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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Cannabis is a genus of a flowering
plant of the family Cannabaceae , it
is and has been used for poducing
fibres, hemp oils, medicinal uses,
and as a recreational drug.
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Cannabaceae
Genus: Cannabis
Species : Cannabis sativa L.
Cannabis indica Lam.
Cannabis ruderalis Janisch
Cannabis is a dioecious plant has
with imperfect flowers (individual
plant can be male or female) with
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
staminate male and pistillate female
flowers on separate plants, however
some individual plants bear both
male and female flowers.
cannabis plant species and parts
Male and female cannabis plant
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Male and female cannabis flowers
cannabis plant with both male and female flowers
Both male and female Cannabis
plants are sources of fibers, but the
female plant produces the best
quality of cannabinoids, thus every
part of the cannabis plant has its
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
uses where its roots, leaves and
flowers are used as medicine, the
stem for making textiles, rope and
paper (hemp fibers are exceedingly
stronger and more durable than
linen and cotton ), and the seeds are
used as food and in oil production.
cannabis owers
The ingredient in cannabis which is
used as a sedative drug is a lipid
called Tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC).
Chemical formula of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Hemp fiber from the Cannabis sativa plant
In contradiction to what was
thought to be before 1930 now most
of if not all modern day
Egyptologists confirms that
cannabis (marihuana) has been
used by the ancient Egyptians in the
production of ropes, ships and
boats sails, fabrics and as one of
their medical ingredients.
Although there is a very little
evidence that ancient Egyptians
cultivated cannabis, thus there are
several references and evidences
for its availability in ancient Egypt
as well as its versatile uses in Egypt
in medicine, religious, cultural and
daily life purposes.
Cannabis in Ancient Egyptian
medicine:-
in an article titeled"Studies in the
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Egyptian Medical Texts" written by
Warren R. Dawson in The Journal
of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 20,
No. 1/2. (June 1934), pp. 41-46 ,
cannabis was mentioned to be used
as medicine in ancient Egypt.
the references and evidences that
proves that cannabis was used in
medicine in ancient Egypt are as
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
follows:-
- Cannabis is mentioned as a used
medical ingridient in the following
ancient Egyptian medical texts:-
-The Ramesseum III Papyrus (1700
BC), housed in the British Museum,
plate A26, contains a prescription
where cannabis is mentioned and
used in treatment and curing of
glaucoma translated as follows: “A
treatment for the eyes: celery,
cannabis is ground and left in the
dew overnight. Both eyes of the
patient are to be washed with it in
the morning.”
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
The Ramesseum III Papyrus
Part of Plate A26 of the Ramesseum III -- Read from
top to bottom- Courtesy of the British Museum
- The Eber’s Papyrus ( 1600-1550
BC) housed in the University of
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Lepzia Plates XCVI , LXXVIII,
contains an inscription of a
prescription mentioning cannabis
and its use in treatment of
Obstetrics translated as follows:
“ground in honey; introduced into
her vagina to cool the uterus and
elimate its heat” , this also suggests
its use as an anti-inflammatory.
The Eber’s Papyrus
Also Cannabis was mentioned to be
used as a poultice on a toenail (E
618, Ebers Papyrus 617- 618) "If
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
you find a painful finger or a toe,
from water having been around
them (serosity), their odor being
malignant, whereas they have
formed maggots [worms], you must
say to this patient: “A problem that I
can treat”. You must prepare for him
treatments to kill the vermin [. . .].
Another for the toenail: honey: 1/4;
ochre 1/64; cannabis: 1/32; hedjou
resin: 1/32, ibou plant: 1/32. Prepare
as for the preceding, and dress with
it.
-The Chester-Beatty VI (Medical)
Papyrus (1300 BC): (British
Museum 10686 sheets 6, 7)
The Chester-Beatty VI (Medical) Papyrus
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
-The Berlin Papyrus “Brugsch
Papyrus” (1300 BC) Sheet 7,
housed in Ägyptisches Museum und
Papyrussammlung in Sheet 7 line 8
prescription No. 81 -
cannabis is mentioned to be used as
an ointment to be prepared to relief
fever and also used as a
suppository.
Plate 7 of the Berlin Papyrus No. 3038
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Page 15 Der grosse medizinische Papyrus des Berline
Museum
By Von Walter Wreszinski
Plate 7, Line 8, Prescription No. 81
-The Hearst Papyrus (1,550 BC)
housed in the University of
California Berkeley Plate XII
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Page from the book “Die Mendizinischen Texte in
Hieroglyphischer Umschreibung Autographiert” by
Grapow Hermann of Hearst Papyrus , Prescriptions
177, 188
-The Vienna Papyrus 6257 (200
AD) Columns IX and XIV
- Diodorus Siculus, a Sicilian Greek
historian mentioned that Egyptian
women used cannabis as a kind of
medication relieving sorrow and
bad humor, relieving insomnia, an
anesthetic, and to kill pain
– another reference dates back to
the third century AD, when the
Roman emperor Aurelian imposed
a tax on Egyptian cannabis.
Papyrus documents from ancient
Egypy.
- Cannabis use in ancient Egypt has
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
been recorded as far back as 2,000
B.C., where its depictions were
found on various scrolls and
inscriptions.
- Egyptians listed the names of their
used medical drugs and their plant
sources, but there is no certain
unequivocal mentions or references
of cannabis (marijuana) in any of
its forms, but some scholars and
researchers contended assuming
that the (smsmt drug ), mentioned
in the Berlin and Ebers papyri is
most probably cannabis, this
contended opinion was believed to
be hypothetical and conjecture as
no mummy has been discovered
wrapped in fabric made from
cannabis until some reaserchers
announced that they found
Cannabis pollen on the mummy of
Rameses II died in 1213 BC.
- Archaeologists also discovered a
"three ply hemp cord" in a stone
hole where a large mat is bound
with other "hemp cords"in the
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
ruins the city of Akhenaton ( El
Amarna) found a, but the type of
hemp is not yet specified, taking in
consideration that different fibers
are usually called hemp and it is not
certain that the fibers at El Amarna
are cannabis, knowing that Deccan
hemp (Hibiscus cannabinus) grows
in Egypt since ancient times.
Lise Manniche wrote notes
referening to " medical cannabis
plant " found in several Egyptian
texts, one of which dates back to the
eighteenth century BC, mentioning
that cannabis was frequently
prescribed in ancient Egypt to treat
inflammation , eye problems such
as glaucoma, also used during the
administration of enemas and as
suppositories for relieving the pain
of hemorrhoids.
Another indication that makes an
extra evidence that Ancient
Egyptians knew cannabis is the
Godess Seshat (Sefkhet, Abwy or
Seshet) which is the Egyptian
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
goddess of written word, her name
literally means "female scribe"
symbolizing supreme authority and
is always depicted as a woman
wearing a leopard skin draped over
her robe with a headdress of a
seven-pointed star (cannabis leaf)
arched by a crescent in the form of
a bow.
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Refrences:-
-"The Ebers Papyrus The Oldest
Written Prescriptions For Medical
Marihuana era 1,550 BC".
- "History of Cannabis".
Reefermadness museum.org.
- "The Pharaoh's pharmacists"
Pain, Stephanie. New Scientist.
Reed Business Information Ltd.
-"Brief History: Medical
Marijuana." Webley, Kayla
- Lise Manniche, An Ancient
Egyptian Herbal, University of
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Cannabis in Ancient Egypt Venice Ibrahim Attia
Texas Press, 1989, ISBN 978-0-292-
70415-2
- Frank, Mel. "Cannabis and
Ancient History." Cannabis and
Ancient History. 1978.
- The Journal of Egyptian
Archaeology, Vol. 20, No. 1/2. (June
1934), pp. 41-46.
- Mechoulam R, Gaoni Y (1965).
"A Total Synthesis of dl-Δ1-
Tetrahydrocannabinol, the Active
Constituent of Hashish1". J. Am.
Chem.
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