Editing Alchemy (section)

==== ''Hermetica'' and ''Emerald Tablet'' ====
{{Main|Hermetica|Emerald Tablet}}
The ''Hermetica'' are texts attributed to [[Hermes Trismegistus]]. Many of them have close historical connections with Western alchemical philosophy and practice (which was sometimes called the [[hermeticism|hermetic philosophy]] by its practitioners). By modern convention, the ''Hermetica'' is usually subdivided into two main categories, the "technical" and "religio-philosophical" ''Hermetica''. The "technical" ''Hermetica'' deals with alchemy, [[History of astrology|astrology]], medicine, [[History of pharmacy|pharmacology]], and [[Magic (supernatural)|magic]]. Its oldest parts were written in Greek and may go back as far as the second or third century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Copenhaver|1992|p=xxxiii}}; {{harvnb|Bull|2018|pp=2–3}}. Garth Fowden is somewhat more cautious, noting that our earliest testimonies date to the first century BC (see {{harvnb|Fowden|1986|p=3, note 11}}).</ref> 

Many of the texts in the "technical" ''Hermetica'' were later translated, [[Graeco-Arabic translation movement|first into Arabic]] and [[Latin translations of the 12th century|then into Latin]], often being extensively revised and expanded throughout the centuries. Some of them were also originally written in Arabic. In other cases their status as an original work or translation remains unclear.<ref>{{harvnb|Van Bladel|2009|p=17}}.</ref> These Arabic and Latin Hermetic texts were widely copied throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. The most famous of these texts is the ''Emerald Tablet'', also known as the ''Smaragdine Table'' or the ''Tabula Smaragdina'', a compact and cryptic text.<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013|pp=31–32}}.</ref> The earliest known versions of it are four [[Arabic]] recensions preserved in mystical and alchemical treatises between the 8th and 10th centuries AD—chiefly the ''[[Sirr al-khaliqa|Secret of Creation]]'' ({{langx|ar|سر الخليقة|Sirr al-Khalīqa|link=no}}) and the ''[[Secretum Secretorum|Secret of Secrets]]'' ({{langx|ar|سرّ الأسرار|Sirr al-Asrār|label=none}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Kraus|1943|pp=274–275}}; {{harvnb|Weisser|1980|p=46}}.</ref> From the 12th century onward, Latin translations—most notably the widespread so-called ''Vulgate''<ref>{{harvnb|Kahn|1994|p=|pp=XIX, 41}}; {{harvnb|Mandosio|2004|p=683}}; {{harvnb|Caiazzo|2004|pp=700–703}}; {{harvnb|Colinet|1995}}.</ref>—introduced the ''Emerald Tablet'' to Europe, where it attracted great scholarly interest. Medieval commentators such as [[Ortolanus|Hortulanus]] interpreted it as a "foundational text" of alchemical instructions for producing the [[philosopher's stone]] and [[Chrysopoeia|making gold]].<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Debus|2004|p=415}}; {{harvnb|Ruska|1926|pp=193, 209}}.</ref>