A Jewish priest (photo by times of Israel.com); cannabis smoker, (Wikipedia photo) and hemp(indiatoday.in)

Cannabis residue was found on an altar at the temple in Arad. Photo by BBC and Getty Images

Ademola Adegbamigbe

The image of Cannabis in the mind of every puritanical citizen is a bad copy. It has gained some notoriety for making people run mad, commit crimes, dress shabbily with hair so bushy that elephants could be found there! That is why, in many languages, it has different names: Indian hemp, igbo, kukuye, wee wee, and others.

However, not a few have found cannabis useful in the field of medicine, a situation that made some politicians to call for its large cultivation in parts of Nigeria in order to spin foreign exchange and deepen diversification from oil. Now, archeologists have discovered that the weed or substance was, perhaps, used in ancient synagogues in Israel by priests to make worshippers go on spiritual paroxysm.

Could this be the origin of the connection between Rastafarians of Jamaica and everywhere with Cannabis? And the people of that country believe in the deity of the late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, also a descendant of Kings Melenik and Solomon. Melenik 1 was believed to have been the product of a love affair between Solomon of Israel and Queen of Sheba who traveled from Africa to witness the wisdom of Solomon of Israel.

According to a BBC report, well-preserved substance found in a 2,700-year-old temple in Tel Arad has been identified as cannabis, including its psychoactive compound THC. Researchers, as the report has it, “concluded that cannabis may have been burned in order to induce a high among worshippers.” This, as BBC put it, is the first “evidence of psychotropic drugs being used in early Jewish worship, Israeli media report. The temple was first discovered in the Negev desert, about 95km (59 miles) south of Tel Aviv, in the 1960s.”

It is believed cannabis was burned to induce a psychoactive effect in worshippers. BBC and Getty Images

In the latest study, published in Tel Aviv University’s archaeological journal, archaeologists, according to the report, say two limestone altars had been buried within the shrine. Thanks in part to the dry climate, and to the burial, the remains of burnt offerings were preserved on top of these altars. “Frankincense was found on one altar, which was unsurprising because of its prominence in holy texts, the study’s authors told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.”

Map showing the location. BBC

However, BBC put it flatly: “Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) – all compounds found in cannabis – were found on the second altar. The study adds that the findings in Tel Arad suggest that cannabis also played a role in worship at the Temple of Jerusalem.”

Below is the BBC report, entitled:

Ancient Israelites burned cannabis as part of their religious rituals, an archaeological study has found.

A well-preserved substance found in a 2,700-year-old temple in Tel Arad has been identified as cannabis, including its psychoactive compound THC.

Researchers concluded that cannabis may have been burned in order to induce a high among worshippers.

This is the first evidence of psychotropic drugs being used in early Jewish worship, Israeli media report.

The temple was first discovered in the Negev desert, about 95km (59 miles) south of Tel Aviv, in the 1960s.

In the latest study, published in Tel Aviv University’s archaeological journal, archaeologists say two limestone altars had been buried within the shrine.

Thanks in part to the dry climate, and to the burial, the remains of burnt offerings were preserved on top of these altars.

Frankincense was found on one altar, which was unsurprising because of its prominence in holy texts, the study’s authors told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

However, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) – all compounds found in cannabis – were found on the second altar.

The study adds that the findings in Tel Arad suggest that cannabis also played a role in worship at the Temple of Jerusalem.

Continue reading from the source, BBC:

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