Pubdate: Thu, 08 Aug 2002
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2002 The Hartford Courant
Contact:  http://www.ctnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

THRIVING DRUG TRADE 3,400 YEARS AGO

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 about 5 inches long, have been found in 
tombs and settlements throughout the Middle East, dating as far back as 
1,400 B.C., said Joe Zias, an anthropologist at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

The drugs were probably used as medicine, and the finds are helping 
researchers better understand how ancient people treated illness and disease.

When turned upside down, the thin-necked vessels with round bases resemble 
opium poppy 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.

Based on ancient Egyptian medical writings from the 3rd millennium B.C., 
researchers believe opium and hashish - a smokable drug that comes from the 
concentrated resin from the flowers of hemp plants - 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.

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.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager