The Voynich Ninja

A recipe of quintessence: Distilling wine and bread in late medieval alchemy
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Sloane MS 3661 is currently unavailable in the BL.


[attachment=16567]

This is very good. Zosimos definitely has some interesting imagery that I believe is relevant to the VMS.

(15-07-2026, 08:21 PM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This is very good. Zosimos definitely has some interesting imagery that I believe is relevant to the VMS.

Yes, Zosimos, as a proponent of mystical or symbolic alchemy, would certainly have enjoyed Q13.

Quote:Zosimos und die Gnosis:

In welcher Weise diese in hellenistischem Gewände auftretende hermetische Gnosis auch später noch verstanden wurde, zeigt ein in dieser Tradition stehender Alchemist des 4. Jahrhunderts namens Zosimos (aus Panopolis in Ägypten), der in dem erhaltenen 24. Buch («Omega») seiner «Chemeutika» folgende Lehre vertritt: Der «erste Mensch», auch «innerer Adam», «pneumatischer Mensch» oder «Licht» (Licht-Adam) genannt, wird von den Archonten im Paradies überredet, den von ihnen geschaffenen «äußeren (körperlichen) Adam», der «aus der Schicksalsmacht (heimarmene)» und den vier Elementen besteht, «anzuziehen» und damit zu beleben. Die Verwendung gnostischer Gedanken, vor allem derjenigen, die um den Gott «Mensch» kreisen, haben in der Alchemie, deren erster greifbarer Vertreter Zosimos für uns ist, bis in die neuere Zeit einen Nachhall gefunden.

---

Zosimos and Gnosticism:

The way in which this Hermetic Gnosticism—presented in a Hellenistic guise—was still understood later on is illustrated by a 4th-century alchemist named Zosimos (from Panopolis in Egypt), who belonged to this tradition and who, in the surviving 24th book (“Omega”) of his *Chemeutika*, expounds the following doctrine: The “first man,” also called the “inner Adam,” the “pneumatic man,” or “Light” (Light-Adam), is persuaded by the Archons in Paradise to “clothe” and thereby animate the “outer (physical) Adam” they created, who consists of the “power of fate (heimarmene)” and the four elements. The use of Gnostic ideas—especially those centered on the God “Man”—has resonated in alchemy, whose first tangible representative for us is Zosimos, right up to modern times.

Kurt Rudoplh, die Gnosis, Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig, 1977, pp. 125 -126
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Note: In ancient Gnosticism, “archons” are a term for lower spiritual beings who, although indirectly descended from God, do not know Him and do not act in accordance with His will.

In Gnosticism, the God “Man” can certainly also be female ( or rather androgynous ). “Light-Adam” is therefore not meant to be gender-specific. It is only through the “Fall” into the physical world and the union with matter that the division into genders occurs.

The Light Adam, as a mythological archetype, is a single being, but according to Gnostic logic, his essence (the Light/Pneuma) necessarily manifests itself in many individual human beings ( Pneumatics ). Who knows what kind of visual representation a 15th-century artist might have developed from this ( Many redeemed naked nymphs who have returned to their transcendent state of origin ? )   These would then participate alchemically in the restoration of creation to its primordial divine order.

It has been claimed that Zosimos' works were not rediscovered until the Renaissance. However, I have been unable to find any evidence to support this. In my opinion, it is just as possible that texts by Zosimos were already available in the late Middle Ages.

---

edit: Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Gr. Z. 299 (=584), from the 10th-11th cetury
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

For some reason, Zosimos's way of thinking reminded me of my old illustration of the spheres. Please don't take it too seriously.

[attachment=16651]

(16-07-2026, 02:40 AM)bi3mw Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It has been claimed that Zosimos' works were not rediscovered until the Renaissance. However, I have been unable to find any evidence to support this. In my opinion, it is just as possible that texts by Zosimos were already available in the late Middle Ages.

---

edit: Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Gr. Z. 299 (=584), from the 10th-11th cetury
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

I don't think one can find evidence that a Greek author was not known in the Latin West, I cannot imagine what such evidence could be. One can maybe find an early Latin translation of his works, therefore proving the opposite thesis.

(18-07-2026, 05:57 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(16-07-2026, 02:40 AM)bi3mw Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It has been claimed that Zosimos' works were not rediscovered until the Renaissance. However, I have been unable to find any evidence to support this. In my opinion, it is just as possible that texts by Zosimos were already available in the late Middle Ages.

---

edit: Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Gr. Z. 299 (=584), from the 10th-11th cetury
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

I don't think one can find evidence that a Greek author was not known in the Latin West, I cannot imagine what such evidence could be.

No evidence is evidence, when the subject is well studied...

No known direct translation before Berthelot or even any reference to Zosimos in Latin alchemy books is pretty good evidence of non-circulation in medieval Europe.

Quote:Although Zosimos was a prolific writer, all his books have been lost and what remains of them today are mere passages and quotes written in the original Greek language, or translated to Syriac or Arabic. The Greek and Syriac texts have been translated to French by Berthelot (1885, 1888, 1893) and discussed in detail by Halleux (1979) and Mertens (1990).

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

The influence was indirect and practical: the invention of the alambic for distillation passed to Europe through Arabic sources.

Quote:Les alchimistes grecs, en particulier Marie la Juive et Zosime, ont transformé cet appareil fruste en véritable alambic en surélevant le chapiteau au-dessus de la cucurbite pour éviter les débordements, et en le dotant d’un tuyau de décharge. Les vapeurs, condensées sur les parois du chapiteau, étaient recueillies par le bord annulaire de celui-ci, puis évacuées par un tuyau. Pour isoler des substances dont le point d’ébullition est peu élevé, il manquait un dispositif adéquat de refroidissement : Zosime refroidissait le chapiteau avec des éponges. Sous cette forme, l’alambic passe aux Arabes, puis à l'Occident, avec des applications dans les domaines les plus divers.

Robert Halleux, Les textes alchimiques (1979) p. 130-131

Google translation:

Quote:Greek alchemists—notably Maria the Jewess and Zosimus—transformed this rudimentary apparatus into a true alembic by raising the head above the body to prevent boil-over and by equipping it with a discharge tube. Vapors condensing on the inner walls of the head were collected in its annular rim and then channeled out through a tube. An adequate cooling mechanism was lacking for isolating substances with low boiling points; Zosimus cooled the head using sponges. In this form, the alembic passed to the Arabs and subsequently to the West, finding applications in a wide variety of fields.

Well, the fact that most of Zosimos’s texts have been lost to this day does not necessarily mean that there were not some Greek and Arabic texts available in the late Middle Ages. The linked Gr. Z. 299, for example, dates from the 10th–11th century and was donated to the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in 1468 (by Cardinal Bessarion).

Just as the alembic found its way to Europe via Arab routes, the Gnostic ideas which, as described, played a major role in Zosimos’s alchemy may also have been transmitted along with it, even though we cannot directly identify him as the source today.

The Reception of Zosimos of Panopolis in the Arabic / Islamic world:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

More Texts by Zosimos ( BnF, Parisinus gr. 2325, 13th century ), including “On the Letter Omega” :
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

The Book Of Pictures, Muṣḥaf Aṣ-ṣuwar, By Zosimos of Panopolis, Facsimile
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

The introductory text of the Muṣḥaf Aṣ-ṣuwar mentions parallels to the "Turba philosophorum". This work is one of the oldest Latin texts on alchemy (13th century). It is therefore quite possible that content from Zosimus’s works found its way into early latin alchemical treatises. 

Abt, Theodor (Ed.), / Madelung, Wilferd (Hrsg.), The Book of Pictures - Muṣḥaf aṣ-ṣuwar by Zosimos of Panapolis, Living Human Heritage Publications, Zürich, 2007, pp. 52-58 ( Original from 1269 / 1270 )

According to Wikipedia ( Turba Philosophorum ):

Quote:Astronomy (Sermo 10-72)

The following lectures revolve around the broad topic of metal transmutation and refinement, with an in-depth examination of the Philosopher’s Stone. The contributions overlap thematically and, in some cases, contradict one another. It is evident that various sources have been drawn upon. Parallels can be found with the Greek alchemists Zosimos of Panopolis, Olympiodorus (who is known to have written a commentary on Zosimos’s work), and Democritus (whose major work is "Physika kai Mystika"). Texts were also drawn from Arabic alchemical writings, such as the Book of Crates the Wise and the Book of al-Ḥabīb.

---

Artis auriferae, (1572), Zosimos von Panopolis, referred to as Rosinus here, Rosinus ad Euthiciam, Idem ad Saratantam Episcopum
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Among the works of the "Artis auriferae" is the "Turba Philosophorum". Zosimus’s texts may therefore have been printed based on much older manuscripts too.

While researching when translations from Greek into Latin were verifiably (re)produced during the Late Middle Ages / the Early Renaissance, I came across Manuel Chrysoloras, a Byzantine scholar. Chrysoloras was born in 1353, presumably in Constantinople, and died on April 15, 1415, in Constance during the Council.

Quote:His [ Chrysoloras ] most direct contribution to the Revival of Learning was made in the years 1397-1400, during which he taught Greek to a small number of humanists in Florence.  These men not only set the cultural tone of their own city but were able eventually to make their influence felt all over Italy.

Ian Thomson, "Manuel Chrysoloras and the Early Italian Renaissance", in: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, Bd. 7, Nr. 1, p. 64
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Wkipedia:

Quote:In 1396, Coluccio Salutati, the chancellor of Florence, appointed him as the first lecturer in Greek at the university. He remained there from 1397 to 1400 and promoted the development of collections of Greek manuscripts in Italy.

As far as the time frame is concerned, this was immediately prior to the compilation of the VMS. One might therefore speculate that Zosimus’s texts, through Chrysoloras, reached northern Italy from Constantinople late, but not too late (see Bessarion’s donation to the Marciana Library several decades later). It is also possible that Greek texts rediscovered in Italy were available. As mentioned, this is pure speculation. It cannot be proven.

We are not entirely without sources about such events. The case of Giovanni Aurispa just some 25 years later is quite well known.