Home > Chemical Elements > Antimony

Overview

Antimony compounds have been used by humans for centuries. Women of ancient Egypt used stibic stone, antimony sulfide, (Sb₂S₃), to darken their eyes. Antimony was also used in making colored glazes for beads and glassware. The chemical symbol for antimony was taken from the ancient name for the element, stibium. Not recognized as a chemical element until the Middle Ages, antimony became a common material used by alchemists.

Alchemy was a kind of pre-science that existed from about 500 B.C. to about the end of the 16th century. Alchemists wanted to find a way of changing lead, iron, and other metals into gold. They also wanted to find a way of having eternal life. Alchemy contained too much magic and mysticism to be a real science, but alchemists developed a number of techniques and produced many new materials that were later...