For the first time, direct evidence of the use of psychotropic substances in ancient Ptolemaic Egyptian rituals has been uncovered: researchers have uncovered details invisible to the naked eye inside a ritual vessel dating back over 2,000 years. 

The study, co-ordinated by Enrico Greco, Professor of Chemistry of the Environment and Cultural Heritage at the University of Trieste, with the collaboration of the Tampa Museum of Art and the University of South Florida, the University of Milan and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Nature Group) and supported by the European Research Infrastructure Consortium CERIC-ERIC.   

Based on direct scientific evidence, the study represents the first documented example of the intentional use of psychedelics in Egyptian rituals to induce dreamlike visions, meditative states and communication with the divine, and demonstrates the ancient Egyptians' sophisticated knowledge of natural resources and their effects on the human mind. Although hypotheses based on iconography and texts have been advanced in the past, this research provides concrete physical evidence. The findings also link these practices to wider Mediterranean and Near Eastern traditions, suggesting cultural exchanges that influenced the ritual and medical knowledge of ancient civilisations.

Enrico Greco, Professor of Chemistry of the Environment and Cultural Heritage at the University of Trieste and coordinator of the study, emphasises: ‘This discovery was only possible thanks to a highly multidisciplinary approach: by combining state-of-the-art scientific techniques with cultural, linguistic and historical analysis, we obtained information that traditional archaeology alone could not have provided. This underlines the power of interdisciplinary collaboration in solving the mysteries of antiquity.’

The research was carried out using advanced scientific techniques: proteomics, metabolomics, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled to synchrotron light (SR µ-FTIR) and metabarcoding of plant DNA. Chiaramaria Stani, CERIC-ERIC researcher at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste's SISSI unit, emphasises: ‘These analyses made it possible to identify the ceremonial content of the vase, although the residual traces were minimal, but well preserved in the porosity of the pottery.’  

I The vase is decorated with the head of the Egyptian god Bes, a grotesque but benevolent deity often used as a protective amulet for the home. Study has also allowed the deity to be attributed a mystical role, linked to altered states of consciousness and divinatory rituals. There are about twelve other vases depicting the god Bes. 

Traces of Peganum harmala (Syrian rue), Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea (blue water lily) and a plant of the genus Cleome, all known for their psychotropic or medicinal properties, were detected in the mixture analysed. These substances were combined with fermented liquids or other ingredients such as honey or royal jelly. Furthermore, analysis revealed the presence of human fluids, such as blood and mucous membrane proteins, suggesting that the jar was used in symbolic and transformative rituals, probably related to female fertility, through the attainment of altered states of consciousness.
 

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Study published in Scientific Reports

Multianalytical investigation reveals psychotropic substances in a ptolemaic Egyptian vase

Davide Tanasi1, Branko F. van Oppen de Ruiter2, Fiorella Florian3, Radmila Pavlovic4,5, Luca Maria Chiesa4, Igor Fochi6, Chiaramaria Stani7, Lisa Vaccari8, Dale Chaput9, Giorgio Samorini10, Alberto Pallavicini3, Sabrina Semeraro11, Anastasia Serena Gaetano11, Sabina Licen11, Pierluigi Barbieri11 & Enrico Greco11

1. Department of History, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL, 33620, US
2. Tampa Museum of Art, 120 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa, FL, 33602, US
3. Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via Licio Giorgieri 5, Trieste, 34127, Italy
4. Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Milan, via dell’Università 6, Lodi, 26900, Italy
5. ProMeFa, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, via dell’Olgettina 60, Milan, 20132, Italy
6. Thermo Fisher Scientific S.p.A., Rodano, Milan, 20090, Italy
7. CERIC-ERIC, S. S. 14 - km 163,5 in AREA Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste, 34149, Italy
8. Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., S.S. 14 - km 163,5 in AREA Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste, 34149, Italy
9. Department Molecular Biosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
10. Independent Researcher, Bologna, Italy
11. Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, via Licio Giorgieri 1, Trieste, 34127, Italy