Emerald Tablet

Rare card · No. 41629

The Emerald Tablet, also known as the Smaragdine Table or the Tabula Smaragdina, is a compact and cryptic text traditionally attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus. The earliest known versions are four Arabic recensions preserved in mystical and alchemical treatises between the 8th and 10th centuries CE—chiefly the Secret of Creation (Arabic: سر الخليقة, romanized: Sirr al-Khalīqa) and the Secret of Secrets (سرّ الأسرار, Sirr al-Asrār). It was often accompanied by a frame story about the discovery of an emerald tablet in Hermes' tomb. From the 12th century onward, Latin translations—most notably the widespread so-called vulgate—introduced the text to Europe, where it attracted great scholarly interest. Medieval commentators such as Hortulanus interpreted it as a "foundational text" of alchemical instructions for producing the philosopher's stone and making gold. During the Renaissance, interpreters increasingly read the text through Neoplatonic, allegorical,...

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