Traces of opium have been found in Israel in vessels used in funeral rituals by ancient Canaanites, one of the world’s oldest evidence of the substance’s use, Reuters and Agerpres reported on Tuesday.

Unearthed in a 2012 excavation at Tel Yehud in central Israel, Late Bronze Age vessels in the shape of an inverted poppy flower were found in Canaanite tombs, where they were likely used in funerary ceremonies and offered as offerings to the deceased. , to use them in the afterlife, researchers said Tuesday.

In a study conducted jointly by the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority, organic deposits from eight of these vessels were analyzed and identified as opium.

Part of the opium was produced on the territory of the country, and the rest – in Cyprus. The objects found date back to the 14th century BC, the researchers said in their study published in the scientific journal Archaeometry.

The use of opium by the Canaanites remains a mystery

The researchers added that it is not known exactly how the Canaanites used opium in funeral rituals.

“It is possible that during these ceremonies, conducted by family members or a priest on their behalf, the participants tried to awaken the spirits of their deceased relatives to make a request and entered a state of ecstasy using opium,” said Ron Beery of the Israel Antiquities Authority. .

“Alternatively, it is possible that the opium placed next to the corpse was intended to help raise the spirit of the deceased from the grave to prepare it to meet its relatives in the next life,” Beery noted.

In 2020, researchers confirmed the discovery of traces of cannabis from the 8th century BC on an altar in a 3,000-year-old Israelite temple in the Negev desert.

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• Ancient Jews may have used cannabis in religious rituals – Israeli researchers