The ingredients of a liquid that the ancients drank in their rituals were a mixture of fruits, nuts, psychedelics, body fluids and alcohol, according to news published in Scientific Reports.
In an archaeological first, scientists have scraped organic residue inside a 2,000-year-old head-shaped drinking vessel, called a Bes mug, to determine its ancient contents – using a new technique developed by researchers at the University of South Florida. in collaboration with their Italian colleagues from the Universities of Trieste and Milan.
“There is no research out there that has ever found what we found in this study,” said USF researcher David Tanassi.
“For the first time, we were able to identify all the chemical signatures of the ingredients of the liquid concoction contained in the Tampa Museum of Art’s Bes mug, including plants used by the Egyptians that have psychotropic and medicinal properties.”
The mixture of hallucinogens included in the recipe suggests that the potion was used for magical rituals in Saqqara.
The researchers explained in the new study that the Bes mugs celebrated the Egyptian god of the same name, depicted with large eyes, a wagging tongue, a tail and a crown of feathers, who was worshiped for fertility, healing and protection. Ceremonial pottery was used throughout Egypt between the 16th century B.C. and the 5th century AD – such as that included in the USF study dating to the Ptolemaic period (323 to 30 BC).
The exact purpose of the Bes cup has long remained unclear, experts note, as previous theories were based on myths about Egyptian rituals.
Their analysis of the Bes mug revealed traces of honey, sesame, pine nuts, licorice and grapes, along with ingredients to produce altered states, including hallucinogens and alcohol. This led Thanasi to believe that the mug was previously used in a magical ritual to contact the life-affirming deity.
