Archaeologists say find at Israeli excavation offers first proof of mind-altering substances being used in Judaism
ISRAELI ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY they’ve found cannabis residue on artefacts from an ancient temple in southern Israel providing the first evidence of the use of hallucinogenics in the ancient Jewish religion.
In a research paper, the authors say the discovery from an eighth-century BC shrine at Tel Arad offers the first proof for the use of mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah, including the first Jewish Temple that stood in Jerusalem at the same time.
In the 1960s, archaeological excavations at Tel Arad, around 60km (35 miles) south of Jerusalem, discovered a stronghold belonging to the ancient kingdom of Judah, and at its core a small shrine bearing striking similarities to the biblical Temple in Jerusalem.
But for decades, attempts to determine the composition of black deposits found on two limestone altars from the shrine’s inner sanctum now located at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem were inconclusive.
