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Also known as the ‘Smaragdine Tablet’ or the ‘Tabula Smaragdina’, it is a compact and cryptic Hermetic text. The Emerald Tablet was highly regarded by Islamic and European alchemists as the foundation of their art.

Many consider this Tablet to be one of the earliest of all alchemical works we have that survived the test of time.

Medieval and early modern alchemists associated the Emerald Tablet with the creation of the "Philosophers' Stone" and the artificial production of gold.

It should be noted that the Greeks and Egyptians apparently used the term translated as "Emerald" for emeralds, green granite, and perhaps green jasper. In medieval times the Emerald Table (of the Gothic Kings of Spain), and the Sacro catino, (a dish said to have belonged to the Queen of Sheba), are believed to have been used at the last supper, and were made of green stone or glass (Steele & Singer: 488).

The origins of Western alchemy can be traced back to Hellenistic Egypt, in particular to its city of Alexandria.

One of the most important characters in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice-Great). The name of this figure is derived from the Egyptian God of wisdom “Thoth” (contended by some to be the same person as Enoch.)

The Emerald Tablet is said to be inscribed with the secrets of the Universe. The source of the original Tablet is unclear; hence it is surrounded by legends.

The most common story claims that the Tablet was found in a caved tomb under the statue of Hermes in Tyana, clutched in the hands of the corpse of Hermes Trismegistus himself.

However, the creator of it has been shrouded in myth as the Egyptian God 'Thoth", who Armando Mei, researcher in predynastic Egyptology, writes:

“… divided his knowledge into 42 plates of emerald, codifying the great scientific principles ruling the Universe. The legend tells that after the Gods’ fall, the Hermetic tablets were cleverly hidden so that no human being might find them. Only Thoth, on his return to that dimension, was able to recover the mysterious book.”

Another legend suggests that it was the third son of Adam and Eve, Seth, who originally wrote it.

Others believed that the tablet was once held within the Ark of the Covenant. Some even claim that the original source of the it is none other than the fabled island of "Atlantis"!

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An early version of the Emerald Tablet also appeared in a work called the “Kitab Usṭuqus al-uss al-thani (c. 850–950)” (Second Book of the Elements of the Foundation), which, is attributed to 'Jabir ibn Hayyan'.

It did take several more centuries before the text was accessible to Europeans. In the 12th century AD, for the Emerald Tablet was translated into Latin by Hugo von Santalla. Where, it became one of the pillars of Western alchemy.

The Emerald Tablet was a highly influential text in medieval and Renaissance alchemy, as it still still is nowadays. In addition to translations of the Tablet, numerous commentaries have also been written regarding its contents. A translation by Isaac Newton was discovered among his alchemical papers. This translation is currently being held in King’s College Library in Cambridge University. Other notable researchers include Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, John Dee, and Aleister Crowley.

Today, knowledge of the legendary Emerald Tablet (at least one interpretation of it) is reaching new audiences with its presence in the surreal German-language series “Dark”.

While, various claims have been made regarding the origins of the Tablet, as yet no verifiable evidence has been found to support them. The oldest documentable source of it’s text is the "Kitab sirr al-khalīqa (c. 750–850)" (Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature), which, was itself a composite of earlier works.

Based on this Arabic work, some believe that the Tablet was also an Arabic text and written between the 6th and 8th centuries AD, and attributed to ‘Balīnūs or Balinas’ or Pseudo-Apollonius of 'Tyana'. It is Balinas who provides us with the story of how he discovered the Emerald Tablet in the caved tomb, rather than a piece of work from Antiquity, as many have claimed.

While Balinas claimed that the Emerald Tablet was written originally in Greek, the original document that he purportedly possessed no longer exists, if indeed it existed at all. Some say the text burned up in the Library of Alexandria. Nevertheless, Balinas’ version of the text itself quickly became well-known, and has been translated by various people over the centuries.

In the imaginative 17th century depiction of the Emerald Tablet in the work of Heinrich or Dr. Henricus Khunrath (1560-1605), the interpretation of the Tablet's Text proved not a straightforward matter, as it is after all a piece of esoteric text.

One interpretation, for instance, suggests that the text describes seven stages of alchemical transformation: Calcination; dissolution; separation; conjunction; fermentation; distillation; and coagulation.

Despite various interpretations, it seems that no author claimed to possess knowledge of the whole truth. You are encouraged to read the text and try to interpret and find the hidden truths yourself...

Food for thought!

Like Like Celebrate Support Love Insightful Funny Comment Share 1 Comment Mark Hitti, graphic

Mark Hitti 4y

I'll be a killjoy. The existence of hermes trismegistus was clearly questioned by Isaac Casaubon as he proved this person never existed. It thus also calls into question the origin of the emerald table.

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