Visual Timeline: Alchemy

To navigate the timeline, click and drag it with your mouse, or click on the timeline overview on the bottom.

500 BCE 400 BCE 300 BCE 200 BCE 100 BCE 0 CE 100 CE 200 CE 300 CE 400 CE 500 CE 600 CE 700 CE 800 CE 900 CE 1000 CE 1100 CE 1200 CE 1300 CE 1400 CE 1500 CE 1600 CE 1700 CE  
 
460 BCE - 370 BCE: Life of the Greek philosopher Democritus, often credited as the founder of alchemy.
 
1 CE - 800 CE: Alchemy is particualrly prevalent in Roman Egypt.
 
200 CE - 400 CE: The oldest surviving Greek and Latin texts concerning alchemy.
 
300 CE: The Egyptian alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis is active.
 
1150 CE: Knowledge of alchemy from the Muslim world filters through to Europe.
 
1493 CE - 1541 CE: Life of the Germanic alchemist who called himself Paracelsus.
 
1561 CE: The Italian alchemist Isabella Cortese publishes The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese.
 
1720 CE: Alchemy is by now widely discredited by scientists and has been replaced by chemistry.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
500 BCE 100 BCE 300 CE 700 CE 1100 CE 1500 CE