Artephius (orArtefius) (c. 1150) is a writer to whom a number ofalchemical texts are ascribed. Although the roots of the texts are unclear and the identity of their author obscure, at least some of them are Arabic in origin. He is named as the author of several books, theArs sintrillia,Clavis sapientiae orClavis maioris sapientiae, andLiber secretus.[1]
Alchemicalpseudepigraphy makes it difficult to identify who the historical Artephius may have been. His identity remains an open question. AsThe Secret Book of Artephius was respected and mentioned byRoger Bacon many times, Artephius’ writing is dated to around 1150.[2] One author,Restoro d'Arezzo, conflatedOrpheus with Artephius in hisComposizione del Mondo in 1282.[3] This mistake was due to a translation error, with the Arabic for Orpheus and Artephius being very similar. This transcription error gave us "Artephius", an alchemist without a historical personality.[4]
Artephius has also been misidentified as a Jewish convert,[5]Apollonius of Tyana,Stephanos of Alexandria,Al-Tughrai,[3] andIbn Umail.[4] The discovery of a 13/14th-century copy ofClavis Sapientia confirms that the text was first written in Arabic by a Muslim author.[4]
ARenaissance tradition held that Artephius had been born in the first or second century and died in the twelfth, thanks to having discovered the alchemical elixir that made it possible to prolong life. In hisSecret Book, Artephius indeed claims to be more than a thousand years old.
In printed form, works attributed to Artephius became well known in the seventeenth century. A workArtefii clavis majoris sapientiae was printed in Paris in 1609. Later it would also appear within Volume IV ofTheatrum Chemicum, printed originally in 1613.[6] Then in 1624, Eirenaeus Orandus provided an English translation of the 'secret booke'.[7] The Latin editions ofClavis Sapentia are highly abridged and lack the original diagrams found in the Arabic text.[4]
