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The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition

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Part of the book series: Archimedes ((ARIM,volume 37))

Abstract

What is Graeco-Egyptian alchemy? Which kinds of techniques and craft practices does it encompass? And what were its goals? The paper addresses these questions by investigating the earliest Greek alchemical texts preserved both in Byzantine and in Syriac manuscripts. Already during the first centuries AD, in the Graeco-Roman Egypt it is possible to recognize some disagreement over the definition of alchemy and its expected outcomes. On the one hand, ps.-Democritus’s four books and the Leiden and Stockholm papyri support a fourfold division of alchemy including processes for making gold, silver, and precious stones (glass working included), and for dyeing wool purple. On the other hand, Isis’s treatise focuses only on the making of precious metals, which is identified with the main goal of alchemy during the late Byzantine tradition. In the process that led to such a simplification of the technical background of alchemy Zosimus’s work seems to represent an important turning point. In fact the author inherited the above mentioned polarity and discussed different ideas of alchemy in a key text (here edited and translated into English for the first time) on the revelation of alchemy based on the Enochian myth of the fallen angels.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Mertens, “Greco-Egyptian Alchemy,” 220–5.

  2. 2.

    Edition by Bidez, Épitre sur la Chrysopée, 30, 16–31, 9: “Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἱκανῶς ἡμῖν πεπροοιμίασται ὡς αἱ τῶν ὑλῶν μεταβολαὶ φυσικήν τινα ἀλλοίωσιν ἔχουσιν καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἐπῳδῆς τινος ἢ τερατείας ἢ ἄλλης ἀρρητουργίας (διὸ καὶ θαυμάζειν οὐ χρή), ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἢδη σοι τὴν τέχνην χωρῶ τῆς μεταβολῆς. Ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὖν καθολικήν τινά σοι τεχνολογίαν ποιήσασθαι καὶ πᾶσαν ὑλουργίαν διερευνήσασθαι, […] διδάξαι τε τί μὲν τὸ τὸν κρύσταλλον ἀραιοῦν, τί δὲ τὸ τὸν ὑάκινθον, καὶ πῶς ἄν τις καὶ σμάραγδον οὐκ ὄντα ποιήσῃ καὶ βήρυλλον, τίς δὲ ἡ φύσις τοῦ τὰς λίθους ἁπάσας μαλάττοντος, καὶ πῶς μὲν ἡ μαργαρῖτις λυθείη καὶ εἰς ὕδωρ ἀναλυθείη, πῶς δ’ αὖθις συμπαγείη καὶ σφαιρωθείη, τίς δὲ ὁ λόγος τῆς τοῦτων λευκάνσεως […]· ἐπεὶ δὲ σὺ σχολάζειν ἡμᾶς ἐν τοῖς περιττοῖς οὐκ ἐᾷς οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀσπουδάστοις καταναλίσκειν πᾶν τὸ φιλότιμον, τοῦτο δὲ μόνον διερευνῆσαι προῄρησαι ἐκ τίνων ὑλῶν καὶ διὰ ποίας τῆς ἐπιστήμης χρυσὸν ἄν τις ποιήσειε, ταύτην μόνην τὴν τεχνολογίαν σοι δίειμι.” For an Italian commented translation, see Albini, Michele Psello.

  3. 3.

    Meteorology represents an important aspect of Psellos’s natural philosophy; the scholar devoted to this topic both many chapters of his De Omnifaria Doctrina (§§ 139–78 in Westerink, Omnifaria Doctrina) and some specific essays (see Bidez, Épitre sur la Chrysopée, 51–70; and Duffy, Michaelis Pselli, texts 19–31). On the relations between Psellos’s alchemical interests and his investigation of the physical world, see Katsiampoura, “Transmutation of Matter,” 665–7.

  4. 4.

    “τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὕδωρ πηγνύμενον λιθοῦται εἰς κρύσταλλον [and] τοῦτο εἰς ἀτμίδα λυόμενον ἀὴρ καθίσταται.”

  5. 5.

    In § 4 Psellos explains the petrifaction of an oak struck by a lightning strike: a quick and sharp lightning does not only make the oak black, but consumes all its humidity and transforms the wood into stone.

  6. 6.

    See infra, § 3.

  7. 7.

    The entry continues by telling how the emperor Diocletian (284–305) made to burn all the Egyptian books on alchemy (in the Greek text: “περὶ χημείας χρυσοῦ και ἀργύρου”); this information probably depends on the Chronicle ( Ἰστορία χρονική) of John of Antioch (active under Heraclius’s reign, 610–641): see fragment 280 in Roberto, Ioannis Antiocheni Fragmenta.

  8. 8.

    I have quoted the translation proposed by Dodge (The Fihrist, 841), who checked several manuscripts (see pp. xxiii–xxxiv) not taken into account by Flügel, who edited the Arabic text. In Flügel’s edition (Kitāb al-Fihrist, vol. II, 351) the passage reads: , translated by Fück, “Arabic Literature of Alchemy,” 88, as follows: “The adepts of the Art of Alchemy, which is the art of making gold and silver without (recourse to) mining.”

  9. 9.

    The expression literally means ‘stone of sadness.’ Berthelot & Duval, Chimie, 133 translated it as ‘pierre philosophale.’ Instead of (‘sadness, grieving’), I read (‘black, dark’); on the tendency of identifying ‘alchemy’ with the substance used for transforming vile metals into gold and silver, see Gildemeister, “Alchymie.”

  10. 10.

    The term is often used in the lexicon (Duval, Lexicon Syriacum, vol. I, 78,12; 114,14; 222,5 and 20; 239,5; and vol. III, 160, s.v. ), especially in the expression . In Duval’s opinion, the term is an early corruption for .

  11. 11.

    See (a) the fourth part of the Zuqnīq Chronicle or Chronicle of ps.-Dyonisus of Tell-Mahre, edited by Chabot, Pseudo-Dyonysianum, 66; (b) the chronicle of Michael the Syrian, edited by Chabot, Michel le Syrien, 474; (c) the anonymous chronicle edited by Brooks, “Syriac Fragment,” 217–8.

  12. 12.

    For instance, the story is told by the geographer Ibn al-Faqīh al-Hamaḍani (Goeje, Ibn al-Faqῑn al-Hamaḏānῑ, 137–9; French transl. by Massé, Abrégé du Livre de Pays, 164–6); see Strohmaier, “Umāra ibn Ḥamza,” 21–2.

  13. 13.

    Bidez, Épitre sur la Chrysopée, 40,7–8: “Τί οὖν; πᾶσάν σοι τὴν Ἀβδηριτικὴν σοφίαν ἀνακαλύψομεν ἐν βραχεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν ἐντὸς τοῦ ἀδύτου ἀφήσομεν.”

  14. 14.

    The Greek text reads: “Ἐν ᾧ οὖν πρόκειται ἡμῖν εἰπεῖν τίς ἄν εἴη ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐκεῖνος, ὁ φιλόσοφος Δημόκριτος, ἐλθὼν ἀπὸ Ἀβδήρων, φυσικὸς ὢν καὶ πάντα τὰ φυσικὰ ἐρευνήσας καὶ συγγραψάμενος τὰ ὄντα κατὰ φύσιν. Ἄβδηρα δέ ἐστι πόλις Θρᾴκης, ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ λογιώτατος, ὃς ἐλθὼν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐμυσταγωγήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ μεγάλου Ὀστάνου ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τῆς Μέμφεως, σὺν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν Αἰγύπτου. Ἐκ τούτου λαβὼν ἀφορμάς, συνεγράψατο βίβλους τέσσαρας βαφικάς, περὶ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ λίθων καὶ πορφύρας.” First edition in Berthelot & Ruelle, Anciens alchimistes grecs, vol. II, 57 (hereafter CAAG).

  15. 15.

    The most recent edition is by Halleux, Papyrus de Leyde; for a general overview on the contents of the two papyri, see, in particular, 13–7. English translation in Caley, “Leiden Papyrus X,” and “Stockholm Papyrus.”

  16. 16.

    See, for instance, ps.-Dem. Alch. PM § 20, ll. 215–24 in Martelli, Pseudo-Democrito, 202–4 (= CAAG II 49), 135–48.

  17. 17.

    On ps.-Democritus’s catalogues of dyestuffs, see Martelli, Pseudo-Democrito, 83–90.

  18. 18.

    The Greek text reads (= CAAG II 47–8): “Εἰ ἐν τούτοις ὑπῆρχον ἀσκούμενοι οἱ νέοι, οὐκ ἂν ἐδυστύχουν, κρίσει ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις ὁρμῶντες· οὐ γὰρ ἐπίστανται τὰ τῶν φύσεων ἀντιπαθῆ, ὡς ἓν εἶδος δέκα ἀνατρέпει. Ῥανὶς γὰρ ἐλαίου οἶδε пολλὴν ἀφανίσαι πορφύραν, καὶ ὀλίγον θεῖον εἴδη κατακαῦσαι πολλά.”

  19. 19.

    See Martelli, Pseudo-Democrito, 180–205 (and 73–9) = CAAG II 41–9.

  20. 20.

    See Martelli, Pseudo-Democrito, 206–16 (and 79–83) = CAAG II 49–53.

  21. 21.

    Edited in CAAG II 350–64; the Greek title reads: “καταβαφὴ λίθων καὶ σμαράγδων καὶ ὑακίνθων ἐκ τοῦ ἀδύτου τῶν ἱερῶν ἐκδοθέντος βιβλίου.” The earliest testimonies are the manuscripts Parisinus gr. 2325 (13th century; fols. 160v–173v), and Parisinus gr. 2327 (15th century; fol. 147r–159r).

  22. 22.

    See, in particular, for Democritus: CAAG II 353,11–25, and 354,12–357,19; for Ostanes: CAAG II 351,16–28, and 352,10 (fragments reedited by Bidez & Cumont, Mages hellénisés, vol. II, 323–4); for Moses: CAAG II 353,19; for Maria: CAAG II 351,23; 352,2–8; 355,1, and 257,19.

  23. 23.

    I have followed the more recent edition by Mertens, Lettre d’Isis, 128–31: “Ἴσις προφῆτις τῷ υἱῷ Ὥρῳ. Ἀπιέναι σου μέλλοντος, ὦ τέκνον, ἐπὶ ἀπίστου Τυφῶνος μάχης καταγωνίσασθαι περὶ τοῦ πατρός σου βασιλείας, γεναμένης μου <πρὸς> Ὁρμανουθί, <…> ἱερᾶς τέχνης Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἱκανὸν χρόνον διέτριβον. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν τῶν καιρῶν παραχώρησιν, καὶ τὴν τῆς σφαιρικῆς κινήσεως ἀναγκαίαν φοράν, συνέβη τινὰ τῶν ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ στερεώματι διατριβόντων, ἕνα τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἄνωθεν ἐπιθεωρήσαντά με, βουληθῆναι τῆς πρὸς ἐμὲ μίξεως κοινωνίαν ποιῆσαι. Φθάσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς τοῦτο γίγνεσθαι μέλλοντος, οὐκ ἐπέτρεπον ἐγώ, πυνθάνεσθαι βουλομένη τὴν τοῦ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου κατασκευήν. Ἐμοῦ δὲ τοῦτο αὐτῷ ἐρωτησάσης, <οὐκ> ἔφη ὁ αὐτὸς ἐφίεσθαι περὶ τοῦτο ἐξειπεῖν, διὰ τὴν τῶν μυστηρίων ὑπερβολήν, τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ παραγίγνεσθαι τὸν τούτου μείζονα ἄγγελον Ἀμναήλ, κἀκεῖνον ἱκανὸν εἶναι περὶ τῆς τούτων ζητήσεως ἐπίλυσιν ποιήσασθαι. […] Τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ ἐπεμφανίσας καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου μέσον δρόμου ποιοῦντος, κατῆλθεν ὁ τούτου μείζων Ἀμναήλ. Τῷ αὐτῷ περὶ ἐμὲ ληφθεὶς πόθῳ οὐκ ἀνέμενεν, ἀλλ’ ἔσπευδεν ἐφ’ οὗ καὶ παρῆν· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ἧττον ἐφρόντιζον περὶ τούτων ἐρευνᾶν. Ἐγχρονίζοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἐπεδίδουν ἑαυτήν, ἀλλ’ ἐπεκράτουν τῆς τούτου ἐπιθυμίας ἄχρις ἂν τὸ σημεῖον τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐπιδεικνύηται καὶ τὴν τῶν ζητουμένων μυστηρίων παράδοσιν ἀφθόνως καὶ ἀληθῶς ποιήσηται.” The beginning of the story clearly refers to the Egyptian myth of Horus fighting against Seth, the killer of his father Osiris. The identification between the Egyptian god Seth and Typhon is quite common in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt: see, for instance, Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 41 (= 367d): “τὸν Τυφῶνα Σὴθ Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσι.” – “Egyptians gives to Seth the name of Typhon.” On the other hand, the toponym Ὁρμανουθί is not clear and not otherwise attested. Probably it refers to an Egyptian city, although it does not match any of the five towns, where alchemy was practiced according to CAAG II 26. Various corrections of the form Ὁρμανουθί have been proposed: see, in particular, Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 141, no. 3 (who proposed Ὁρμαχουθί, lit. ‘Horus of Edfu’), and Mertens, Lettre d’Isis, 56–60 (who proposed Μενουθί, that is an area in the Egyptian city of Canopus).

  24. 24.

    Mertens, Lettre d’Isis, 134–8 = CAAG II 31–3.

  25. 25.

    Mertens, Lettre d’Isis, 138, ll. 113–6 = CAAG II 33, § 16.

  26. 26.

    The secondary literature on 1Enoch is vast; for a general introduction on its content, see, for example, Knibb, Book of Enoch, 7–35. For a recent English translation of the Ethiopic text, see Black, Book of Enoch.

  27. 27.

    These manuscripts have been found in cave 4; the Aramaic text has been edited and translated by Milik, Books of Enoch, Aramaic fragments.

  28. 28.

    Baar, “Aramaic-Greek Notes,” 191–2.

  29. 29.

    Translation by Adler & Tuffin, George Synkellos, 17. The Greek text reads: “Οὗτοι καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἐν τῷ αροʹ ἔτει τοῦ κόσμου ἔλαβον ἐαυτοῖς γυναῖκας καὶ ἤρξατο μιαίνεσθαι ἐν αὐταῖς ἔως τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ. […] καὶ ἦσαν αὑξανόμενοι κατὰ τῆν μεγαλειότητα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐδίδαξαν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἑαυτῶν φαρμακείας καὶ ἐπαοιδίας. πρῶτος Ἀζαὴλ ὁ δέκατος τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐδίδαξε ποιεῖν μαχαίρας καὶ θώρακας καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος πολεμικὸν καὶ τὰ μέταλλα τῆς γῆς καὶ τὸ χρυσίον πῶς ἐργάσωνται, καὶ ποιήσωσιν αὐτὰ κόσμια ταῖς γυναιξί, καὶ τὸν ἄργυρον. ἔδειξε δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ στίλβειν καὶ τὸ καλλωπίζειν καὶ τοὺς ἐκλέκτους λίθους καὶ τὰ βαφικά.”

  30. 30.

    The title Imouth is not elsewhere attested in Zosimus’s treatises handed down by the Byzantine tradition. Moreover, the reference to the ninth book is not confirmed by the Syriac tradition, where this passage is included in the eighth book by Zosimus. The Arabic Tome of Images (Muṣḥaf aṣ-ṣuwar), preserved under the name of the Egyptian alchemist (although its authenticity is questioned; see Hallum, “Tome of Images”) preserves a similar account in the sixth book, entitled Book About the Nature or Book of Imouth (see Abt & Fuad, Book of Pictures, 393, 22).

  31. 31.

    The woman to whom Zosimus usually addresses his treatises; perhaps a pupil of the alchemist: see Hallum, “Theosebeia.”

  32. 32.

    The term Chēmeu (hapax) is likely to be the title of the book in which the teaching of angels was revealed. The alchemist Olympiodorus (CAAG II 80,13) refers to a similar book entitled βίβλος χημευτική. Moreover, in the Corpus alchemicum graecum several authors mention the alchemist Chēmēs (Χημής) or Chymēs (Χυμής), whose name seems to be related to the book Chēmeu; see Letrouit, “Alchimistes grecs,” 72–4.

  33. 33.

    Translation by Adler & Tuffin, George Synkellos, 18–9 (slightly modified). The Greek text reads: “Ἄξιον δὲ καὶ Ζωσίμου τοῦ Πανοπολίτου φιλοσόφου χρῆσίν τινα παραθέσθαι περὶ αὐτῶν ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων αὐτῷ πρὸς Θεοσέβειαν ἐν τῷ ἐνάτῳ τῆς Ἰμοὺθ βίβλῳ, ἔχουσαν ὧδε. ‘φάσκουσιν αἱ ἱεραὶ γραφαὶ ἤτοι βίβλοι, ὦ γύναι, ὅτι ἔστι τι δαιμόνων γένος ὃ χρῆται γυναιξίν. ἐμνημόνευσε δὲ καὶ Ἑρμῆς ἐν τοῖς φυσικοῖς, καὶ σχεδὸν ἅπας λόγος φανερὸς καὶ ἀπόκρυφος τοῦτο ἐμνημόνευσε. τοῦτο οὖν ἔφασαν αἱ ἀρχαῖαι καὶ θεῖαι γραφαί, ὅτι ἄγγελοί τινες ἐπεθύμησαν τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ κατελθόντες ἐδίδαξαν αὐτὰς πάντα τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἔργα, ὧν χάριν, φησί, προσκρούσαντες ἔξω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔμειναν, ὅτι πάντα τὰ πονηρὰ καὶ μηδὲν ὠφελοῦντα τὴν ψυχὴν ἐδίδαξαν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ἐξ αὐτῶν φάσκουσιν αἱ αὐταὶ γραφαὶ καὶ τοὺς γίγαντας γεγενῆσθαι. ἔστιν οὖν αὐτῶν ἡ πρώτη παράδοσις [Χημεῦ] περὶ τούτων τῶν τεχνῶν. ἐκάλεσαν (ἐκάλεσε in Mosshammer’s edition) δὲ ταύτην τὴν βίβλον Χημεῦ, ἔνθεν καὶ ἡ τέχνη χημεία καλεῖται’ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.” I have introduced two changes in Mosshammer’s edition. First, I’ve followed Mertens’s suggestion (Lettre d’Isis, 67) to expunge the first Χημεῦ as an interpolation (the term is not attested in this position by the Syriac tradition). Secondly, in the last line I corrected ἐκάλεσε into ἐκάλεσαν in accordance with the Syriac translation that

  34. 34.

    Berthelot & Duval, Chimie, 239, considered the philosopher (i.e. ps.-Democritus) as the author of the following quotation. Although the ancient alchemist is cited few lines before (49v18), this identification is not certain.

  35. 35.

    See Fraser, “Zosimos of Panopolis.” For a new and reliable edition of the first treatise, see Mertens, Zosime de Panopolis, 1–10. The second treatise has been reedited by Festugière, Révélation d’Hermès, 363–8 (translation at 275–81).

  36. 36.

    Festugière, Révélation d’Hermès, 363–5 (=CAAG II 239–40). See also Mertens, Zosime de Panopolis, 62–3 notes 9–10.

  37. 37.

    Festugière, Révélation d’Hermès, 364, ll. 22–4 (= CAAG II 242,17), 365, ll. 12–4 (= CAAG II 242,8–17). In addition, it is worth mentioning the passage edited in CAAG II 242,9–24 (not reedited by Festugière, because ‘assez obscure’, see 278 note 1), which gives a kind of summary of ps.-Democritus’s work by presenting several dyestuffs used by the alchemist as example of καιρικαὶ βαφαί.

  38. 38.

    Festugière, Révélation d’Hermès, 366–7, §§ 6–7 (= CAAG II 243–4, §§ 6–7).

  39. 39.

    Festugière, Révélation d’Hermès, 365, ll. 15–20 (= CAAG II 242,10–6). The name of Isidoros appears also in the list of alchemists handed down by the Marcianus gr. 299 (fol. 7v); see CAAG I 110.

  40. 40.

    We cannot exclude the possibility that other treatises circulating under the name of Hermes referred to or reused the Enochian myth of the fallen angels. In particular, according to a passage of the alchemist Olympiodorus (CAAG II 89,9–15), we know that the above-mentioned treatise ascribed to Isis (see supra, § 2), or at least some parts of it, was attributed to Hermes. This overlap between Hermes and Isis is not surprising, especially if read in the light of the so-called Corpus Hermeticum, which includes several writings where the Egyptian goddess addresses her teaching to Horus (see, for instance, Stobei fragmenta, xxiii–xxvii). Therefore, Zosimus could have had in mind Isis’s book, when he mentioned Hermes’s Physika: see Scott, Hermetica, 151.

  41. 41.

    The Syriac text of these twelve treatises is still unedited (an edition with English translation is scheduled to be published within the new series ‘Sources of alchemy and chemistry’ distributed as a supplement of Ambix); a partial French translation is available in Berthelot & Duval, Chimie, 210–66.

  42. 42.

    Hunter, “Beautiful Black Bronzes,” 656–7. The three recipes that have been edited correspond with the texts translated or summarized by Berthelot & Duval, Chimie, 223 (rec. 2), 224–5 (rec. 8–9), 225 (rec. 12); and Giumlia-Mair, “Zosimos the Alchemist,” 319–21.

  43. 43.

    See, for example, Giumlia-Mair, “Krokodil.”

  44. 44.

    See, for instance, Halleux, Papyrus de Leyde, 53–62.

  45. 45.

    Halleux & Meyvaert, “Mappae clavicula,” 12–3.

  46. 46.

    A French translation of the passage is available in Berthelot & Duval, Chimie, 238–9.

  47. 47.

    The sense of the sentence, in which (the books of kwmw) seems to be the object of (they called), is difficult; perhaps must be supplied before . In addition the plural form ‘the books’ does not correspond with the Greek version that has a singular. The plural might be justified in the light of the following part, according to which the book revealed by demons was divided into several tomes.

  48. 48.

    The word is indecipherable; see infra, fol. 50r11 .

  49. 49.

    The term (see also 50r12) is likely to be a slightly different spelling of .

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Appendix

Appendix

Zosimus’s passage on the relevation of alchemy as preserved by the Syriac manuscript Mm. 6.29, fols. 49r–50r:Footnote 46

Footnote 47 Footnote 48 Footnote 49

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Martelli, M. (2014). The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition. In: Dupré, S. (eds) Laboratories of Art. Archimedes, vol 37. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05065-2_1

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