“Ancient Mug Unveils the Psychedelic Secrets of Egyptian Rituals”
A 2,000-year-old mug produces the first physical evidence that the ancient Egyptians used hallucinogens, proving the old myths to be true, they were definitely getting high.
As part of the Mediterranean Diet Archeology project, an international team of researchers performed chemical and DNA analyses of the contents of an ancient Egyptian mug.
After scraping the walls of the mug, they confirmed that the ancient Egyptians used hallucinogenic substances, a first.
Ancient Egyptians were drinking a cocktail of psychedelics
In one of the few remaining Egyptian Bes mugs, as the Tampa Museum of Art acquired one in 1984, researchers wanted to know what purpose this ritualistic container served.
Already, the carving of Bes might provide some clues as the Egyptians worshipped him as the god of protection, fertility, medicinal healing, and magical purification.
The presence of Bes mugs in different contexts over a long period of time made it extremely difficult to speculate on their contents or roles in ancient Egyptian culture.
For years, Egyptologists speculated why the Egyptians used this mug in the shape of Bes’ head. Was it for “sacred water, milk, wine or beer?”
“Experts did not know if Egyptians used these mugs in daily life, for religious purposes, or in magic rituals,” Branko van Oppen, curator of Greek and Roman art at the Tampa Museum of Art, told the University of South Florida.
Two thousand years later, they have made a groundbreaking discovery after performing innovative tests. They combined a series of “analytical techniques,” almost mirroring the “cocktail” they found inside the mug.
The biological remains of a combination of psychedelic substances were still detectable, along with alcohol, as per a news release by the University of South Florida. The ancient Egyptians even flavored the elixir with honey, sesame seeds, pine nuts, licorice, and grapes to make the drink look like blood.
“There’s no research out there that has ever found what we found in this study,” said Tanasi, a University of Florida professor.
“For the first time, we were able to identify all the chemical signatures of the components of the liquid concoction contained in the Tampa Museum of Art’s Bes mug, including the plants used by Egyptians, all of which have psychotropic and medicinal properties.”
Drugs used in ancient Egyptian rituals
Researchers believe that this magical potion accompanied a fertility ritual as “pregnancies in the ancient world were fraught with dangers.”
People in the Greco-Roman period would probably visit the Bes chambers in Egypt at Saqqara to perform this ritual during a dangerous period of childbirth. “This research teaches us about magic rituals in the Greco-Roman period in Egypt,” said Van Oppen.
It might come as a surprise. Scientists have never found the physical presence of hallucinogenic drugs until now, as they have never conducted this type of research. And all they had to do was scrape a 2,000-year-old mug to validate the myths supported by written texts.
The University of South Florida just produced the first physical evidence of the use of psychotropic drugs, and not even just one, but many, a “cocktail” that is still traceable. So it’s official: the ancient Egyptians ingested medicinal plants.
Source: Interesting Engineering
The Chilling Sound of Aztec Death Whistles and Their Effect on the Mind
“Ancient Mug Unveils the Psychedelic Secrets of Egyptian Rituals”