Archaeologists say that a find at Israeli excavation offers first proof of mind-altering substances being used in Judaism.
Israeli archaeologists say they’ve found cannabis residue on artifacts from an ancient temple in southern Israel, providing the first evidence of the use of hallucinogenics in the ancient Jewish religion.
In a research paper (read it here), the authors say the discovery from an eighth-century BC shrine at Tel Arad offers the first proof for mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah, including the first Jewish Temple that stood in Jerusalem at the same time.
In the 1960s, archaeological excavations at Tel Arad, around 60km (35 miles) south of Jerusalem, discovered a stronghold belonging to the ancient kingdom of Judah. At its core, a small shrine bearing striking similarities to the biblical Temple in Jerusalem.
But for decades, attempts to determine the composition of black deposits found on two limestone altars from the shrine’s inner sanctum now located at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem were inconclusive.
Chemical analysis of the samples conducted at Israel’s Hebrew University and Technion Institute found that one altar contained THC and the other had traces of frankincense – one of the ingredients mentioned in the Bible for the incense sacrifice in the ancient Jewish Temples, the authors wrote.
The researchers published their findings in the academic journal, Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University.
Eran Arie, the curator of Iron Age archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and lead author of the study, said the discovery was revolutionary. It was the earliest evidence of cannabis use in the ancient region and the first time we have seen psychoactive substances in the Judahite religion.
The absence of cannabis pollen or seeds from the area in ancient times indicates the cannabis was likely imported over long-distance trade routes, possibly in the form of resin, known colloquially as hashish. The chemical analysis from the Tel Arad altar showed it was burned atop dried animal dung.
The official state religion of the kingdom of Judah was using this substance, Arie said.
Because of the site’s clear connection to the monarchy, he suggests it could point to how worship was conducted in the biblical Temple in Jerusalem.
I am a bit left to the side here because it is well known now for at least a century that cannibis resin as insense was part of the early Jewish and Christian worship and it was what permiated the air in the inner Temple where the Priests had their drug induced Visions and made prophesy to be delivered to the faithful., not unlike the ancient Greeks who’s priests inhabited volcanic lava tubes where sulfer and other fumes induced “visions” of prophecy.
To say this is the first known case by science is in my opinion a falsehood as written texts and other archeological evidence is plentifull.
In EXODUS 30:23, there is the anointing OIL recipe.
It has been mistranslated over the years, but you can research as I did to the original writings and find what CANNA BOSUM really is. It’s cannabis.
YES, a major ingredient on anointing OIL was cannabis (according to our Bible).
That’s a fact.
Please note that the human body has CBC receptors in it which enhance our immune system. The ONLY thing that activates them is cannabis.
GOD Bless You.