The compounding of cinnabar (Red mercury(II) sulfide) in the Persian poetry of the eleventh century

Mousavi, Aliyar

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/128046 Copy

Description

Title

The compounding of cinnabar (Red mercury(II) sulfide) in the Persian poetry of the eleventh century

Author(s)

Mousavi, Aliyar

Issue Date

2021-12-01

Keyword(s)

• Chemistry
• History
• Persia
• Cinnabar

Date of Ingest

2025-05-01T13:20:17-05:00

Abstract

A study of Persian poetry in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when it had just been revived after three centuries of neglect under Arab rule, reveals a frequent repetition of the word "cinnabar" [Persian (Farsi) shangarf], now known as HgS (mercury(II) sulfide). It is especially noteworthy that certain poems in the eleventh century described cinnabar from a synthetic perspective, including one poem (by Naser-e Khusraw) that qualitatively described the compounding of cinnabar accurately, including naming mercury and sulfur in a way nearly identical to the standard wording used today. The origin of the chemical idea reflected in the poem is investigated and attributed to an account of the preparation of cinnabar, by heating elemental mercury and elemental sulfur together, given by the Persian Muhammad al-Razi, also known in Europe as Rhazes.

Publisher

Division of the History of Chemistry

ISSN

1053-4385

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

article

Language

eng

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/128046

DOI

https://doi.org/10.70359/bhc2021v046p145

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Copyright 2021 Division of the History of Chemistry

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