Ancient Egyptians may have used opium a lot. Based on recent examinations, archaeologists now say the drug may even have been a near-daily recreational habit. Opium might have even been widely used across socio-economic classes as long as 3,000 years ago. The evidence is detailed in a study recently published in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology, and offers a glimpse into the daily lives of regular Egyptians and royalty alike.
“Our findings, combined with prior research, indicate that opium use was more than accidental or sporadic in ancient Egyptian cultures and surrounding lands. [It] was, to some degree, a fixture of daily life,” Yale Peabody Museum researcher Andrew Koh explained in a university announcement.
Koh and his colleagues believe the historical revisions are likely required after examining a roughly 2,500-year-old alabaster vase. The relic is one of less than 10 similar, intact examples found from dig sites around the world. Crafted from calcite, the artifacts were discovered across various archaeological sites, including the famed tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. In this particular case, the vessel features inscriptions engraved in four languages–Egyptian, Akkadian, Elamite, and Persian.The various sentences are written to Xerxes I, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire from 486 to 465 BCE. As king, Xerxes I oversaw Egypt, as well as vast portions of Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Eastern Arabia, Central Asia, and the Levant.
“Scholars tend to study and admire ancient vessels for their aesthetic qualities, but our program focuses on how they were used and the organic substances they contained,” said Koh, adding that such findings help reveal information about ancient daily life.
Koh first became interested in this specific vase after spotting unknown dark brown, aromatic residue inside the container. A subsequent chemical analysis confirmed the presence of noscapine, thebaine, papaverine, hydrocotarnine, and morphine–all clear opium biomarkers. In their study, the authors noted that their find is only the latest of many similar artifacts. Opium-laced vessels like these weren’t limited to royalty, either. Archaeologists previously identified opium residue in jugs belonging to a merchant class family’s tomb dating back to the New Kingdom (16th to 11th century BCE).
“We now have found opiate chemical signatures that Egyptian alabaster vessels attached to elite societies in Mesopotamia, and embedded in more ordinary cultural circumstances within ancient Egypt,” said Koh. “It’s possible these vessels were easily recognizable cultural markers for opium use in ancient times, just as hookahs today are attached to shisha tobacco consumption.”
As further possible evidence, the study authors cited a nearly 100-year-old analysis from chemist Alfred Lucas. In 1922, Lucas was a member of the team led by Howard Carter that discovered King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Lucas performed a brief chemical study of similar alabaster vessels in 1933, and detailed their sticky, dark brown, organics. Although he couldn’t pinpoint the aromatic remains, Lucas concluded that most were not perfumes or similar scented products.
“We think it’s possible, if not probable, that alabaster jars found in King Tut’s tomb contained opium as part of an ancient tradition of opiate use that we are only now beginning to understand,” said Koh.
In the future, Koh hopes to perform the same analysis on the historic artifacts, all of which are now housed in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt.
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