History is easier to remember when its dates are in order. This chronology gathers the principal texts, figures and events mentioned across this site into a single sequence, from the Greek conquest of Egypt to the discovery of the Coptic Hermetica in 1945. Dates for ancient and medieval texts are often approximate, and we mark them so. For the story behind the dates, read our short history of the tradition.
In brief
- The philosophical Hermetica were written in Roman Egypt, mostly between the first and third centuries of the common era.
- Apart from the Latin Asclepius, they reached Latin Europe in two waves: Arabic works in the twelfth century, the Greek treatises in 1463.
- Their antiquity was disproved in 1614, and the modern system of practice took shape between 1850 and 1910.
- A date marked about is an estimate. Where a text is on the reading list, it is described more fully there.
Antiquity
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Fifth century BCE
Thoth becomes Hermes
Greeks in Egypt identify Thoth with their own Hermes. Herodotus already calls Thoth's city the city of Hermes.
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332 to 331 BCE
Alexander in Egypt
Alexander of Macedon takes Egypt and founds Alexandria, which becomes the meeting place of Greek, Egyptian and Jewish learning.
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Third and second centuries BCE
The thrice great
Under the Ptolemies the identification is settled, and Egyptian documents praise Thoth as great, great, great. See Hermes Trismegistus.
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First century BCE onward
The technical Hermetica
Books of astrology, medicine and natural magic begin to circulate under the name of Hermes.
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First to third centuries
The philosophical Hermetica
The treatises later gathered in the Corpus Hermeticum, the Asclepius and related dialogues are written in Greek in Roman Egypt.
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Second century
The Chaldean Oracles
A collection of oracular verses on the soul's descent and return appears, attributed to Julian the theurgist. It will become scripture for the later Platonists.
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About 200
The books of Hermes
Clement of Alexandria describes Egyptian priests carrying forty two books of Hermes in procession.
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About 300
Zosimos and Iamblichus
Zosimos of Panopolis writes the earliest substantial alchemical works to survive, including his visions. Iamblichus defends theurgy in On the Mysteries.
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Fourth century
The Nag Hammadi codices
Coptic books including three Hermetic texts are copied in Upper Egypt and later buried, where they remain until 1945.
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Fifth century
Stobaeus and Proclus
John of Stobi compiles the anthology that preserves the Hermetic fragments. In Athens, Proclus writes on the priestly art of sympathies and tokens.
The Middle Ages
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About 800
The Emerald Tablet
The tablet appears in Arabic, at the end of a book on the secret of creation attributed to Apollonius of Tyana. See the Emerald Tablet.
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Ninth century
The three Hermes
Writers in Arabic, among them the astrologer Abu Ma'shar, describe three successive sages named Hermes.
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Tenth or eleventh century
The Aim of the Sage
The great Arabic manual of astral magic later called the Picatrix is compiled in Muslim Spain.
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Twelfth century
Into Latin
Translators in Spain and southern Europe render Arabic works of astrology, alchemy and magic into Latin, among them the Emerald Tablet. The Latin Asclepius, known throughout the Middle Ages, is read with new interest.
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1256
The Picatrix translated
The Picatrix is put into Castilian at the court of Alfonso X of Castile, and soon afterwards into Latin.
The Renaissance
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About 1460
The manuscript reaches Florence
A Greek manuscript of the philosophical treatises is brought to Cosimo de' Medici.
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1463 and 1471
Ficino's Hermes
Marsilio Ficino completes his Latin translation in 1463. It is printed in 1471 and runs through many editions.
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1486
Pico's Oration
Pico della Mirandola composes the Oration on the Dignity of Man and joins Hermetic philosophy to Kabbalah.
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1488
Hermes at Siena
Hermes Trismegistus is set into the pavement of Siena cathedral as the contemporary of Moses.
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1489
Three Books on Life
Ficino publishes his account of natural and planetary magic, with its theory of spirit.
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1533
Agrippa's Occult Philosophy
The complete Three Books of Occult Philosophy of Cornelius Agrippa is printed, after circulating in manuscript since 1510.
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1550
The Rosary of the Philosophers
The classic alchemical picture series is printed at Frankfurt.
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1564
The Hieroglyphic Monad
John Dee publishes his twenty four theorems on a single composite sign.
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1600
The death of Bruno
Giordano Bruno, whose philosophy drew deeply on the Hermetic writings, is burned in Rome.
The seventeenth century
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1614
Casaubon and the Fama
Isaac Casaubon dates the Hermetic treatises to the early common era. In the same year the first Rosicrucian manifesto is printed at Kassel.
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1615 and 1616
Confessio and Chemical Wedding
The second manifesto and the allegorical romance of Christian Rosenkreutz follow.
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1617
Atalanta Fugiens
Michael Maier publishes his fifty alchemical emblems with music.
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1643
Religio Medici
The physician Thomas Browne declares that the severe schools shall never laugh him out of the philosophy of Hermes, that this visible world is but a portrait of the invisible.
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1650
The English Pymander
The first English translation of the Hermetic treatises, made by John Everard, is published after his death.
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1678
Cudworth's reply
Ralph Cudworth argues that Casaubon's late dating need not apply to every treatise, and that the texts may preserve older teaching.
The revival
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1781
The tarot and Egypt
Antoine Court de Gebelin claims that the tarot preserves the book of Thoth.
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1801
The Magus
Francis Barrett puts the materials of Renaissance magic back into print in English.
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1850
A Suggestive Inquiry
Mary Anne Atwood argues that alchemy is a spiritual art, then withdraws her book.
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1854 to 1856
High magic
Eliphas Levi publishes the Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic.
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1888
The London order
The most influential of the Victorian magical orders is founded. See the occult revival.
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1898
Abramelin in English
An English translation of the Book of Abramelin introduces the holy guardian angel to modern readers.
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1908
The Kybalion
The seven Hermetic principles are published in Chicago.
Recovery
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1945
Nag Hammadi
Farmers near Nag Hammadi in Egypt find a jar of Coptic books containing the Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth and parts of the Asclepius. See Hermetic rebirth.
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1945 to 1954
The critical edition
The Greek and Latin Hermetica appear in a critical edition with a French translation, the foundation of all later scholarship.
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Since then
Reliable translations
Careful English translations of the Corpus Hermeticum, the Asclepius and the fragments become widely available, and historians take up the Hermetic tradition as a serious subject.