The Mystery of the Cocaine Mummies [Transcript]
Posted on 05/29/2007 6:47:52 PM PDT by blam
Voyage to prove pharaohs traded cocaine
By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 2:21am BST 30/05/2007
An adventurer who believes that ancient man regularly crossed the Atlantic Ocean 14,000 years ago plans to recreate such a voyage in a 41ft raft made of reeds and eucalyptus tree branches.
Basing his theory on the thinnest of historical evidence, Dominique Gorlitz believes that the discovery of traces of tobacco and cocaine in the tomb of the pharaoh Rameses II proves that there was trade between the Old and New Worlds.
He also claims that 14,000-year-old cave paintings in Spain show that, even then, men had an intricate knowledge of sea currents.
"Why is it so difficult to accept that ancient man explored the world?" Mr Gorlitz told the New York Times.
More than 25 volunteers are building the craft at a marina in New Jersey in preparation for the crossing attempt in July, manned by a 12-strong crew.
Mr Gorlitz, 40, a former schoolteacher from Chemnitz, Germany, based the ship's design on a 6,000-year-old African drawing.
Part of the vessel was built by Amyra Indians in Bolivia and then shipped to America.
The expedition echoes the 3,800 mile journey across the Pacific in the Kon-Tiki in 1947 by the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled in Polynesia in Pre-Columbian times.
To prove his theory, he sailed across the Pacific in 1947 from Peru in a balsa wood boat.
After 101 days, he smashed his boat into a reef 4,300 miles away in the Tuamotu Islands, proving it was possible that people could have accomplished such a journey with ease.
Mr Gorlitz's ship, the Abora III, will use modern navigation equipment. However, unlike the Kon-Tiki, it will sail against the prevailing currents and winds.
Many historians are sceptical about Mr Gorlitz's theory.
"There's this 99.9 per cent certainty that it didn't happen, because we don't have evidence that it happened," said Kenneth Feder, an anthropology professor at the Central Connecticut State University. Prof Feder said the mishmash of materials and time periods that will have gone into creating the ship will mean that the voyage will provide little of scientific value.
He asked: "If the boat succeeds, what have they proved?
"That a Bolivian boat can cross the Atlantic?" Undeterred, Mr Gorlitz is trying to raise around £279,000 for the expedition.
He is also looking for more volunteers to sail with him in July.
Although he does not have a sailing licence, Mr Gorlitz will be steering the vessel himself.
"It's like kung fu," the explorer said.
"The less you know, the better."
The craft's construction engineer will also make the journey, a particularly brave commitment to its seaworthiness, because he cannot swim.
I wonder if my pharoah hound’s ancestors went along for the ride? You know they are sight hounds.
The dude on the right has some serious issues. He evolved a longer snout to better snort the cocaine no doubt. Unnerstan this was before the WOD (war on drugs). But no doubt they were fun to party with.
Although he does not have a sailing licence, Mr Gorlitz will be steering the vessel himself.
"It's like kung fu," the explorer said. "The less you know, the better."
Well, sure! I'll sail across the Atlantic Ocean with him...
Thanks, that’s a new one for me! From what I’m seeing, the Chachapoyas first seem to show up around 200-800 AD, so I’m thinking they may have a different explanation than the Egyptian coke.
What could go wrong? Count *me* in.
Keith Richards?.
German man hopes to sail raft made of reeds across Atlantic
Newsday | May 28, 2007 | author
Posted on 05/28/2007 10:51:52 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
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” But no doubt they were fun to party with.”
Dancin’ by the Nile,
The ladies love his style,
Rockin’ for a mile
He ate a crocodile.
Nymphaea caerulea, known primarily as blue lotus (or blue Egyptian lotus), but also blue water lily (or blue Egyptian water lily), and sacred blue lily (or sacred narcotic lily of the nile), is a water-lily in the genus Nymphaea. Like other species in the genus, the plant contains the psychoactive alkaloid apomorphine. It was known to the Mayan and Ancient Egyptian civilisations. Its original habitat may have been along the Nile and other parts of East Africa. It spread more widely in ancient times, including to the Indian Subcontinent and Thailand.
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