Scientists make psychedelic discovery in Ancient Egyptian artefact used for ‘magic rituals’

Researchers looking in to the history of Ancient Egypt have come across a rather startling discovery concerning a 2,000-year-old artefact that has been sat in a museum for four decades.

Donated to the Tampa Museum of Art back in 1984, the stunning handcrafted mug was created before the birth of Jesus Christ, depicting a Ancient Egyptian deity.

Now, its use could finally have been cracked after a new scientific report was published on the object following a number of scans.

Created around 200 BC, it was crafted towards the end of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation, resembling the Egyptian god of joy, fertility and household protection, Bes.

Now, in a new report published in Scientific Reports, scientists think they finally know what the cup was used for.

"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,” says co-author Branko van Oppen, the museum’s curator of Greek and Roman art, in the statement as per The Smithsonian.

“Experts did not know if these mugs were used in daily life, for religious purposes or in magic rituals.”

In the new advanced chemical study examining the residue inside the artefact, research concludes that psychedelic components were present.

The mug honouring Bes, an Egyptian god associated with joy, fertility and household protection (Allard Pierson Museum / Stephan van der Linden)

In particular, they found remnants of the plant peganum harmala; the seeds from which can cause hallucinations and dreamlike visions.

As well as this, there was traces of Egyptian lotus, which in Ancient Egypt was a mild sedative used by the population to feel short bursts of euphoria.

Recreational drugs, basically. We're call it what it is.

Alongside the bits used to get a natural high, there was traces of liquorice, grapes, sesame seeds, pine nuts, honey, and alcohol.

Previous studies showed that blood was found inside the cup, as well as other bodily fluids. We'll leave that there.

Co-author Enrico Greco, a chemist at the University of Trieste in Italy, told Newsweek about why the findings are of real importance.

A statue of Bes, the Ancient Egyptian god of fertility (Getty Stock Images)

"Proteins from blood, vaginal mucus and possibly breast milk were identified," Greco said. "These fluids may have held symbolic or ritual significance, emphasising themes of life, fertility and regeneration.

"The inclusion of human fluids, such as blood and mucous secretions, was an unexpected and highly symbolic element."

Alongside Greco, lead author Davide Tanasi, an archaeologist at the University of South Florida, said that the mug could have been used for 'incubation rituals' to help people sleep.

“In the Greek cult of Asklepios, god of medicine, sick worshipers had to spend the night in the sanctuary and wait to be visited by the god curing them during their dreams,” Tanasi said.

“Those dreams were triggered by drugs [pharmaka] dispensed by the priests. So, our research confirms an earlier practice that has later comparisons in several other cultures.”

The plan now is to look at the Bes mug again to see if there is a common recipe that can be identified from it.