Sources
The primary source for the existence of a Maria the Jewess in the context of alchemy is Zosimos of Panopolis, who wrote in the 4th century the oldest alchemy books known. Zosimos describes several of her experiments and instruments. In his writings, Mary is almost always mentioned as having lived in the past and being one of the "sages."
George Syncellus, a Byzantine chronicler of the eighth century, presents Mary as a teacher of Democritus, whom she met in Memphis, Egypt at the time of Pericles. The tenth century Kitāb al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim cites her as one of the fifty-two most famous alchemists, knowing the preparation of the caput mortuum. The Roman philosopher Morieno called her "Mary the Prophetess" and the Arabs knew her as the "Daughter of Plato", a name that in Western alchemical texts was reserved for the white sulfur.
In the Alexander book (2nd part) of the Persian poet Nizami, Maria, a Syrian princess, visits the court of Alexander the Great, and learns from Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), among other things, the art of making gold.
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