The Elixir of Life has value beyond money. The concept first appears in Mesopotamia of the 2nd millennium BCE. Its discovery is one of the aims of alchemy. For centuries the Elixir of Life, Elixir of Immortality or Fountain of Youth has captivated hearts and minds.
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Practiced for centuries in the Far East and Arab lands, alchemy arrived in the West about 8 CE. Considered a progressive science, alchemy had three clear goals. They are
to create a panacea for all disease
to create or discover an Elixir of Life, ideally to render a person immortal
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Mesopotamia - Epic of Gilgamesh
The first mention of an Elixir of Life comes from the Epic Gilgamesh, 2000 BCE. Having lost his beloved companion Enkidu, Gilgamesh fears aging and death. He calls for Utnapishtim, the king of Shuruppak in southern Iraq.
Utnapishtim is most famous for building a big ship to survive a massive flood. He would have lived around 2900 BC, corresponding to the flood deposit at Shuruppak.
Gilgamesh is told to find a plant at the bottom of the sea. He finds the plant but wants to test it on an old man before he himself partakes.
Before he can find a willing old man, the plant is eaten by a serpent. There's no word on the life span of the serpent.
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Xu Fu & the First Emperor of China
Fearing the advance of age, the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, sends alchemist and explorer Xu Fu on a journey to get the Elixir of Life from the Immortals. They dwell on a sacred island in today's Yellow Sea.
With a fleet of sixty barques containing soldiers, crewmen and three thousand youthful men and women, Xu Fu departs in 219 BCE. He sails for many years and returns without success.
When the disappointed Emperor questions him, Xu Fu claims a giant sea creature guards the place and asks for archers to kill it. The Emperor provides them.
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Upon his second journey, in 210, Xu Fu fails to return. Later, Japanese writings describe a local god named Xu Fu, relating to medicine, farming and silk. He taught agriculture, healing and fabric techniques to the ancient Japanese.
India - Amrita, Elixir of Life
Hindu scriptures describe Amrita, the elixir of life. Amrita is equated to ambrosia, sharing etymological meaning and stemming from the same Proto-Indo-European root.
In the ancient Puranas, after the defeat of the divine devas by the demonic asuras, the preserver deity Vishnu asks the devas to churn the ocean of milk, Kshirasāgara manthana, so they can retrieve Amrita to empower themselves. Amrita Manthana means 'churning for the Elixir'.
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The liquid metal mercury first appears in the 4th - 3rd century BCE. In India, as in China, the primary interest was the medicinal aspect of alchemy. Turning base metals to gold was a nice bonus.
The alchemy of medicine and immortality may have traveled to China from India, or vice versa. If one believes in reincarnation, an Elixir of Immortality isn't always important. Some elixirs are remedies for certain ailments or to help a person live a long life.
Europe - the Philosopher's Stone
Alchemy comes into Europe from Arabs via Spain in the 8th century, coinciding with the rise of the Vikings and Charlemagne's battles with the Saxons in northeast Germania. Based on metallurgy, the new science of alchemy catches on quickly.
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In Europe, the Elixir of Life relates to the creation of the philosopher's stone, a mythic alchemic substance presumed capable of chrysopoeia, turning base metals into gold. In the alchemy of the Renaissance, Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus believes in the existence of alkahest, a fifth element whence the elements of earth, air, fire and water came.
He first mentions alkahest as a substance to fortify the liver. Paracelsus's recipe for alkahest is caustic lime, alcohol, and carbonate of potash. While later alchemists dismiss the idea of alkahest, many back the concept of mercury as a primal element of the philosopher's stone.
Japan - Water of Life
Also in the 8th century CE, Japanese mythology tells of the moon good Tsukuyomi, who is said to possess Man'yōshū, the waters of rejuvenation. In a folk tale from the Ryukyu Islands, the moon god gives man the water of life (Miyako: sïlimizï), and serpents the water of death (sïnimizï).
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The person carrying the water buckets down to Earth gets tired and sits down for a while. A serpent bathes in the water of life, making it unusable. This why serpents rejuvenate themselves each year by shedding their skins, while men are doomed to die.
In Buddhism, water symbolizes the eternal flow of being. In Taoist belief, Jurōjin (寿老人) is the God of Longevity and one of the Seven Gods of Fortune.
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