Ancient pain reliever

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another article from "Restore Digest" :

 

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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager

 

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Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 08:13:12 -0800

From: "D. Paul Stanford" <stanford@crrh.org>

Subject: 004 Drug Trade Thrived in Biblical Times

 

From: DdC <dendecannabist@yahoo.com>

 

Drug Trade Thrived in Biblical Times

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread13663.shtml

August 07, 2002 at 17:52:00 PT

By Jason Keyser, Associated Press

Source: MSNBC

 

Jerusalem, A thriving Bronze Age drug trade supplied narcotics to

ancient cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean as balm for the

pain of childbirth and disease, proving a sophisticated knowledge of

medicines dating back thousands of years, researchers say.

 

Ancient Ceramic pots, most of them nearly identical in shape and about

five inches long, have been found in tombs and settlements throughout

the Middle East, dating as far back as 1400 B.C., said Joe Zias, an

anthropologist at Jerusalem=92s Hebrew University.

 

The drugs were probably used as medicine, and the finds are helping

researchers better understand how ancient people treated illness and

disease.

 

=93It=92s a window to the past that many people are unaware of,=94 Zias told

a recent conference in Israel on DNA and archaeology. =93Here=92s something

used in prehistoric times, and it=92s used until today.=94

 

When turned upside down, the thin-necked vessels with round bases

resemble opium poppies pods. If there was any doubt about what was

inside, the round bases have white markings, designs that symbolized

knife cuts made on poppies bulbs so the white opium base can ooze and

be harvested, Zias said.

 

The Mycenaean ceramics were analyzed with a procedure called gas

chromatography that turned up traces of opium.

 

Hundreds of the pots have been found, and they commonly show up in the

hands of antiquities dealers in places like Jerusalem=92s Old City. =93Give

me an hour there and I could find you 10 of them,=94 Zias said.

 

PAIN RELIEVER

 

Based on ancient Egyptian medical writings from the 3rd millennium

B.C., researchers believe opium and hashish =97 a smokable drug that

comes from the concentrated resin from the flowers of hemp plants =97

were used during surgery and to treat aches and pains and other

ailments. Hashish was also used to ease menstrual cramps and was even

offered to women during childbirth.

 

Based on Egyptian writings, archaeologists believe the opium was eaten

rather than smoked.

 

The drugs are part of a medical record that shows the ancients were far

more advanced than most people realize, Zias said, noting evidence that

European people did cranial surgery as long as 10,000 years ago, while

the Romans left records of 120 surgical procedures.

 

Mark Spigelman, a Zias colleague at Hebrew University, found one of the

poppy-shaped ceramic pots from the middle Bronze Age in Siqqura, a Giza

cemetery near the pyramids outside of Cairo during a dig four years

ago. The pot, found in an Egyptian grave from the 18th Dynasty, was

identical to other pots found throughout ancient Israel and the Middle

East.

 

=93These guys were selling opium all over the Middle East,=94 Spigelman

said. =93This is the original Medellin cartel, 3,500 years ago,=94 he said

in a joking reference to the violent Colombian cocaine cartel.

 

It seems more likely, however, that the ancient trade was run by

respected healers rather than violent drug lords.

 

=93We know for sure these things were used for medical purposes,=94 Zias

said. =93The question is whether they were used for recreational

purposes.=94

 

HASHISH AIDED DELIVERY

 

In an archaeologically rich area of central Israel, Zias found another

clue. While excavating a tomb from the late Roman period in the town of

Beit Shemesh 10 years ago, he found the skeleton of a 14-year-old girl

who died in childbirth around A.D. 390. On her stomach was a fleck of a

burnt brownish-black substance.

 

=93I thought it was incense,=94 Zias said. But when he had it analyzed by

police and chemists at Hebrew University, it turned out to be a 7-gram

mixture of hashish, dried seeds, fruit and common reeds.

 

Seven glass vessels containing traces of the drug were found near the

skeleton. She probably used them to inhale the smoky cocktail to aid

her delivery. Medical researchers have found that other than relaxing

the user, hashish increases the force and frequency of contractions in

women giving birth; and it was used in deliveries until the 19th

century, after which new drugs were developed.

 

But it didn=92t help this girl, who was only 4 feet 6 inches tall. She

bled to death.

 

The drug was an extremely rare find. Organic compounds quickly decay,

but because this one had been burned it was carbonized and preserved.

 

=93It=92s the first time it=92s ever been found in terms of direct evidence

in an archaeological dig,=94 Zias said. =93You rarely find direct evidence

of drugs in antiquity.=94

 

Note: Opium, hashish traces found on ceramic pots, tomb remains.

 

Contact: letters@msnbc.com

Website: http://www.msnbc.com/news/

 

Related

 

Historical Research on Drug Policy

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Histor...ent_history.htm