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Israeli Archaeologists Find Evidence of Oldest Known Use of Opium
An Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) employee holds one of the vessels on which researchers found residue of opium, from the Tel Yehud burial site and on display at the IAA offices in Jerusalem on Sept. 20, 2022. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Archaeologists Find Evidence of Oldest Known Use of Opium

Israeli researchers have found the earliest known evidence for the use of a hallucinogenic drug, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University (TAU) said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Eight pottery vessels discovered in central Israel and dating back around 3,400 years ago contain the residue of opium, the statement said. A study by the IAA, TAU, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and published in the journal Archaeometry revealed that the Canaanites used opium in their burial rituals, as an offering for the dead. The ceramic vessels were discovered in 2012 in Canaanite graves at Tel Yehud, an ancient city in today’s Yehud-Monosson. Some of the vessels were imported to Canaan from Cyprus, and the opium itself came from Turkey. The vessels were put in the graves as offerings, based on the belief that they would be used by the dead in the afterlife. “It may be that during burial ceremonies, participants attempted to raise the spirits of their dead relatives in order to express a request, and would enter an ecstatic state by using opium,” said IAA researcher Ron Be’eri. “Alternatively, it is possible that the opium, which was placed next to the body, was intended to help the person’s spirit rise from the grave in preparation for the meeting with their relatives in the next life,” he added. “The opium was brought from Turkey, through Cyprus, indicating the importance that was attributed to the drug,” said TAU researcher Vanessa Linares.

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