Ceremonial Cannabis Used in Ancient Jewish Temple
Trace Amounts of Ceremonial Cannabis Found at 2,700-Year-Old Site – LPC
New research at an old site has shown ceremonial cannabis may have been used in ancient Jewish rituals. Archeologists found cannabis residue on an altar in a temple in Tel Arad. The well preserved substance contained THC, leading researchers to believe it may have been burned to get the worshippers high.
The Tel Arad temple is about 100 km south of Tel Aviv, which until recently was the capital of Israel. It was found in the middle of the Negev desert in the 1960s. The temple is an important shrine site because it is said to be a scaled-down version of the First Temple of Jerusalem. That original site is now covered in mosques, making archeological digs there impossible.
This isn’t a first in the ancient world. Chinese texts mention cannabis as early as 3,000 BC. However, organic material such as cannabis doesn’t usually last long. It’s possible that ceremonial cannabis was used in Israel and elsewhere for thousands of years without leaving a trace.
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