An aludel (Arabic: ﺍﻟﻮﺛﻞ al-ūṯal from Greek αἰθαλίων aithaliōn, 'smoky, sooty, burnt-colored')[1][2] is a subliming pot used in alchemy. The term refers to a range of earthen tubes, or pots without bottoms, fitted one over another, and diminishing as they advance towards the top. The lowest is adapted to a pot, placed in a furnace, wherein the matter to be sublimed is placed. At the top is a head to retain the flowers, or condensation, which ascends.[3]: 73 An aludel was used as a condenser in the sublimation process and thus came to signify the end-stages of transformation and the symbol of creation. Also called the Hermetic Vase, the Philosopher's Egg, and the Vase of the Philosophy.
The aludel is illustrated in a Pseudo-Geber treatise,[4] in the Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa of Jean-Jacques Manget,[5] and in a Syriac alchemy manuscript conserved in the British Museum.[6] It is mentioned in the "Mafātīḥ al-ʿUlūm" ("Key of Sciences") of al-Khwarazmi.[7]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Aludels". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 73.
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