The Shelves · Natural science
Isis the Prophetess to her Son Horus
Conjecturedin Alexandria?Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement
◇ Doubted: pseudonymous. Attributed to the goddess Isis; author unknown.
I · The entry, in his form
In the table of Natural science
Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placementAnonymous, under the name of Isis
Isis the Prophetess to her Son Horus
Opening words not preserved.
Length: not counted
◇ Doubted: pseudonymous. Attributed to the goddess Isis; author unknown.
Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.
II · Does it survive? Where to read it
Survives whole
Was it in Alexandria?
ConjecturedOf the Egyptian milieu.
On the ledge: written in Egypt or in a tradition the city shaped; not known in the Library.
Read it today
- Berthelot and Ruelle, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs vols 2-3 (1887-1888), Greek and French · original and translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
III · In the show
- Egyptian mysteries, Mithraism, and Zosimos, episode 4, at 37 minutes 34 secondsTranscriptKnown: probable
- What the Egyptian mysteries may have taught, episode 4, at 44 minutes 31 secondsTranscriptWhat the Egyptian mysteries may have taught: metallurgy, statuary, the opening of the mouth.Known: probable
Correction
- What was said
- Porphyry says Pythagoras spent 22 years in Egyptian temples.
- What the sources say
- The twenty-two years come from Iamblichus, not from Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras.
Reference
- Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life 4.19
- Fixing the Volatile & The Great Work, episode 33, at 45 minutes 38 secondsTranscript“we found this pattern in metals and we found it in plants”Zosimos's extension of the work from metals to the soul, as read in the conversation with Daniel Wiseman.Known: probable
+ 5 more
- Alchemy · Chronology: Greco-Egyptian foundationsKnown: probable
- Alchemy · Three principles, seven metalsKnown: probable
- Planetary CorrespondencesDays, metals and the Chaldean order as 'the common inheritance'; the metal–planet pairings took centuries to settle, as the alchemy page shows.Known: probable
IV · Sources and the living entry
Ancient references
- Marcianus graecus 299 and other Byzantine alchemical manuscripts
Modern scholarship (2)
- L. M. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013)
- M. Berthelot and C.-E. Ruelle, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, 3 vols (Paris: G. Steinheil, 1887-1888).
Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›
ISIS THE PROPHETESS TO HER SON HORUS
Beside it on the ledge
- Pseudo-Democritus, Natural and Secret Matters (Physika kai Mystika) and the Four Books1st century CE (perhaps earlier) · Survives in fragments
- Strabo of Amaseia, Geographyc. 20 BCE - 23 CE · Survives whole
- Maria the Jewess (Maria Hebraea), Writings of Maria the Jewessbefore c. 300 CE (often placed 1st-3rd century) · Survives in fragments
- 'Cleopatra' (pseudonymous; not the queen), Chrysopoeia (Gold-Making) of Cleopatra3rd-4th century CE (uncertain) · Survives whole