alembic
An alembic (from, originating from ambix, 'cup, beaker') is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids. • Illustration — Picture of an alembic from a medieval manuscript
alembic
Konkordia · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Field
- still
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for alembic. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 1201285798 · wikidata · Q845242 · wikipedia · Alembic
In this article
History
History
• Illustration — Alembics from a 1606 alchemy book Dioscorides's ambix, described in his De materia medica (c. 50 C.E.), is a helmet-shaped lid for gathering condensed mercury. For Athenaeus (c. 225 C.E.) it is a bottle or flask. For later chemists it denoted various parts of crude distillation devices. Alembic drawings appear in works of Cleopatra the Alchemist (3rd century C.E.), Zosimos of Panopolis (c. 300 C.E.), and Synesius (c. 373 – c. 414 C.E.). There were alembics with two (dibikos) and three (tribikos) receivers. According to Zosimos of Panopolis, the alembic was invented by Mary the Jewess. The anbik is described by Ibn al-Awwam in his Kitab al-Filaha (Book of Agriculture), where he explains how rose-water is distilled. Amongst others, it is mentioned in the Mafatih al-Ulum (Key of Sciences) of Khwarizmi and the Kitab al-Asrar (Book of Secrets) of al-Razi. Some illustrations occur in the Latin translations of works which are attributed to Geber. • Illustration — Alembic of Zosimos of Panopolis • Illustration — Modern alembic • Illustration — Large "charentais" type alembic for distilling spirits • Illustration — Copper retort • Illustration — Glass alembic • Illustration — Alembic metalwork in the staircase at the Chemical Faculty of Gdańsk University of Technology, 1904 • Illustration — Alembic of the seventeenth century. Collection of the Jenevermuseum Hasselt
Unicode
Unicode
The Unicode character set specifies three symbols for alembics: the pictogram ⚗, its emoji variation ⚗️ (U+2697U+FE0F), and the ancient alchemical symbol 🝪.
Description
The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: • the "cucurbit" (Arabic: ar-Latn; Greek: βῖκος, grc-Latn), the still pot containing the liquid to be distilled, which is heated by a flame • the "head" or "cap" (إِنْبِيق, ar-Latn; Greek ἄμβιξ, grc-Latn) which fits over the mouth of the cucurbit to receive the vapors, with an attached downward-sloping "tube" (σωλήν, grc-Latn) • the "receiver" (قَابِلَة, ar-Latn; ἄγγος, grc-Latn or φιάλη, grc-Latn) container In the case of another distilling vessel, the retort, the "cap" and the "cucurbit" have been combined to form a single vessel. The anbik is also called the raʾs (the Arabic word raʾs means "head") of the cucurbit. The liquid in the cucurbit is heated or boiled; the vapour rises into the anbik, where it cools by contact with the walls and condenses, running down the spout into the receiver. A modern descendant of the alembic is the pot still, used to produce distilled beverages.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Alembic, revision 1353416701 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Robert James Forbes: A Short History of the Art of Distillation: from the beginnings up to the death of Cellier Blumenthal. E. J. Brill, Leyden 1948 (Reprint 1970), S. 23.
- 2.Hjalmar Frisk: Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 Bände. Heidelberg 1960–1972; Neudruck ebenda 1973 (= Indogermanische Bibliothek, II. Reihe.), Band 1, S. 89 f. (ambix, ambon).
- 3.Karl Lokotsch: Etymologisches Wörterbuch der europäischen (germanischen, romanischen und slavischen) Wörter orientalischen Ursprungs (= Indogermanische Bibliothek. Abteilung 1: Sammlung indogermanischer Lehr- und Handbücher. Reihe 2: Wörterbücher. Band 3, ). Winter, Heidelberg 1927, S. 7 f., Nr. 79.
- 4.Edmund O. Lippmann: Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie; mit einem Anhange: zur älteren Geschichte der Metalle; ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte. J. Springer, Berlin 1919, S. 48–49
- 5.Zitiert aus einer Text-Übertragung ins Deutsche von 1702, entnommen aus: Martyn Rady: Die Habsburger: Aufstieg und Fall einer Weltmacht. Rowohlt, Berlin 2021, Kapitel Zehn: Rudolf II und die Prager Alchemisten
- 6.Allison Coudert: Alchemy: The Philosopher's Stone. Wildwood House, London 1980, ISBN 978-0704504134, deutsche Ausgabe: Der Stein der Weisen, Scherz-Verlag, Bern-München 1982, S. 53 und 239
- 7.Gundolf Keil: Die „Cirurgia“ Peters von Ulm. Untersuchungen zu einem Denkmal altdeutscher Fachprosa mit kritischer Ausgabe des Textes (= Forschungen zur Geschichte der Stadt Ulm. Band 2). Stadtarchiv, Ulm 1961 (zugleich Philosophische Dissertation Heidelberg 1960: Peter von Ulm. Untersuchungen zu einem Denkmal altdeutscher Fachprosa mit kritischer Ausgabe des Textes), S. 404–405 (Hut, Übersetzung von mittellateinisch operculum, synonym zu alembicus: „Hohlkegel, der über den Destillerkolben gestülpt wird; an ihm kondensiert der Dampf, das Destillat wird in einer Rinne aufgefangen und durch eine Rinne abgeleitet. […].“) und 434 (Peckelhaube).
- 8.Lambig - Calvados aus der Bretagne
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Scientific instruments
736 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Advanced X-Ray Imaging SatelliteTerminology
- aerial telescopeTerminology
- Air trackTerminology
- Aldershot ObservatoryTerminology
- Algonquin 46m radio telescopeTerminology
- Alikhanian-Alikhanov mass spectrometerTerminology
- Allen Telescope ArrayTerminology
- Alpha Magnetic SpectrometerTerminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with alembic?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.