One of the important results of the contact between the Egyptian and Greek traditions in Alexandria was the emergence of a particular school of wisdom known as Hermeticism. This school left a profound mark upon the science and philosophy of both the Western world and Islam. During the Middle Ages, Christians, Jews and Muslims considered Hermes to be the founder of the sciences. Indeed, treatises attributed to him were studied by scholars of nearly every branch of science. During this period such Muslim figures as Jabir ibn Hayyan,1 the Ikhwan al-Safa', al-Jildakl, al-Majriti, Ibn Slna and SuhrawardI, and also important Western thinkers such as Raymond Lull, Albert the Great, Roger Bacon and Robert Grosseteste were profoundly influenced by Hermeticism, the Western figures mostly through contact with Islamic sources. Also during the Renaissance in the West added interest in the Hermetic tradition was seen in the writings of such well-known scientists and philosophers as Ficino, Agrippa, Paracelsus and even Bruno.2 It may further be added that the thinkers of the Renaissance used Hermeticism to dethrone the reigning Aristotelian world view and in certain cases even Christianity itself.3