

I noticed that in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, alchemy didn't exist until
The Dwarf in the Flask came into existence. I also noticed is that the great
teachers of alchemy were Father in the West, and Hohenheim in the East.

So with this information, I think that if The Dwarf in the Flask was never
created, then alchemy itself would never have existed. How were they able to
obtain The Dwarf in the Flask?


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What are the origins of alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist?


It was never fully explained, when and how alchemy was "invented", but it's
known that Xerxes was one of the first countries to know alchemy. It already
existed when the dwarf in the flask was created, as he was created using
alchemy. The creation of the dwarf in the flask just increased the knowledge
because it knew much about alchemy and helped the alchemists gaining
knowledge.


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As [@looper](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/122/looper)
[says](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4425/274), alchemy did exist before
the Dwarf in the Flask was created. In fact, the man who created the Dwarf
would later become Van Hohenheim's teacher. I don't believe much of alchemy
was ever used in Xerxes in general, but the king was a big supporter of it,
enough that he would later bet his own life on it and ask for immortality.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/U8Ugq.png)

It's also hinted that alchemy was what created aspects of the universe. In the
last few episodes of the series,

> Father absorbs the entity known as "God" (the Eye of God behind the gate)
> and gains the ability to simply create a sun in the palm of his hand, at a
> whim.

It is suggested that this very same power was once used, by either [Truth or
God](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/87/274), to create the stars and
planets in the universe. That would mean that alchemy has always existed, but
was just brought to light by the Xerxians, and the word was spread by Father
and Hohenheim during their travels.


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I'm certain that the Alchemy used by Xerxes was far more spiritual in nature
than Modern Alchemy and Alkahestry. Mostly because the ability to transmute
would have made digging the nationwide transmutation circle a much easier task
than it was shown in the Xerxes flashback... and probably a lot bloodier too
going by how they used slaves for their experiments. Probably drew power from
Blood to be honest, since it has the same sympathetic connections that seem to
connect Tectonic Movements and the Water Cycle...


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