Ancient Egyptians necked psychedelic drinks loaded up with blood. As The Daily Star previously reported, the Egyptians used to drink the concoctions of booze, drugs and bodily fluids – and not it turns out that bodily fluid was in fact blood. The drinks were consumed from a 2,200-year-old vessel that honoured the god Bes.
It was found in a tomb from the Ptolemiac-Roman period, and traces of psychoactive plants, including Peganum harmala and Nymphaea caerulea, were found in the mixture. According to Daily Galaxy, it also contains traces of saliva.
The breakthrough was made by researchers from the University of Florida. Led by Davide Tanasi from the University of Southern Florida, the team used chemical dialysis to analyse the mug, which features the head of Bes, a god worshiped for protection, fertility, medicinal healing and magical purification. He explained: “There’s no research out there that has ever found what we found in this study.
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“For the first time, we were able to identify all the chemical signatures of the components of the liquid concoction contained in the Tampa Museum of Art’s Bes mug, including the plants used by Egyptians, all of which have psychotropic and medicinal properties.”
(Image: Tampa Museum of Art, Florida)
In a statement, Branko van Oppen, curator of Greek and Roman art at the Tampa Museum of Art said: “For a very long time now, Egyptologists have been speculating what mugs with the head of Bes could have been used for, and for what kind of beverage, like sacred water, milk, wine or beer.
“Experts did not know if these mugs were used in daily life, for religious purposes or in magic rituals.”