Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese[3] and was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC.[4] In China and Tibet, mercury use was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and maintain generally good health. China's first emperor, Qín Sh? Huáng Dì — said to have been buried in a tomb that contained rivers of flowing mercury, representative of the rivers of China — was killed by drinking a mercury and powdered Jade mixture (failing liver, poison, brain death) intended to give him eternal life.[5] The ancient Greeks used mercury in ointments; the ancient Egyptians and the Romans used it in cosmetics which sometimes deformed the face. By 500 BC mercury was used to make amalgams with other metals. The Indian word for alchemy is Rasav?tam which means "the way of mercury".
Alchemists often thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed. They believed that different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulfur contained within the mercury. The purest of these was gold, and mercury was required for the transmutation of base (or impure) metals into gold as was the goal of many alchemists.
Hg is the modern chemical symbol for mercury. It comes from hydrargyrum, a Latinized form of the Greek word `?????????? (hydrargyros), which is a compound word meaning "water" and "silver" — since it is liquid, like water, and yet has a silvery metallic sheen. The element was named after the Roman god Mercury, known for speed and mobility. It is associated with the planet Mercury. The astrological symbol for the planet is also one of the alchemical symbols for the metal. Mercury is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name became the common name.
