Alchemy in Europe
Western alchemy is in some ways rooted in the ancient city of Alexandria. At a meeting point of Asia, Africa, and Europe, some of the foundational texts of alchemy were written there. It is impossible to trace a smooth descent of alchemical lore from Alexandria to the modern day, as empires rose and fell and conquerors swept across nations, but we can see the influences of alchemy moving with the centuries.
When Zosimos of Panopolis wrote about a ‘xerion,’ meaning medical powder, that helped to transmute metals into gold,
