Egyptian-Hebrew stream·Alchemical Texts·Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra — Diagram Inscriptions·Diagram Inscriptions (Figures 11, 12, 13)
Source context
- Theme
- alchemical diagram inscriptions encoding the unity of opposites and the circular nature of transmutation in Hellenistic proto-chemistry
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Hellenistic alchemy (Cleopatra tradition)The ouroboros and inscriptions in Figures 11–13 encode the reciprocal dissolution and coagulation of matter as a visual-philosophical doctrine: the one becomes all, all becomes one — a structural logic of circular transformation operative throughout Hellenistic alchemical diagrams.
- Neoplatonic henologyThe diagrammatic unity-of-opposites formula bears cross-tradition congruence with Neoplatonic doctrines of emanation and return, wherein multiplicity proceeds from the One and is drawn back into it through a reversible ontological arc.
- Hermetic corpusThe inscribed maxims share cross-tradition congruence with the Hermetic axiom of correspondences, wherein macrocosmic and microcosmic processes are held to mirror one another within a single transmutative circuit.
Diagram Inscriptions (Figures 11, 12, 13)
Project English translation of the Greek inscriptions on the Chrysopée de Cléopâtre, as transcribed by Marcellin Berthelot from three Byzantine manuscripts of Greek alchemical material. The diagram is the oldest surviving graphical synthesis of Greek alchemy: a serpent (Ouroboros) encircling three concentric rings of axioms, beside a furnace, a still (dibikos) with a labeled dome and matras, and small fixation apparatus. The inscriptions transmit the foundational alchemical axioms ἓν τὸ πᾶν ("the All is One") and the formula of the ἰός (ios) — the transformative substance the serpent bears.
The figure is preserved in three manuscript witnesses, each transmitting the inscriptions with small variants. Berthelot reproduced the Saint-Marc prototype (Figure 11) in photogravure and decalqued the later copies (Figures 12 and 13). The English below is the project's; the Greek and French follow Berthelot 1887.
Figure 11 — Saint-Marc prototype (MS Marc. gr. 299, fol. 188v, 10th–11th c.)
The earliest and richest of the three witnesses. Berthelot describes the figure as comprising three concentric circles (with the signs of gold, silver, and mercury at the centre), an Ouroboros at lower left, a dibikos still on its furnace at right, fixation apparatus below, and a panel of "magical signs" of uncertain reference at upper right.
Title (above the circles)
Greek: Κλεοπάτρης Χρυσοποιία¹
Berthelot's French: Chrysopée de Cléopâtre.
English: Cleopatra's Chrysopoeia. (or: The Gold-Making of Cleopatra)
Inner ring (around the central signs)
Greek: Εἷς ἐστιν ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἔχων τὸν ἰὸν μετὰ δύο συνθέματα.
Berthelot's French: Le serpent est un, celui qui a le venin, après les deux emblèmes.
English: One is the serpent, the one bearing the ios,² with the two emblems.³
Outer ring
Greek: Ἓν τὸ πᾶν καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸ πᾶν καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ πᾶν,⁴ καὶ εἰ μὴ ἔχοι τὸ πᾶν, οὐδέν ἐστιν τὸ πᾶν.
Berthelot's French: Un est le tout et par lui le tout et vers lui le tout; et si le tout ne contient pas le tout, le tout n'est rien.
English: One is the All, and through it the All, and toward it the All; and if the All does not contain the All, then the All is nothing.
Ouroboros (lower left, on the body of the serpent biting its tail)
Greek: Ἓν τὸ πᾶν.⁵
Berthelot's French: Le tout est un.
English: The All is One.
Apparatus labels (on the dibikos still and adjacent vessels)
| Greek | Berthelot | English (project) | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| φῶτα | feux | fires | on the furnace beneath the still |
| λωπάς | matras | matras (reaction vessel; lit. "deep dish") | the lower vessel of the dibikos |
| φιάλη | fiole / ballon renversé | phial (dome / inverted alembic head) | the upper vessel of the dibikos |
| ἀντίχειρος σωλήν | tube du pouce / contre-tube | counter-tube (descending condenser arm) | the left exit tube of the alembic |
| πῆξις | fixation | fixation | on the small fixation apparatus |
Figure 12 — MS Paris gr. 2325 (end of 11th c.), inscriptions only
Berthelot reproduces only the inscriptions for this figure, not the full diagram (which is "much coarser" than Figure 11 and largely repeats its elements). The ring inscriptions are half-effaced; what follows is Berthelot's reading.
Outer ring (partly effaced)
Greek: Ἓν τὸ πᾶν, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸ πᾶν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸ πᾶν.
English: The All is One, through it the All, and in it the All.⁶
Inner ring
Greek: Εἷς ἐστὶν ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἔχων τὰ δύο συνθέματα καὶ τὸν ἰόν.
English: One is the serpent, the one having the two emblems and the ios.⁷
Figure 13 — MS Paris gr. 2327 (15th c., dated 1478), apparatus labels
Berthelot notes that the concentric-ring inscriptions in MS 2327 are identical to those of MS 2325; the figure's distinctive content is its apparatus labels.
| Greek | Berthelot | English (project) | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| πῆξις | fixation | fixation | on the fixation apparatus |
| καμίνιον | (small furnace) | small furnace | on the furnace beneath the still |
| λωπάς | matras | matras | on the lower vessel |
| φιάλη | fiole | phial (dome) | on the upper vessel (twice repeated) |
Translator's notes
The Greek inscriptions above are restored from Berthelot's 1887 transcription with minor OCR-level corrections noted below. Berthelot worked directly from the manuscripts and his readings are well attested in subsequent scholarship; where Berthelot's edition is silent or his OCR transmission corrupt, the restoration follows the consensus reading. The project does not adjudicate philological disputes; ambiguous readings are noted, not resolved.
¹ OCR transmission of Berthelot p. 132 gives the initial capital as a malformed digraph ("Ἰζ-"). The correct reading is Κ (Kappa), giving Κλεοπάτρης — the standard genitive of Κλεοπάτρα. Berthelot's transcription is unambiguous in the original 1887 print.
² ios (ἰός) is a technical alchemical term denoting the active transformative substance the serpent bears — variously rendered as "venom," "rust," "patina," or "tincture" depending on context. Berthelot consistently translates as venin ("venom"). The project preserves the Greek transliteration on first occurrence to flag the term as load-bearing rather than incidental. The substance is closely linked to the iosis (ἴωσις), the violet-purple coloration that marks the culminating stage of the Greek alchemical opus.
³ μετὰ here takes the accusative (μετὰ δύο συνθέματα). In Hellenistic Greek this preposition + accusative most commonly means "after," but the alchemical sense is conjunctive ("along with"), reflecting the diagram's iconography: serpent, two emblems, and ios are co-present. Berthelot's "après" follows the literal lexical sense; the project English follows the iconographic sense. Either reading is defensible.
⁴ "καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ πᾶν" is not legible in the OCR transmission of Berthelot's text but is clearly implied by his French translation ("et vers lui le tout") and is the standard reading in subsequent alchemical scholarship. Restored.
⁵ OCR gives the πᾶν as "ràv" — a character-recognition failure. Restored.
⁶ This is the MS 2325 variant of the outer-ring axiom. Compared with Figure 11, it omits the conditional clause (καὶ εἰ μὴ ἔχοι τὸ πᾶν…) and substitutes ἐν αὐτῷ (locative, "in it") for εἰς αὐτὸ (allative, "toward it"). The variant is documented by Berthelot and reflects the manuscript-tradition divergence in transmission of the formula.
⁷ This is the MS 2325 variant of the inner-ring serpent formula. Word order differs from Figure 11: "the two emblems and the ios" rather than "the ios with the two emblems." Substantive sense is preserved; the ordering may reflect manuscript scribal preference rather than a deliberate alteration.
Source citation
Marcellin Berthelot, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, vol. I (Introduction), Paris: Steinheil, 1887, pp. 132–137 (figures 11, 12, 13).
Public-domain edition; archive.org identifier collectiondesanc01bert.
Manuscript witnesses: MS Marcianus graecus 299 (Saint-Marc, Venice; 10th–11th c.); MS Parisinus graecus 2325 (BnF; end of 11th c.); MS Parisinus graecus 2327 (BnF; dated 1478).
Project English: see /about/translations/ for methodology and license. Dedicated to the public domain (CC0 1.0 Universal).
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