time in history when metals and crystals are alive.
Although antimony, like zinc, is used in ancient times it's not among the seven ancient metals. The symbol Sb derives from an early Latin term "stibium," meaning paint. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it's primarily found in nature as part of the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3).
As a metal it doesn't oxidize easily. Hardness is about 3 on the Mohs scale, similar to silver. Elemental antimony has a layered structure, with levels of fused and ruffled rings. The earliest written records of its use can be traced to ancient Egypt and the making of kohl.
Most kohl is created from ground stibnite. Galena is also used for this purpose. Galena is a main lead ore, and antimony has a sociable nature friendly with many metals including lead.
Compounds of stibnite and antimony are known in ancient trade, as ore or powdered for use as medicine and cosmetics. To make kohl, galena or stibnite is ground to a powder. This is mixed with a binder such as copper oxide, gum resins, oils or animal fats.
Stibnite, antimony and kohl are precious commodities along ancient trade routes. Merchants purvey fancy bottles and containers in which to store the kohl. It's often packaged with bottle, application stick and black powder.
For centuries kohl is the most widespread black cosmetic of South Asia, North Africa and the near East. As with elements such as bismuth and zinc, cultures like the Egyptian recognize the potential of antimony before the element is known in terms of modern chemistry.
In the ancient and medieval world stibnite is widely used in glass production, either as an opacifier (Sb content usually >1%) in colored glass from the Late Bronze Age onwards, or as decolorizer (c. 0.5% Sb) from the Hellenistic period (4th century BCE) onwards.
The metal gains prominence through ancient alchemy writing especially in the Alexandrian age. In the early centuries Alexandria, Egypt is a center of philosophy, medicine and alchemy, although its reputation begins a slow slide after the Roman conquest c. 30 BCE.
Antimony is chronicled in alchemical manuscripts, including the Summa Perfectionis of Pseudo-Geber, written around the 14th century. A description of a procedure for isolating antimony is later given in the 1540 book De la pirotechnia by Vannoccio Biringuccio,
Medieval alchemists view antimony as a crucial element. As transmutation fever burgeons throughout the medieval alchemical worlds, alchemists experiment with metallic substances like antimony. Such metals are often used in alchemy from antiquity to extend or imitate silver.
Inhaling antimony dust is dangerous. Symptoms are similar to arsenic poisoning and include headaches, dizziness and depression. Higher doses, as in prolonged skin contact, can cause chronic damage to skin, kidneys and liver. Severe and frequent vomiting is a cause of death.
In 1467, at Beverley, Yorkshire, penalties are imposed on illegal kiln constructions, due to the growing effects of air pollution. Antimony ores associated with arsenic or lead release these elements into the air during smelting, much like mercury distillation from cinnabar in Spain.
Antimony is considered by some to have beneficial effects when used for medical reasons. Introduced into European medicine in the 14th century, it has been applied to treat certain parasitic infections. Nevertheless opinion is divided as to the safety of antimony.
Historically, antimony is a trendy health remedy among the elite. Renaissance physician Paracelsus (1493 - 1541) has it right when he professes the "disease" matching antimony poisoning comes from an outside source. Nonetheless it's approved as a medicine in 1666.
The healing properties of antimony in the remedy vin émétique, are said to cure the ill King Louis XIV of France. This ends any doubts of its effectiveness. Prohibited in Paris in 1566 and 1615 due to toxicity concerns, antimony is officially authorized by parliament in 1666.
The modern understanding of antimony takes shape in the 17th and 18th centuries as scientists further explore its properties. Antimony compounds are used to make flame-proofing materials, paints, ceramic enamels, glass and pottery.
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