[5][6] She is credited with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first true alchemist of the Western world.

George Syncellus, a Byzantine chronicler of the 8th century, presented Mary as a teacher of Democritus, whom she had met in Memphis, Egypt, during the time of Pericles.

The 10th century Kitāb al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim cited Mary as one of the 52 most famous alchemists and stated that she was able to prepare caput mortuum, a purple pigment.

[10] Of Mary's Greek works only fragments survive as quoted by Zosimos of Panopolis, pseudo-Olympiodorus and other later authors.

She is said to have spoken of the union of opposites:[16] Join the male and the female, and you will find what is sought.Mary, along with Agathodaemon, Pseudo-Democritus, and Hermes Trismegistus, was mentioned by Zosimos of Panopolis in his descriptions of certain devices, such as the tribikos, the kerotakis, and the bain-marie.

[17] The tribikos (Greek: τριβικός) was a kind of alembic with three arms that was used to obtain substances purified by distillation.

[18] The kerotakis (Greek: κηροτακίς or κυροτακίς), is a device used to heat substances used in alchemy and to collect vapors.