Alchemical distillation and the alembic
Destilación y alambique alquímico
- Date
- c. 300 · confidence medium
- Place
- Panopolis (Akhmim) and Alexandria, Egypt
- Credited to
- Zosimos of Panopolis (drawing on Mary the Jewess)
- People
- 👤 Zósimo de Panópolis250–350
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Zosimos describes distillation apparatus (the alembic, tribikos, kerotakis) and the bain-marie for separating volatile substances. It is the first systematic chemical purification technique documented in the West.
Mary the Jewess (1st-3rd centuries) is credited as inventor of the apparatus; Zosimos is the oldest surviving written source.
What it led to
- Graeco-Egyptian and Arabic alchemy
- Production of alcohol and mineral acids
- Laboratory chemistry
Built on
- Egyptian metallurgy
- Hellenistic dyeing and glassmaking