Drug Trade Thrived in Biblical Times

MSNBC ^ | 8/6/2002 | Jason Keyser

[WindMinstrel]

JERUSALEM, Aug. 6 — 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’s Hebrew University. The drugs were probably used as medicine, and the finds are helping researchers better understand how ancient people treated illness and disease. “It’s a window to the past that many people are unaware of,” Zias told a recent conference in Israel on DNA and archaeology. “Here’s something used in prehistoric times, and it’s used until today.”

[Phantom Lord]

Egyptian mummies have tested postive for cocaine. The big mystery is how did they get it?

[WindMinstrel]

I thought those drug tests could only pick up use in the last WEEK! Now you're telling me it's millenia? Must be one of those hair tests, eh?

[gcruse]

Ancient ceramic pot. Hmmmm. Be careful buying from Abdul. Egypt me.

[El Gato]

to treat aches and pains and other ailments. Hashish was also used to ease menstrual cramps and was even offered to women during childbirth.

It still hurt, but you didn't care. :)

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I guess that explains the hyroglyphics in King Tuts tomb that translated to "Ra says to never bogart the rolling papyrus".

[Phantom Lord]

I can't remember the details regarding the mummies and cocaine. But my memory is telling me that it was included in some of the 'stuff' that they filled the emptied body cavity with. I could be wrong on that. I just remember seeing a show on TLC or Discovery several times about how anceint egyptians had cocaine and they couldnt figure out where they got it from or how they got it.

The show was mostly about the mystery of their having it and wondering how they got it.