Get ready to have your mind blown! A recent preprint posted to Research Square reveals that an ancient Egyptian vase in the shape of the deity Bes contained traces of chemical plant compounds that are known to produce hallucinations. The authors of the study suggest that members of the cult of Bes may have consumed a special cocktail containing these compounds to induce altered states of consciousness. How cool is that?
But this isn’t the first time humans have used hallucinogenic substances in religious ceremonies or shamanic rituals. Many cultures throughout history, including the ancient Greeks, Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs, have used various psychoactive substances to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Even today, the Urarina people in the Peruvian Amazon Basin still use a psychoactive brew called ayahuasca in their rituals.
And it’s not just about spiritual enlightenment either. A 2022 study suggests that the ancient Peruvian people known as the Wari may have laced their beer with hallucinogens to forge political alliances and expand their empire. The use of hallucinogens, particularly a substance derived from the seeds of the vilca tree, was common in the region during the so-called Middle Horizon period, when the Wari empire thrived.
The vilca tree produces long legumes filled with thin seeds that contain DMT, a well-known psychedelic substance that is also found in ayahuasca brews. But the primary active ingredient in vilca is bufotenine, which was usually smoked, ingested in the form of snuff, or used as an enema. In fact, a 4,000-year-old pipe laced with bufotenine residue and related paraphernalia was found in an Incan cave in Argentina in 1999—the oldest archaeological evidence to date for using vilca in South America.
Historical accounts also suggest that a juice or tea derived from vilca seeds was sometimes added to chicha, a fermented beverage made from maize or the fruits of the molle tree native to Peru. And people of the state of Tiwanaku were known to mix such hallucinogens with alcohol, specifically maize beer. Monoliths depicting figures holding a drinking cup in one hand and a snuff tray in another suggest that smoking or inhaling vilca was part of a long-standing ritual tradition to foster personal spiritual journeys.
The latest study, conducted by Davide Tanasi of the University of South Florida and his co-authors, analyzed an Egyptian ritual vase in the shape of Bes dating back to the second century BCE. Bes was a popular deity believed to confer protection on households, especially mothers and children. So unlike most other Egyptian deities, images of Bes were quite common in Egyptian homes. There were even special chambers built to honor Bes and his wife Beset at the Saqqara site near Cairo, which Egyptologists think could have been used for fertility or healing rituals, although their exact purpose is not certain.
For centuries, Ancient Egyptians were known for worshipping numerous deities, including the lion-headed deity Bes. Recently unearthed evidence, however, suggests that not only were ancient Egyptians worshipping Bes, but also that many of them were consuming hallucinogenic substances when doing so.
A site known as the Temple of Bes in Luxor has a curious representation of Bes, which appears to depict him with tentacles emerging from his mouth. After further investigation, it was revealed that the tentacles were in fact those of a mushroom. This provides evidence that not only were the ancient Egyptians worshipping Bes, but they were consuming psychedelic mushrooms as part of their ritual of worship.
This isn’t the first time mushrooms were found to be part of temple artifacts and a part of religious practice in Ancient Egypt. In the late 1800s, archaeologists discovered mushroom artifacts in an ancient Egyptian burial site known as Saqqara. They also found a painting of AncientEgyptians sprinkling mushroom powder near a tomb in what appeared to be a ritualistic practice.
These archaeological discoveries suggest that hallucinogenic substances, such as mushrooms, played an important role in Ancient Egyptian religious practice and that they were worshipping Bes while under the influence of psychedelic substances. It is believed that the reason for this practice was to provide an enhanced spiritual experience to those worshipping the deity.
The use of psychedelic substances in Ancient Egyptian religious practices is evidence of their desire to explore spirituality and experience divine revelations through such means. These discoveries further underline the advanced knowledge and practices of the Ancient Egyptians which have often been overlooked in the modern world.
