mfkzt, Philosophers Stone or Exotic Matter

[Gary]

Hi all


I have written an Article at
http://www.menkaura.com/Forum/index.php?topic=304.0 on mfkzt or the
It has been called many things over the millennia. The ancient
Egyptians called it mfkzt. Those Egyptians also seem to have a thing
about vowels in their hieroglyph translations and as such the word
mfkzt seems so strange to us today given that it has no vowels. The
Mesopotamians called it shem-an-na and the Alexandrians revered and
venerated it as a true gift from Paradise. It finally came down to the
chemist Nicolas Flamel to coin the phrase the 'Philosophers Stone'.

... for the rest please come along to our site
http:www.Menkaura.com/Forum/index.php


I'd reaaly appreciate any of your particular insights into this subject



and if you could post against the topic link above that would be great.



To me this has proved to be a facinating subject taking in Biblical
History, Alchemy and Modern day Modern day Physics.


If you have any think to add or simply wish to learn more then we'd be
glad to see you.


Regards ....


mfkzt, Philosophers Stone or Exotic Matter

[Katherine Griffis]

Post by Gary
I have written an Article at
http://www.menkaura.com/Forum/index.php?topic=304.0 on mfkzt or the
It has been called many things over the millennia. The ancient
Egyptians called it mfkzt. Those Egyptians also seem to have a thing
about vowels in their hieroglyph translations and as such the word
mfkzt seems so strange to us today given that it has no vowels.

---------------------------------------------------
Hmm. There's also no such word as /mfkzt/ in Egyptian, either.

I suspect you are hung up on the term /mfk[A]t/, which stands for
'turquoise,' or occasionally, 'malachite,' in ancient Egyptian (Wb II:
56; Hannig 1995: 332b). To you, perhaps the /A/ = /3/ of Egyptian
transcription looks like a /z/, but /A/ is a semi-vocalic consonant,
likely vocalised as a glottal stop in Middle Egyptian.

While turquoise was a prized semiprecious stone, and a favoured colour
of the goddess Hathor, the Egyptians held no such belief that /mfk[A]t/
was possessed of magical properties as attached to the "philosopher's
stone" - that is, that it turned base metals to gold, cured all ills,
etc.

Malachite, which is usually called /wAD/ or if imported, /Ssmt/, did
have medicinal qualities, and was used to treat staph infections, eye
diseases (thus the use of "green eyepaint" in ancient Egyptian
representations), and intestinal worm infections (Nunn 1996: 72; 147).


As Nunn notes, the reason for this is that malachite's primary
compound is cupric carbonate/hydroxide, which prevents the growth of
staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which cause bacterial
infections. However, as he notes, it would "...be hard to say whether
the Egyptian recognised the anti-bacterial effect, or were merely
influenced by the decorative appearance of the malachite" (Nunn 1996:
147). In this, Nunn is referring to the fact that, to the ancient
Egyptians, the colour green was associated with health, life-giving,
and fresh effects (Wilkinson 1994: 108-109).

Unless you have more than a general notion that the Egyptians held the
belief in a "philosopher's stone," I would suggest that your term does
not exist in Egyptian, nor does the concept of an alchemic stone which
transforms or cures.

References:

Wb = Erman, A. and H. Grapow 1926. _Wörterbuch der Aegyptischen
Sprache_. (7 Vols.). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich.

Hannig, R. 1995. _Die Sprache der Pharaonen: Großes Handwörterbuch
Ägyptisch-Deutsch (2800 - 950 v. Chr.)_. Kulturegeschichte der Antiken
Welt 64. Mainz: von Zabern.

Nunn, J. F. 1996. _Ancient Egyptian Medicine_. London: British Museum
Press.

Wilkinson, R. H. 1994. _Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art_. London:
Thames and Hudson.

Regards --

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg, MA (Lon)
Member, International Association of Egyptologists
American Research Center in Egypt, SSEA, ASOR

Oriental Institute
Oriental Studies Doctoral Program [Egyptology]
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom

http://www.griffis-consulting.com