Egyptians may have used hallucinogenic substances as part of a fertility rite, researchers say.
Something in the printout caught Branko van Oppen de Ruiter’s eye. He was at home in the Netherlands, working remotely for his new employer, the Tampa Museum of Art, which had named him a curator of Greek and Roman exhibits. The coronavirus had delayed his move to Florida, so he did what he could studying the museum’s collections from afar.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that civilizations in and around the Mediterranean region were just as aware of hallucinogens’ unique properties as their Mesoamerican counterparts. Recent studies have found that the Greeks and Romans may have also ingested plants with psychedelic properties, either to reach elevated spiritual states or as part of medical treatment.
Egyptians were fond of beer, and written evidence suggests they were aware that some plants had hallucinogenic properties. “They knew what their environment contained,” Bianchi said. But never before has there been evidence that Egyptians ingested those plants.After van Oppen flagged the Bes cup, the news reached Davide Tanasi, a digital archaeologist at the University of South Florida, also in Tampa.
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