Ostanes

Ostanes (c. 400 BC also: Osthanes ) was a legendary sage in pre-Islamic times. According to some sources he was born in Alexandria, according to other data from the Persian Empire. The Turkish orientalist Fuat Sezgin indicates the historical Ostanes should " have been a spiritual successor of Zoroaster in the grounds of astrology and have probably lived in the fifth century BC ." He is frequently quoted in the Arabic and Persian alchemical literature as an authority. An Arabic treatise entitled Kitab al - Fusul al - ithnay ' ashar fi' ilm al - hajar al - Mukarram ( The book of the twelve chapters on the honorable stone) is attributed to him.

Pliny the Elder reported in his Naturalis Historia that Ostanes as Hofwahrsager of Xerxes I. This was followed on the train to Greece, have written magical writings and made ​​this discipline ever known in Greece.