Early opium usage may have been a "gift to the gods," according to earliest traces discovered in Israel

Trace levels of the drug were found in eight out of the 22 ceramic jars.

Sep 25, 2022

The earliest evidence of opium use in antiquity was found in a Late Bronze Age burial site in central Israel that dates to roughly the 14th century B.C. At the site, which is situated in Tel Yehud, an area historically known as Canaan, residue of the drug, which is produced from the seed capsules of the poppy plant, was discovered inside more than half a dozen 3,500-year-old clay containers.

The skeletal remains of a male buried with jugs that contained opium residue were found in Israel. (Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority)

The pit tomb was originally found by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2012 during an excavation. According to a study released this summer in the journal Archaeometry

, scientists discovered the opium-laced pottery in 2017, along with the skeletal remains of a male who died between the ages of 40 and 50.

Some of the jugs were thought to resemble poppies and may have contained opium because of this. Chemical analysis was used to analyze 22 storage jars and juglets, and the results showed that eight of the ceramic containers had trace levels of the extremely addictive substance. A few of the pieces that tested positive resembled the bulbous form of an upside-down poppy capsule.

By seeing clay bands on the long-necked vessels and other specific designs associated with pottery from that region, the researchers came to the conclusion that some of the pottery was imported from the island of Cyprus, which is situated west of Tel Yehud. But opium poppies may have naturally grown and been domesticated by early Neolithic societies in the Mediterranean as early as the middle of the sixth millennium, according to a study published in Nature

Although the reason for the inclusion of opium in this particular burial is unclear, experts have various possibilities that are supported by historical records from other ancient civilizations all over the world. The historical and literary evidence shows that Sumerian priests utilized opium to achieve a higher spiritual state. Because its primary component, morphine, is used to treat pain, the Egyptians saved opium for their soldiers and priests, and it's possible that they also utilized it for therapeutic purposes. It's possible that they left it there as a gift for the gods and assumed the deceased would require it in the afterlife.

Linares, V., Jakoel, E., Be’eri, R., Lipschits, O., Neumann, R., & Gadot, Y. (2022). Opium trade and use during the Late Bronze Age: Organic residue analysis of ceramic vessels from the burials of Tel Yehud, Israel. Archaeometry. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12806

Salavert, A., Zazzo, A., Martin, L. et al. Direct dating reveals the early history of opium poppy in western Europe. Sci Rep 10, 20263 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76924-3