Zosimus of Panopolis was a Greco-Egyptian alchemist who lived during the late third and early fourth centuries CE. He came from the city of Panopolis in Egypt, a region known for its craft traditions and pagan intellectual life during the early Christian era. His work marks a foundational moment in the history of alchemy, blending practical knowledge from Egyptian metallurgy and dyeing with philosophical ideas from Platonic, Stoic, and especially Gnostic and Hermetic thought.
He is considered one of the earliest and most authoritative figures in the Greek alchemical tradition. Zosimus viewed alchemy not merely as a technical craft but as a sacred art for the purification of the soul, mirroring the transformation of base metals into noble ones. He often wrote within a framework of spiritual revelation, addressing works to his sister Theosebeia and citing earlier, legendary authorities.
His writings were extensive, though many survive only as fragments or in later Byzantine, Syriac, and Arabic compilations. Key surviving texts include collections like the Authentic Memoirs, visionary works such as The Final Quittance, and technical treatises on alchemical equipment and processes. These texts provide valuable insight into late antique laboratory practices and spiritual speculation.
According to modern scholars, Zosimus’s historical importance is pivotal. He systematized the fusion of craft techniques with mystical theology, effectively creating the discipline of alchemy as it would be known for centuries. His ideas established core paradigms that influenced all subsequent Byzantine and Islamic alchemical traditions, and through them, the later esoteric and proto-scientific thought of medieval Europe.
Available Works
Παραινέσεις συστατικαὶ τῶν ἐγχειρούντων τὴν τέχνην
Advisory Recommendations for Practitioners of the Art
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Ἀλχημικὸν ἀπόσπασμα
Alchemical Excerpt
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Ἀλχημικὸν ἀπόσπασμα
Alchemical Excerpt
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Ὑδραργύρου ποίησις
Creation of Mercury
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περὶ χαλκανθρώπων
Excerpt-Bronze Men
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Ἀπόσπασμα περὶ τῶν μερῶν τῆς ἀλχημείας
Excerpt-Parts of Alchemy
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Ἀπόσπασμα περὶ τῆς δεσμεύσεως τῆς Παρθένου
Excerpt-the Binding of the Virgin
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Ἀπόσπασμα περὶ τοῦ λευκοῦ μολύβδου
Excerpt-White Lead
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Ἑρμηνεία περὶ πάντων ἁπλῶς καὶ περὶ τῶν φώτων
InterpretatiEverything Simply and-Lights
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Ἑρμηνεία περὶ τῶν φώτων
InterpretatiLights
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Ποίησις ἐκ τουτίας ἀργύρου
Making of Silver from Tutia
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Περὶ ξανθώσεως
On Blondness
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Περὶ τοῦ τροφὴν εἶναι τὰ δ’ σώματα τῶν βαφῶν·
On Bodies Being the Nourishment of Dyes
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Περὶ θείων
On Divine Matters
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Περὶ θείου ὕδατος
On Divine Water
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Περὶ τοῦ θείου ὕδατος
On Divine Water
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Περὶ ὀργάνων καὶ καμίνων γνήσια ὑπομνήματα περὶ
On Instruments and Furnaces, Genuine Notes-the Omega Element
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Περὶ τοῦ ὅτι πάντων τῶν ὑγρῶν τὸ θεῖον ὕδωρ
On That All Liquids Are Called Divine Water
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Περὶ τοῦ ὅτι πάντα περὶ μιᾶς βαφῆς ἡ τέχνη
On That the Art Has Spoken About One Dye
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Περὶ σώματος μαγνησίας καὶ οἰκονομίας
On the Body of Magnesia and Economy
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Περὶ καύσεως σωμάτων
On the Burning of Bodies
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Περὶ ἀφορμῶν συνθέσεως
On the Causes of Composition
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Περὶ διαφορᾶς χαλκοῦ κεκαυμένου
On the Difference of Burnt Copper
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Περὶ διαφορᾶς χαλκοῦ κεκαυμένου
On the Difference of Burnt Copper
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Περὶ τοῦ θείου ὕδατος
On the Divine Water
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Περὶ τοῦ θείου ὕδατος
On the Divine Water
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Περὶ τοῦ θείου ὕδατος (= Ζωσίμου τοῦ Πανοπολίτου
On the Divine Water
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Περὶ ξηρίου
On the Drying Agent
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Περὶ οἰκονομίας τοῦ τῆς μαγνησίας σώματος
On the Economy of the Magnet Body
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Περὶ τῆς ἐξατμίσεως ὕδατος θείου
On the Evaporation of Divine Water
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Περὶ τῆς ἐξατμίσεως τοῦ θείου ὕδατος τοῦ πήσσοντος
On the Evaporation of the Divine Water that Coagulates Mercury
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Περὶ τῆς κατὰ πλάτος ἐκδόσεως τὸ ἔργον
On the Extensive Edition of the Work
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Περὶ τοῦ λίθου τῆς φιλοσοφίας
On the Philosopher's Stone
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Περὶ σκευασίας ὤχρας
On the Preparation of Ochre
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Περὶ σταθμοῦ ξανθώσεως
On the Scale of Blondness
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Περὶ τῶν ὑποστάτων καὶ τῶν δʹ σωμάτων κατὰ τὸν
On the Substances and the Four Bodies According to Democritus
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Περὶ τοῦ τριβίκου καὶ τοῦ σωλῆνος
On the Tribikos and the Tube
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Περὶ τοῦ τριβίκου καὶ τοῦ σωλῆνος
On the Tribikos and the Tube
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Περὶ τοῦ χρηστέον στυπτηρίᾳ στρογγύλῃ ἀντίλογος
On the Use of Round Alum, Counterargument
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Περὶ τοῦ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἀρκτέον τὸ ἔργον
On the Work to be Done at Every Time
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Περὶ τοῦ τί ἐστιν κατὰ τὴν τέχνην, οὐσία καὶ
On What is According to the Art, Substance and NSubstance
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Περὶ λευκώσεως
On Whitening
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Περὶ λευκώσεως
On Whitening
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Ποίημα Ζωσίμου (πρᾶξις γʹ)
Poem of Zosimus, Act 3
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Ποίημα τοῦ Ζωσίμου (πρᾶξις γʹ)
Poem of Zosimus, Act 3
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Τὸ ἀέριον ὕδωρ
The Aerial Water
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Τὸ πρῶτον βιβλίον τῆς τελευταίας ἀποχῆς Ζωσίμου
The First Book of the Last Abstinence of Zosimus the Theban
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Βίβλος ἀληθὴς Σοφὲ Αἰγυπτίου καὶ θείου Ἑβραίων
True Book of Sophos the Egyptian and the Divine Lord of the Hebrews Sabaoth
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Καδμίας πλύσις
Washing of Cadmia
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Ζωσίμου τοῦ Πανοπολίτου γνησία γραφὴ περὶ τῆς
Zosimus of Panopolis, *Genuine Writing-the Divine Art*
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Ζώσιμος λέγει περὶ τῆς ἀσβέστου
Zosimus Speaks-Lime
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Ζώσιμος λέγει περὶ τῆς ἀσβέστου
Zosimus Speaks-Lime
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Ζωσίμου τοῦ θείου περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ ἑρμηνείας
Zosimus the Divine-Virtue and Interpretation
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Ζωσίμου τοῦ θείου περὶ ἀρετῆς 〈πρᾶξις αʹ〉
Zosimus the Divine-Virtue Practice A
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Ζωσίμου τοῦ θείου περὶ ἀρετῆς·περὶ συνθέσεως
Zosimus the Divine-Virtue,-the Composition of Waters Practice A
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Ζωσίμου πρὸς Θεόδωρον κεφάλαια
Zosimus to Theodorus, Chapters
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Ζωσίμου πρᾶξις βʹ
Zosimus' Practice B
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Βίβλος ἀληθὴς Σοφὲ Αἰγυπτίου καὶ θείου Ἑβραίων
Zosimus's True Book of the Egyptian Sage and Divine Sabaoth
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Ζωσίμου πρᾶξις βʹ
Zosimus, Act II
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Ζωσίμου περὶ ὀργάνων καὶ καμίνων
Zosimus-Instruments and Furnaces
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Ζωσίμου περὶ ὀργάνων καὶ καμίνων
Zosimus-Instruments and Furnaces
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Ζωσίμου περὶ ὀργάνων καὶ καμίνων γνήσια ὑπομνήματα
Zosimus-Instruments and Furnaces, Genuine Notes-the Omega Element
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