A Holy High? It was often suspected to be part of religious rights. And cannabis or medical marijuana is being applied today in Israel to fight COVID-19. For the first time archeologists reveal that psychoactive cannabis was part of ancient worship rituals in the Holy Land.

Analysis of the material on two Iron Age altars discovered at the entrance to the “holy of holies” of a shrine at Tel Arad in the Beer-sheba Valley, Israel, were found to contain traces of cannabis and frankincense, according to new article in the journal, Tel Aviv.

Lead author Eran Arie from The Israel Museum in Jerusalem commented, “This is the first time that cannabis has been identified in the Ancient Near East; Its use in the shrine must have played a central role in the cultic rituals performed there.”

These unique findings shed new light on cult practices in biblical Judah, suggesting cannabis was used here as a deliberate psychoactive, to stimulate ecstasy as part of cultic ceremonies. Today people use CBD hemp oil for pain relief. Back then, the CBD and THC might have been part of a smudging ceremony.

Frankincense comes from Arabia. Therefore, the presence of frankincense at Arad indicates the participation of Judah in the south Arabian trade even before the patronage and encouragement of the Assyrian empire. Arad provides the earliest evidence for frankincense in a clear cultic context. Frankincense is mentioned as a component of the incense that was burned in the Temple of Jerusalem for its pleasant aroma. Today it’s used along with the cannabis plant as a popular smudge people use to clear the energy in their homes or offices.

Past excavations revealed two superimposed fortresses, dated to the 9th to early 6th centuries BCE, which guarded the southern border of biblical Judah. Highly important Iron Age finds were unearthed, including a well-preserved shrine that was dated to ca. 750-715 BCE.

Two limestone altars (the smaller altar is 40 cm high and about 20 × 20 cm at the top; the larger is about 50 cm high and 30 × 30 cm at the top) were found lying at the entrance to the “holy of holies” of the shrine.

Evidently, they had played an important role in the cult practices of the shrine. An unidentified black solidified organic material was preserved on the altars’ surfaces. Past analysis of these materials failed to identify their content and this dark material was recently submitted to organic residue analysis by modern methods.

The study reveals that on the smaller altar cannabis had been mixed with animal dung to facilitate heating, while the larger altar contained traces of frankincense that was mixed with animal fat to promote evaporation.

The “fortress mound” of Tel Arad in the Beer-sheba Valley in southern Israel was excavated over 50 years ago under the direction of the late TAU Professor Yohanan Aharoni.

Photo credit: Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Photo © The Israel Museum, by Laura Lachman

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The Arad police were conducting routine training that morning and noticed suspicious movement in a cave on a distant cliff in Nahal Ze’elim. They immediately alerted UPAR inspectors who arrived on site with surveillance equipment that enabled them to observe and document the activity.

The cave is known as “The Cave of the Skulls” sited in an area known as “Leopard’s Ascent”.

Robbed by goat cliff

It is 70 meters below the cliff-top plateau and 150 meters above the valley and can only be reached via a narrow goat path that threads through upright bedrock walls.

The IAA said it observed the suspects carrying out “illicit excavation using a metal detector and a large amount of excavating equipment.” The robbers caused extensive damage to the cave by digging through layers of earth while destroying archaeological strata and historical evidence from the Roman period dating 2,000 years ago and the Chalcolithic period five thousand years back.

IAA inspectors captured the suspects at the top of the cliff; the thieves were carrying ancient artifacts, including a 2,000 year old lice comb from the Roman period (image below).

“The robbers attempt to locate and find Dead Sea scrolls, pieces of ancient texts and unique artifacts that were left in the caves, particularly during the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66–70 CE and the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132–135 CE, when Jewish fighters fearing the Roman army sought refuge in the desert,”  said UPAR director, Amir Ganor.

In a press release, Ganor said, “For many years gangs of antiquities robbers have been operating along the Judean Desert cliffs. The robbers attempt to locate and find Dead Sea scrolls, pieces of ancient texts and unique artifacts that were left in the caves, particularly during the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66–70 CE and the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132–135 CE, when Jewish fighters fearing the Roman army sought refuge in the desert.

“These are sold for large sums of money in the antiquities markets in Israel and around the world.”

He added, “What makes the Judean Desert so unique is its dry climate that enable the preservation of rare leather, bone, and wooden objects, including the scrolls, parchment and papyrus, on which various texts were written. Over the years many of the plundered finds reached the antiquities markets in Israel and abroad, but it has been decades since perpetrators were caught red-handed. This is mainly due to the difficultly in detecting and catching them on the wild desert cliffs”.

A special operation to foil robbers was part of a complex operation which had been underway for over a year.

Excavating in antiquities sites without a license and destroying an ancient site constitute a severe violation of the law, and can result in prison sentences of up to 5 years. Additional suspects will be investigated in connection with this theft and others in the region.

Images used with permission from the IAA

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