A TURKISH ALCHEMICAL TREATISE: ‘ā？I？ PA？A’S R？SāLE-？ K？MYā

Old Anatolian Turkish, belonging to the Oghuz group of Turkic languages, was a written literary language used from the beginning of the thirteenth century to the end of the fifteenth century in and around Anatolia. Many works in prose and verse as original, adaptation or translation were produced on various subjects with diverse literary genres and forms in both Old Anatolian Turkish and its descendant, Ottoman Turkish. Astronomy, geography, physics, agriculture, medicine, and alchemy are among the most common topics of the non-literary works drawn up during and after this period. Alchemy, which also forms the subject of this paper, is identified as the transmutation of the base metals into precious ones, such as gold and silver. Based on the critical edition and translation of Risāle-i Kimyā (“The treatise on alchemy”) written by ‘ā？？？ Pa？a (b. 670/1272, d. K？r？ehir 732/1333), this paper aims to introduce the treatise in question. As far as it can be determined, Risāle-i Kimyā survives in three manuscript copies, one of which is in the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library in Istanbul. The second one is in the Atatürk Library of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the third one is in the Hasan Pa？a Public Library in ？orum, Turkey