An alembic (from Arabic Al-inbiq الأنبيق) is an alchemical still consisting of two retorts connecte by a tube. Technically, the alembic is only the upper part (the capital or still-head), while the lower part is the cucurbit, but the word was often used to refer to the entire distillation apparatus. The alembic was developed circa 800 AD by the Persian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan; its modern descendant (used to produce alcohol) is the pot still.