View source for Alembic

{{Short description|Alchemical still}}
{{About|alchemical stills|other uses|Alembic (disambiguation)}}

[[Image:Alambik1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Picture of an alembic from a medieval manuscript]]

An '''alembic''' (from {{langx|ar|الإنبيق|al-inbīq}}, originating from {{langx|grc|ἄμβιξ|ambix}}, 'cup, beaker')<ref>{{citation |author=M. Ullmann |contribution=AL-KĪMIYĀ |title=[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |edition=2nd |volume=5 |publisher=Brill |year=1986 |page=111b |isbn=90-04-07819-3 }}</ref><ref name="al-anbik">{{citation |author1-link=Eilhard Wiedemann |author1=E. Wiedemann |author2=M. Plessner |contribution=AL-ANBĪḲ |title=[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |edition=2nd |volume=1 |publisher=Brill |year=1986 |page=486a |isbn=90-04-08114-3 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |editor1=Henry Liddell |editor1-link=Henry Liddell |editor2-link=Robert Scott (philologist) |editor2=Robert Scott |entry=ἄμβιξ |title=[[A Greek–English Lexicon]] |edition=8th |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1897 |page=73 }}</ref> is an [[alchemy|alchemical]] [[still]] consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for [[distillation]] of liquids.

== Description ==
The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: 

* the "{{linktext|cucurbit}}" (Arabic: {{lang|ar-Latn|ḳarʿa}}; Greek: {{lang|grc|βῖκος}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|bîkos}}), the still pot containing the liquid to be distilled, which is heated by a flame
* the "head" or "cap" ({{lang|ar|إِنْبِيق{{lrm}}}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|ʾinbīq}}; Greek {{lang|grc|ἄμβιξ}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|ambix}}) which fits over the mouth of the cucurbit to receive the vapors, with an attached downward-sloping "tube" ({{lang|grc|σωλήν}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|sōlēn}})
* the "receiver" ({{lang|ar|قَابِلَة}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|qābila}}; {{lang|grc|ἄγγος}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|angos}} or {{lang|grc|φιάλη}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|phialē}}) container

In the case of another distilling vessel, the [[retort]], the "cap" and the "cucurbit" have been combined to form a single vessel. The anbik<ref>
[https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-anbik-SIM_0663 The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: the "cucurbit" (''ḳarʿa''), the "head" or "cap" (''anbīḳ'') and the "receiver" (''ḳābila'').]
</ref>
is also called the ''raʾs'' (the Arabic word ''raʾs'' means "head") of the cucurbit. The liquid in the cucurbit is heated or boiled; the vapour rises into the ''anbik'', where it cools by contact with the walls and condenses, running down the spout into the receiver. A modern descendant of the alembic is the [[pot still]], used to produce [[distilled beverages]].

== History ==
[[File:Alembics from Andreas Libavius Alchymia.png|thumb|upright|Alembics from a 1606 alchemy book]]

[[Dioscorides]]'s ambix, described in his {{lang|la|[[De materia medica]]}} (c. 50 C.E.), is a helmet-shaped lid for gathering condensed mercury. For [[Athenaeus]] (c. 225 C.E.) it is a bottle or flask. For later chemists it denoted various parts of crude distillation devices.

Alembic drawings appear in works of [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]] (3rd century C.E.), [[Zosimos of Panopolis]] (c. 300 C.E.), and [[Synesius]] (c. 373 – c. 414 C.E.). There were alembics with two (dibikos) and three (tribikos) receivers.<ref>{{citation |author=Marcellin Berthelot |author-link=Marcellin Berthelot |title=Introduction à l'étude de la chimie des anciens et du moyen âge |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3815b |publisher=Steinheil |year=1889 |pages=132, 135–142, 161–16}}</ref> According to Zosimos of Panopolis, the alembic was invented by [[Mary the Jewess]].<ref>{{citation |author=Edmund Lippmann |author-link=Edmund Oscar von Lippmann |title=Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie |url=https://archive.org/details/entstehungundaus00lippuoft |publisher=Springer |year=1919 |pages=48–49 }}</ref>

The anbik is described by [[Ibn al-Awwam]] in his {{lang|ar-Latn|Kitab al-Filaha}} (''Book of Agriculture''), where he explains how [[rose-water]] is distilled. Amongst others, it is mentioned in the {{lang|ar-Latn|Mafatih al-Ulum}} (''Key of Sciences'') of [[Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khwarizmi|Khwarizmi]] and the {{lang|ar-Latn|Kitab al-Asrar}} (''Book of Secrets'') of [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi|al-Razi]]. Some illustrations occur in the Latin translations of works which are attributed to [[Pseudo-Geber|Geber]].<ref name="al-anbik" />
<gallery>
File:Man Paris, Grec 2327 fol 83v.jpg|Alembic of [[Zosimos of Panopolis]]
File:Alembic (PSF).jpg|Modern alembic
File:AlambicCharentaisChalvignacPrulhoDistillation.jpg|Large "charentais" type alembic for distilling spirits
File:Alambique 056.jpg|Copper [[retort]]
File:Alembic.jpg|Glass alembic
File:Chemical Faculty of TUG, staircase.jpg|Alembic metalwork in the staircase at the Chemical Faculty of [[Gdańsk University of Technology]], 1904
</gallery>

== Unicode ==
The [[Unicode|Unicode character set]] specifies three symbols for alembics: the [[pictogram]] ⚗ ({{tt|U+2697}}), its [[emoji]] variation ⚗️ ({{tt|U+2697[[Variation Selectors (Unicode block)|U+FE0F]]}}), and the ancient alchemical symbol 🝪 ({{tt|U+1F76A}}).

== See also ==
* [[Aludel]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{wiktionary-inline}}

{{Distillation|state=expanded}}
{{Alchemy|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alchemical tools]]
[[Category:Arab inventions]]