Signs of Bronze Age Drug Use to Ease Pain

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 nearly identical in shape and about 5 inches long, have been found in tombs and settlements throughout the Middle East, dating as far back as 1400 BC, said Joe Zias, an anthropologist at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

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 poppy bulbs so the white opium base can ooze and be harvested, Zias said.