Islam Issa > Quotes

“Around the first century, an Alexandrian Jew named Maria the Jewess developed the field of alchemy, to the extent that she is now regarded as the first alchemist of the Hellenistic and therefore Western world. Alchemy was rooted in both chemical science and philosophy and had grand aims such as turning metals into gold, finding a universal cure and ultimately a route to immortality. Maria is not as well-known as she might have been had any of her complete works survived. We only know about her from a fourth-century Egyptian alchemy encyclopaedia and some later Arabic translations, though her influence on Alexandria’s alchemists continued for centuries. Variously referred to as Miriam the Prophetess, the Sister of Moses and the Daughter of Plato, Maria theorised about the nature of colour and was able to make purple pigment. She also hypothesised about the sexuality of metals, which she believed had genders that had to be paired effectively. Maria also invented laboratory equipment such as a distiller and a furnace, developing versions of which are still used in chemical labs now. Most notably, she invented a double boiler, also known as a water bath, which allows substances to be heated at different paces; its name in French, bain-marie (Mary’s bath), commemorates its creator.”
― Islam Issa, Alexandria: The City that Changed the World