Was the virgin mary a TOKER?
Jerusalem, A thriving Bronze Age drug trade supplied narcotics to
ancient cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean as balm for the
pain of childbirth and disease, proving a sophisticated knowledge of
medicines dating back thousands of years, researchers say.
Ancient Ceramic pots, most of them nearly identical in shape and about
five inches long, have been found in tombs and settlements throughout
the Middle East, dating as far back as 1400 B.C., said Joe Zias, an
anthropologist at Jerusalem=92s Hebrew University.
The drugs were probably used as medicine, and the finds are helping
researchers better understand how ancient people treated illness and
disease.
=93It=92s a window to the past that many people are unaware of,=94 Zias told
a recent conference in Israel on DNA and archaeology. =93Here=92s something
used in prehistoric times, and it=92s used until today.=94
When turned upside down, the thin-necked vessels with round bases
resemble opium poppies pods. If there was any doubt about what was
inside, the round bases have white markings, designs that symbolized
knife cuts made on poppies bulbs so the white opium base can ooze and
be harvested, Zias said.
The Mycenaean ceramics were analyzed with a procedure called gas
chromatography that turned up traces of opium.
Hundreds of the pots have been found, and they commonly show up in the
hands of antiquities dealers in places like Jerusalem=92s Old City. =93Give
me an hour there and I could find you 10 of them,=94 Zias said.
PAIN RELIEVER
Based on ancient Egyptian medical writings from the 3rd millennium
B.C., researchers believe opium and hashish =97 a smokable drug that
comes from the concentrated resin from the flowers of hemp plants =97
were used during surgery and to treat aches and pains and other
ailments. Hashish was also used to ease menstrual cramps and was even
offered to women during childbirth.
Based on Egyptian writings, archaeologists believe the opium was eaten
rather than smoked.
The drugs are part of a medical record that shows the ancients were far
more advanced than most people realize, Zias said, noting evidence that
European people did cranial surgery as long as 10,000 years ago, while
the Romans left records of 120 surgical procedures.
Mark Spigelman, a Zias colleague at Hebrew University, found one of the
poppy-shaped ceramic pots from the middle Bronze Age in Siqqura, a Giza
cemetery near the pyramids outside of Cairo during a dig four years
ago. The pot, found in an Egyptian grave from the 18th Dynasty, was
identical to other pots found throughout ancient Israel and the Middle
East.
=93These guys were selling opium all over the Middle East,=94 Spigelman
said. =93This is the original Medellin cartel, 3,500 years ago,=94 he said
in a joking reference to the violent Colombian cocaine cartel.
It seems more likely, however, that the ancient trade was run by
respected healers rather than violent drug lords.
=93We know for sure these things were used for medical purposes,=94 Zias
said. =93The question is whether they were used for recreational
purposes.=94
HASHISH AIDED DELIVERY
In an archaeologically rich area of central Israel, Zias found another
clue. While excavating a tomb from the late Roman period in the town of
Beit Shemesh 10 years ago, he found the skeleton of a 14-year-old girl
who died in childbirth around A.D. 390. On her stomach was a fleck of a
burnt brownish-black substance.
=93I thought it was incense,=94 Zias said. But when he had it analyzed by
police and chemists at Hebrew University, it turned out to be a 7-gram
mixture of hashish, dried seeds, fruit and common reeds.
Seven glass vessels containing traces of the drug were found near the
skeleton. She probably used them to inhale the smoky cocktail to aid
her delivery. Medical researchers have found that other than relaxing
the user, hashish increases the force and frequency of contractions in
women giving birth; and it was used in deliveries until the 19th
century, after which new drugs were developed.
But it didnt help this girl, who was only 4 feet 6 inches tall. She
bled to death.
The drug was an extremely rare find. Organic compounds quickly decay,
but because this one had been burned it was carbonized and preserved.
=93It=92s the first time it=92s ever been found in terms of direct evidence
in an archaeological dig,=94 Zias said. =93You rarely find direct evidence
of drugs in antiquity.=94
Note: Opium, hashish traces found on ceramic pots, tomb remains.
