CHEMISTRY: What does that mean?
The "Egyptian" origin of the word chemistry
To trace the etymology of the word "chemistry" and its inherent meanings we have to start long ago: from the ancient Egyptians. Egyptians called their country "Khemi," a word that, in their language, meant "black earth" to indicate the beneficial silt carried by the floods of the Nile, which gave them the ability to cultivate, sustain themselves and obtain life from the desert. Indeed, until the invasion of Cambyses II's Persians in 525 B.C., Egyptians knew no currency and their entire economy was based on the exchange of agricultural products.1
The name "Egypt" was created by the very Assyrians and Persians who called this country "Temple of the God of Knowledge" (Het-Ke-Ptah), a name that later changed, in Greek and later Roman phonetics, to the present "Egypt."
For the Egyptians of the time, however, the name of their land remained "Khemi," and the Muslim Arabs who took possession of the country after the disintegration of the Roman Empire assumed this name as a symbol of culture and knowledge, which, preceded by the Arabic article "al," became "Al-Khemi."
With the subsequent invasion of Spain by the Moors commanded by El-Tarik (Gibraltar = Gebel-el-Tarik, mountain of Tarik), this name came to Europe to characterize research, becoming Alchemy.
This is why the mythical founder of alchemical practices, Hermes Trismegistus, is identified with the figure of Imhotep, grand vizir, pharmacist, physician, researcher and architect, builder of the first step pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser and who was later deified. Subsequently, the name "Alchemy" changed to "Chemistry" .
Therefore, ultimately, the concept of "Chemistry" is in close relation to and in direct descent from that of "Khemi," the bringer of life and prosperity (and here the relevance to the "philosopher's stone" of the alchemists that turns lead into gold-that is, the desert into life-is obvious).
Of course, again, all knowledge must be used correctly and responsibly.
Notes
- Taxes were paid in grains, amassed by Pharaoh and the priests in large deposits. The problem was the defense of these from rats. That is why cats were sacred: they were the guardians of the royal treasury! This was taken advantage of by Cambyses who, in the battle of Pelusium, put cats in the arms of his soldiers. To not risk hurting the cats, the Egyptian army dissolved and the Persian invaded the country. (Herodotus).
