CHAPTER IV

THE MYSTERY OF THE EMERALD

TABLET

AN atmosphere of romance and mystery surrounds the
tradition of an emerald tablet or table that is said to have
been discovered in the tomb of the legendary Hermes. It is
first mentioned in Western literature in a treatise attributed to
Albertus Magnus called De Mineralibus , written in the early
part of the fourteenth century. In this manuscript it is stated
that the tomb of Hermes was discovered by Alexander the Great
in a cave near Hebron, and that in the tomb was found a tablet
of emerald, taken from the hands of the dead Hermes by Sarah,
the wife of Abraham. On this were inscribed in Phoenician
characters the precepts of the Great Master concerning the art
of making gold. The Hermes alluded to is doubtless intended
to mean the traditionary Hermes Trismegistus mentioned in