Psychoactives in ancient Sumer: Cannabis

This is a joke ... Liberties taken with an Akkadian seal showing an offering to Ishtar.

 

I'll save you a lot of time right now by saying this: 

There is absolutely no evidence for the plant cannabis from Sumer.

You may cease reading at this point if you are prepared to trust my word, or you can continue and find out why I am making this rather sweeping statement. 

 

Although there is a clue in the word 'Sumer'. 

 

Because there is no evidence of this plant from this culture, which leads me to clarify what I mean when I say 'Sumer'.

 

Sumer

 

Sumer was a culture that developed in southern Mesopotamia (now Iraq) from 5000–4000 BCE. It achieved a peak in urban development towards the end of the 4th millennium (ca. 3200 BCE) from which time writing appeared, initially as a method of administration - recording livestock, harvest yields and job allocations.  

 

By the middle of the 3rd millennium (ca. 2600 BCE) Sumerian writing became sophisticated enough to record more complex information.

 

A bit later than this the Akkadians conquered Sumer (2350-40 BCE) and made it part of their empire, after which Sumerian culture merged with Akkadian, with spoken Sumerian dying out around the beginning of the 2nd millennium (ca. 1900 BCE, Michalowski 2013), replaced by Akkadian, a Semitic language. 

 

Neo-Assyrian magico-medical tablet from Assur naming azallû 

in a salve to ward off a curse, VAT 8256 © Istanbul Museum.

Nonetheless, the Sumerian language was retained for religious and administrative use by Mesopotamian cultures for another two thousand years. So, when the Sumerian writing of a word is given in an Assyrian or Babylonian document this is not proof of it being Sumerian. 

 

This ambiguity is convenient, as it means dodgy authors can include other cultures under the heading 'Sumer'. Online this has to be the most common type of misinformation associated with Mesopotamia, and with myths of drugs in Mesopotamia.

 

For the Sumerian period the psychoactive cannabis has neither been found in the archaeological record, nor has the plant been identified from herbals, bearing firmly in mind that many plants from Mesopotamian records are still waiting identification (Rumor 2021, Böck Ghazanfar & Nesbitt 2023). 

 

But why am I making this statement, and going to the trouble of writing yet another blog post about drugs?

 

Cannabis in Sumer

 

This is why: 

 

Ishtar, goddess of healing and Ganja - We.Ed Facebook 28.01.2021

And this:

 Ellen Komp blog / Nola Evangelista 2022, Women's History Month.

 

Basically, some contemporary publications are claiming that the Sumerians used cannabis both for cult and in medicine, sometimes pushing the dates back as early as 5000 BCE. In addition, they claim weed was the sacred plant of the 'healing' goddess Ishtar. 

 

This association with a big-name goddess may also be neatly rationalised as empowering for feminism. And then rather puritan hoops are jumped through to argue that this goddess was nurturing and maternal, only becoming the patroness of 'debauchery' once the (Akkadian) patriarchy took over...

 

Fisher Tully review of Tokin Women, Leafly, 03.03.2020

The problem with these claims is the discreet combination of misinformation constructed from relying on out of date literature and through misinterpreting the available information while citing, not entirely accurate, non-Assyriological sources.

 

So yet again we are staring down the barrel of selective referencing and telephone games associated with psychoactives and their possible uses in the ancient world (for earlier posts on ancient drugs see the 'labels' side bar >>).

 

Numerous tablets will 'bear testimony' if you are prepared to 

cite every proposal for weed for the last 100 years.

The factoids associated with this topic mostly involve the identification of four Mesopotamian plant names as hemp, hashish or cannabis proper. These are: azallû, ganzigunnu, gurgurru and qunnabu.

 

The academic source that is most important to the argument is Assyriologist Reginald Campbell Thompson in books from 1929 to 1949. In these he argued for the identification of azallû as cannabis. Before Thompson proposals had involved the plants martakkal/maštakkal (Albright 1926) and qunnabu (Scheil 1921).

 

With Thompson's early 20th century herbals firmly as foundation, romantic faff is then constructed mix-and-matching the information regarding the terminology and the uses of the various plants. 

The outcome is often creative bollocks, involving the recreational and ritual use of cannabis, arcane 'Sacred Rites' and goddesses of Love. 

 

For clarity I will break up the topics individually, beginning with the identification that gets the most emphasis:

 

The plant azallû on tablet BM k.67 from the Nineveh. © British Museum.

 

1. Cannabis = Azallû

 

This Akkadian plant name is found on approximately 100 cuneiform tablets dating from the Mid-Babylonian to the Hellenistic periods (ca. 1400–63 BCE). Of these, most date to the 1st millennium (ca. 800–63 BCE) and about half are from the Library of Assurbanipal (700-600 BCE). 

 

There are only a few tablets mentioning azallû that date earlier, towards the end of the 2nd millennium (from Assur, Alalakh & Nippur).

 

The name may be written in Sumerian or Akkadian, but the plant is not known from the 3rd millennium (Sumer). This is notwithstanding the claim by cannabis historian Chris Bennett (2010) for 'hemp' on a Neo-Sumerian tablet, because it is incorrect. The tablet (Yale BC 00567) records allocations of emmer wheat. See here

 

Azallû from the Neo-Assyrian Uruanna, BM K.4398/4418.

 

Descriptions of azallû and its uses come mostly from Assyro-Babylonian medical tablets and handbooks of pharmaceutical ingredients, particularly the Uruanna and Šammu Šikinšu. 

In the former it was an ingredient in a variety of internal and external remedies, such as headaches and sores on the feet. It was used to treat impotence, in amulets to ease childbirth, in preparations for divination and exorcism, to ward off curses, witchcraft, the evil eye and 'Hand of a Ghost'. It was also associated with the zodiac sign Aries in Hellenistic astrology (TCL 6, 12+).

 

In cannabis culture it is common for emphasis to be placed on azallû's use as a herb for depression, as the 'plant of sorrow', 'šami nissati', because there are tablets describing it in this way. Its possible sedative effect is thought to argue for a psychoactive. This particular rationale stems from Thompson 1924.

 

 

In the Uruanna and Šammu Šikinšu, azallû is described as 'like (the plant) kanašû and red' (see below and at ORACC here).  Kanašû (GÁNA.ZI) is unidentified, and was described as having small thin leaves with a curly fringe (CAD). It too may be described as red, or with red flowers. It was (mis)identified as opium by Thompson in 1924.

  

Nonetheless, the colour red is hardly a secure indication of cannabis, in addition, azallû had other folk names, and was called the 'shepherd's staff plant', or 'flowing water plant', again neither pointing specifically towards cannabis.

 

Medical tablet from Assur, BAM 2, 156, VAT 8256. © Istanbul Museum.

BRM 4.32, a Neo-Babylonian therapeutic commentary, Pierpoint Morgan.

As stated earlier, azallû was identified as 'Cannabis (indica)' by Thompson in 1924. However, some of his plant identifications are obsolete, particularly his designations of narcotics, and in this case, he based the argument on similarity to a much later Syriac root for 'spin' or 'twist' - ''zal'.  

 

'Hemp'

This leap from spinning to cannabis is not uncommon in early 20th century literature and is based on an ethnocentric, ie: culturally subjective, assumption - 'we use hemp to make rope, so they must have used it too'.

 

 

This problem is also not aided by the word 'hemp' having become a term to describe a variety of coarse fibres in English, which means you really can't trust its use in early archaeological reports. 

 

Not to mention the confusion of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), or 'Deccan hemp', with cannabis proper. Kenaf is a known fibre source from Africa and the Near East.

 

Hemp made with cannabis has been used as a fibre in certain cultures, no question, but there were many fibre producing plants in the ancient Near East, and there is currently no evidence of the cannabis fibre before the Hellenistic period (323 BCE).

 

 

There is, on the other hand, plenty of archaeological evidence for other materials, like sheep and goat wool, flax, the date palm and varieties of marsh reeds (Andersson Strand 2012, Waetzold 2009-2011). 

 

But regardless of piddly details like evidence, Thompson's proposal was not based on sound argumentation, and took a big leap of faith based on cultural bias. 

 

My translation of the German, Reallexikon der Assyriologie 'Hemp'.

Citing Farber 1981

As a result, the plant azallû has been rejected as cannabis by Assyriologists since at least 1975 (Röllig 1975, Farber 1981, Böck 2021). Before this time the uncertainty was usually indicated by a question mark (ie: von Soden 1965). Therefore, academic lexica of the past 55 years simply describe azallû as 'a plant' or a 'medicinal plant'. 

 

The Assyrian Dictionary (CAD 1968/2004) is clear regarding the earlier identification as cannabis:

 

Azallû: ... 'Apart from the commentary passage [naming 'plant of sorrow'],... there is no indication that the plant had any narcotic properties.'

 

While it was possible 20+ years ago for Assyriological medical research to mention azallû as cannabis, this has faded into the background. For example, Scurlock and Anderson (2005) briefly mention cannabis as probably used in medicine, but in further major studies Scurlock (2006, 2014) does not identify azallû.

 

Too much creative reliance on Thompson

 

To sum up - the plant azallû is NOT identified, and it is highly unlikely to be cannabis - which reduces to irrelevance the volume of writing produced over the past 30 years identifying it as this, or more specifically as hemp, marijuana or hashish, and describing it's many uses and healing properties in ancient Sumer and Assyria, because there aren't any.

 

aka Bennett 2010, 2019, Bennett, Osburn & Osburn 1995, Bennett & Mcqueen 2013, Rätsch 2001, 2016, Russo 2002, 2007, Hanuš 2009, Emboden 1995, Clarke and Merlin 2016, Evangelista 2016 etc.

 

 

The other identifications of cannabis from Thompson:

 

Gurgurru/qurqurru

Gurgurru is a synonym for azallû from plant glossaries along with the following term ganzigunnu. It was not uncommon for pharmacological handbooks to use more than one name to identify a plant.

 

To support his identification Thompson argued that gurgurru translates as 'cable' and is derived from the root garāru, meaning 'roll' or 'twist round'. Which is more or less correct, as garāru means 'roll' (ePSD), 'turn', 'roll over' (CAD), 'meander, writhe' (ORACC), but this is a weak argument for an already speculative identification.

 

Such a loose interpretation, 'roll, writhe, twist' could also be used to identify the characteristics of any number of plants, ivy for example. It goes out the window with the rejection of azallû.

 

Azallû and synonyms from British Museum: K.4398+4418, Neo-Assyrian.

 

Ganzigunnu

Similarly, Thompson equated the Sumerian plant name ganzigunnu, GÁNA.ZI.GÙN.NU or GAG.ZI.GÙN.NU, with azallû, due to these names being identified as synonyms in the Uruanna (above).

 

It is used to prop up an argument for the antiquity of use of cannabis, but while this is Sumerian script, there is no Sumerian use of this term. Ganzigunnu is found in Neo-Assyrian plant glossaries.

 

To support his identification Thompson argued that the name was built from values of narcotic ('ganzi') + weaving ('gunu'), extrapolating from this an imaginative translation of ganzi as 'robber of the soul' / 'plant that takes away the mind'. Again employing the textile = hemp rationale, combined with his equally problematic ganzi = opium. 

 

However, to repeat, his translations are obsolete.

Ganzigunnu is usually translated today as 'multicoloured ganazi plant = medicinal azallû plant', because gunu/burrumu means 'multicoloured', 'patterned' or 'speckled' (see ORACC: Uruanna 17, here).

 

Therefore, within Assyriology the identification of ganzigunnu as hemp or cannabis has also been binned in the last 20 years, due to no linguistic or comparative evidence and the rejection of azallû.

Please stop citing it.

This faulty reasoning and inaccuracy is disappointing - 'kunibu' is NOT Sumerian.

2. Cannabis = Qunnabu?

Qunnabu is again an Akkadian plant name that, unlike the previous names, is argued to be a loanword, and not originally Semitic. It is an aromatic listed in a few Neo-Assyrian/Babylonian to Hellenistic documents (ca. 800–63 BCE). This word is not attested before 800 BCE (Böck 2021) and it does not occur in the plant glossaries. 

 

No, they didn't, this is bollocks.

 

The assumption that qunnabu follows or replaces azallû in Mesopotamian plant lore is false (Chris Bennett above), as the two plants are mostly found in contemporary texts: The difference is their classification and use:  

Azallû was a plant (Ú/šam) from herbals and medical handbooks. Qunnabu was an aromatic (ŠIM/riqu) listed among ingredients for scented oils, incense and salves. It does not adopt the medical applications of azallû.

Recipe for a libation oil used in a Hellenistic period drum ritual.

 

However, qunnabu is not a common ingredient among aromatics, which favoured cedar, cypress, myrtle, sweet flag and myrrh (Jursa 2007, 2009), and therefore it is usually one of a few different ingredients. It is also found in price lists and receipts for these. But unlike azallû there are currently only about 16+ tablets mentioning it.

 

Qunnabu in a Neo-Babylonian receipt for ingredients.
 Reign of Nebuchadnezzar, ca 570 BCE, Keiser 1918, 162.

 

Qunnabu is not found in medical texts, with the exception of a Neo-Babylonian recipe for a libation to the god Beltu (BM 78963). In this it is one of 9 strong smelling ingredients that are combined with raisins, two types of beer and left to sit 3 days. It is unclear how it was then used (Scurlock 2014).

 

I am not sure that fermented beer libations count as medicinal, but I am confident I am going to get energetic feedback at home for that controversial observation.

It is also mentioned in a Neo-Babylonian receipt from the Eanna temple of Ishtar at Uruk, but not as an aromatic, rather for textile cleaning (GCCI 2, 258, Dougherty 1933, Jursa 2009). And finally, there is a Neo-Assyrian ritual text from Assur including qunnabu in a description of the materials making up the body of the god Tammuz (Berlin VAT 9946).

 

This is all R. Campbell Thompson has to say in 1924.

Qunnabu ('qunapu') was identified as 'oil of hemp; hashish(?)' by Assyriologist Jean-Vincent Scheil in a translation of a Neo-Babylonian tablet from 1921 (Yale BC 004001). This identification was greeted with caution by his peers, with some, like Ebeling (1931), qualifying 'hemp' with (?). 

 

It was cited briefly at the end of Thompson's identification of azallû as cannabis in the Assyrian Herbal (above).

 

Scheil's identification was discussed again by Thompson in 1949, where the latter throws the qunnabu proposal in as an afterthought after emphasizing the argument for azallû. His lack of interest is clear from the dismissal of Ebeling's translation as: 'but it seems very unlikely', and the impartial: 'Scheil seeing Cannabis in it'.

 

Yet, unlike the previous terms, the proposal by Scheil from 1921 has gained acceptance within Assyriology, with the caveat that it is not 100% certain, and that the absence of archaeological evidence is an impediment to secure identification (Böck 2022). 

 

The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD 1982) has:

 

'Qunnabu (qunnubu) ... (an aromatic) ... Possibly the seed of flower of hemp (Cannabis)'

 

Nonetheless, it is fairly likely that between the Neo-Assyrian and Hellenistic periods cannabis could have been available in Mesopotamia. Possibly as an exotic import, because there are no agricultural records mentioning this plant and it is not in herbals.

 

But I would like to draw attention to the word 'could', as too often this qualifier is ignored when interpreting academic plant IDs from the ancient world.

 

The letter to Naqia, BM 1889,0426.5. © Trustees of the British Museum.

The letter to queen Naqia

A commonly cited document for qunnabu as cannabis is a Neo-Assyrian letter recording arrangements for a ritual associated with the goddess Tashmetu (see above). It is from the Library of Assurbanipal (BM 1889,0426.5).

 

The letter is from the priest Nergal-sharrani at Nimrud, and sent to queen Naqia, the mother of king Esarhaddon (ca. 675 BCE), confirming the organisation of the ritual that she had requested.

 

This rite is described as the 'Sacred Rites' by Russo (2007) and Bennett (2010), giving the impression this is a major event, and proof of the importance of cannabis in Mesopotamia. When in fact the letter uses the word dullu - 'the ritual' or 'work', without emphasis. It is therefore not possible to judge whether this ritual was special.

 

Talk it up baby.

The priest's name is misspelled as Neralsharrani by Bennett (2010, in the paragraph following the hyperbole about 'Sacred Rites'), it is later repeated in Bennett and McQueen (2013), and then by anyone using these as their source. 

 

Nergal was a major god, and being named after a god was very much a thing in ancient Mesopotamia. So this is a rookie mistake. The translation Bennett used is Waterman 1930, see ORACC SAAo for a recent translation here. However, Waterman is not the source of these changes.

 

The letter (excerpt):

To the queen mother, my 'lord': your servant, Nergal-šarrani.

Good health to the queen mother, my 'lord.'

May Nabû and Marduk bless the queen mother, my 'lord.'
May Tašmetu, whom you revere, take your hands.
May you see 1,000 years of kingship for Esarhaddon.

As for what the queen mother, my 'lord,' wrote to me, saying: 

"What is going into the ritual?" —
These are its constituents: sweet-scented oil, wax, sweet-scented 

fragrance, myrrh, cannabis, and ṣadīdu-aromatic. 

[I will] perform it [for a]ll [the ... th]at the queen mother com[manded].     

Source ORACC: SAAo 

 

The ingredients of this offering appear to be for an aromatic oil or salve, and qunnabu ('qunubu') is translated as cannabis by Cole & Machinist (1998). The letter also records an offering to the goddess of an ox, sheep and a duck. 

Assyrian Kitchen Facebook post 2022.

 

To sum up, while the early identifications of azallû, gurgurru, maštakkal and ganzigunnu are now rejected within Assyriology, it is entirely possible that the aromatic qunnabu may have been cannabis. This plant was an ingredient used exclusively in aromatic oils, salves and incense.

 

However, evidence is sparse and therefore the argument is often enhanced by using hyperbolic language, exaggerating dates, pimping up citations and combining any information regarding these proposals in order to build an argument for cannabis having played an important role within 'Sumerian' culture. 

 

Which brings us to the even fringe-ier claims about weed in ancient Mesopotamia:

 

 

3. Ishtar, the goddess of weed?

 

The Semitic (not Sumerian) Ishtar was an important goddess of sexuality and battle, but also closely associated with power and kingship. She was not usually associated with healing or medicine, and while she was a goddess of sex and love, her character was contradictory, vengeful, and she could cause sterility just as readily as promote fertility (ORACC: Inana/Ištar).  

 

Therefore, Ishtar was not a nurturing and caring mother-goddess, nor is she represented in Mesopotamian myth and art as such. Instead, she was significantly more kick-arse. These maternal associations are the product of early 20th century thinking and Victorian era myths of early matriarchy where all goddesses were believed to be aspects of one great goddess (see Sinclair 2012, Eller 2011).

 

Mother-Goddess fan fiction; Ishtar & Ishara were not associated with plants 
in seal iconography, this is an Akkadian vegetation goddess.

 

Cannabis telephone games

However, for this topic it would be simpler to provide an illustration of the citation chain that can occur, essentially by relying on non-academic and out-of-date literature. In this case it begins with a book by hemp activist Ellen Komp, writing as Nola Evangelista, called Tokin Women (2016). 

 

Akkadian is not Sumerian ... Citing Achterberg 1990

 

Komp derived her argument about Ishtar being a compassionate and healing goddess from a book by experimental psychologist Jeanne Achterberg called Woman as Healer (1990).

 

Ea was not the sun god ... Citing Hurd Mead 1938

Achterberg in turn used A History of Women in Medicine (1938) by physician Kate Hurd-Mead as her source, and Hurd-Mead cited the Assyriologist Stephen Langdon (1929) as hers. 

 

Citing Langdon 1929.

In 1929 Langdon described the Sumerian goddess Inanna (‘Ininni’) as a virgin heaven goddess, an earth mother and mater dolorosa (‘weeping mother’). Nothing quite says ethnocentricity like giving a goddess of sexual desire and war the characteristics of the Virgin Mary.

In his defence however, he doesn't confuse Sumer with Babylon and Assyria, he specifies that the mater dolorosa is a very late Babylonian title and no mention is made of Ishtar being a goddess of medicine. This comes with Hurd-Mead's interpretation.

'virgin heaven goddess and earth mother' ... good grief

Nonetheless, Langdon's article was published almost 100 years ago, and thankfully we have moved forward in our understanding of the ancient world since then. In fact, the examples above are why old history books and people citing old books must be treated with caution.

 

However, credit for some of this must again go to weed historian Chris Bennett who Komp also relied on for the connection to cannabis, and who argued both that Ishtar was a compassionate mother goddess and that cannabis, as azallû and qunnabu, was her sacred plant (2009, 2010, 2019). 

'one can only speculate' ... and he does ... it is called a ring-post.

For cannabis in Mesopotamia Bennett relied heavily on papers by neurologist Ethan Russo, and between them these two cannabis writers (amateur & academic) have been major contributors to this topic, serving as sources for most history of cannabis publications of the past 20 years. 

 

However, both based their arguments on Thompson's identifications from 1924 & 1949. 

 

In addition to Thompson, or often via him, they pad out their citations with obsolete sources from the early 20th century. Or cite early cuneiform publications that provide no translation, when neither author reads cuneiform. This tends to infer a casual or even manipulative approach to sources. 

Faulty interpretation of Yale BC 005677 from Hackman 1937, BIN 5, 43.

 

This assumption is confirmed further via texts in footnotes that are unrelated to the citation, ie.: Russo (2014), citing a book by Thompson on 8th century Babylonian demonology from 1903 for his (incorrect) Sumerian date for medical records of cannabis (see image of this mess below). 

 

Or citing the same article twice under different authors (Russo 2007, ftns 141-2, citing Scheil 1921 and Keiser 1921 for Scheil's article) ... Yes, I wasted too much time on this, but I really do check sources ...

Russo relied heavily on Thompson 1949, and then gets that wrong

 

A telephone game of epic proportions involving obsolete research, pimping the evidence and citation sleight-of-hand, which also depends on the following tiny tablet:

 

4. The aromatic of Ishara is qunnabu

 

Ishara was a Semitic goddess who was thought to originate in northern Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium. She was a goddess of divination, prophecy, oaths, love and marriage who later could be associated with Ishtar due to overlaps in their functions. Nonetheless, she was an important freestanding goddess who could be associated with conjugal love and healing.

 

The plant of Ishara - ^šIMIšhara - was cited by Assyriologist Erica Reiner (1995) in a book on astral magic where she translated the name as 'aromatic of the goddess Ishara', and compared this plant to two that are associated with Ishtar in the Uruanna due to their names both meaning 'bed of Ishtar' - majal Ištar / suḫsi Ištar (arzallu) - these plants are unidentified.

 

 

From the fact that Ishara was goddess of love Reiner (above) suggested that all 3 plants 'may' be aphrodisiacs, citing Assyriologist Frederick Fales (1983) in a translation of a Neo-Assyrian tablet from the British Museum (BM 10325). 

This cuneiform tablet is very small and names the aromatic of Ishara as 'qu-nu-bu' twice: '^šIMIshara is qunubu'. It has no excavation provenience and may only be dated by style. Therefore, we know nothing about it except for the brief text and that it is Neo-Assyrian.  

 

'^šimIshara is qunubu'. © British Museum, BM: 103205

 

Fales however did not suggest these plants were aphrodisiacs.

 

That is the sum of the argument, Reiner citing Fales who cited Assyriologist Wilfred Lambert for an association of this plant with a goddess of love. To my knowledge there is no further corroboration of this suggestion, and Lambert makes no mention of this in the Reallexikon der Assyriologie listing for Ishara cited by Fales (below).

   

 

The confusion of Ishtar and Ishara in popular culture comes from assuming they are the same goddess, via the fact that they were equated in antiquity. But it is also easy to confuse goddesses of the 1st millennium because at that time 'Ishtar' was used generally to mean 'goddess' (Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013).

 

While this tablet is interesting, it is unique, and apart from it there are no ritual or mythological texts from Mesopotamia specifically associating the goddesses Ishara or Ishtar with the plant qunnabu. Therefore, to conclude that the sacred plant of Ishtar was cannabis from this takes too great a leap of faith. 

Aromatic libation before Ishtar, Akkadian period, private collection.

 

Incense 

In fact, this strong smelling plant does not have a prominent place among the aromatics that were used in cult in Mesopotamia, nor is it listed in the plant glossaries like azallû, which would also infer it was a late introduction to the ritual landscape. Approximately 16 tablets citing qunnabu for a period of about 800 years is not a compelling argument for its importance.

In addition, in contrast to the modern emphasis placed on burning or 'smoking' qunnabu in ritual, this is again a reflection of ethnocentricity, as most texts name this plant in scented oils and salves. 

 

Mesopotamian incenses from the late 3rd millennium onwards favoured a combination of conifer woods (cedar, juniper), resins (myrrh) and different types of flour. There are no recipes dating to the Sumerian period proper, and the earliest tablet describing incense is Neo-Sumerian, from ca. 2100 BCE (Rehm 2010, Jursa 2009).

 

An incense for Ishtar:

 

'Before Ishtar you pour an incense burner filled with juniper onto acacia wood charcoal.'

(from the German, Zgoll 2003)

 

I could only find one Neo-Babylonian recipe where qunnabu was used for incense with another 25+ ingredients (BM 77429, Jursa 2009), and while this may have been used in ritual, that ritual was probably in the Ebabbar temple of the sun god Shamash at Sippar.

 

However, there is also no reason to assume qunnabu was included in incense with the specific intention of 'getting high'. Psychoactive properties do not guarantee use as a psychoactive.

Again, the identification of qunnabu could be meaningful, and it is interesting, but it is difficult to be sure in the absence of more supporting evidence. And the evidence is thin once you remove azallû and the misinformation from the mix.

 

That is how archaeology rolls, if you are not sure, it is necessary to say this.

 

 

This is just embarrassing

 

 

Conclusion

To sum up, there is a lot more uncertainty in the identification of names for ancient Near Eastern plants than is reflected by their representation in popular culture. This academic caution too often gets pushed aside in pursuit a good story, or to support a specific theory.  

Cannabis is not securely identifed, and it is not listed among the identified Mesopotamian plants in the most recent Assyriological publication on pharmacology and botanic, Böck, Ghazanfar & Nesbitt, An Ancient Mesopotamian Herbal (2023).

 

Azallû

Within Assyriology the plant called azallû (gurgurru or ganzigunnu) is unidentified. It is highly unlikely that it is cannabis. There is simply no evidence to support an argument for this, and the identification by Thompson from 1924 is obsolete.

 

In addition, this is not an early term.  

 

Azallû is not Sumerian, nor is it present in documents from the 3rd millennium, the earliest example is Mid-Babylonian (1400 BCE or later). 600 years later azallû is a reasonably common ingredient in Neo-Assyrian and Babylonian medical texts and glossaries, and it continues to be until the end of the Hellenistic period (63 BCE).  

 

 

Qunnabu

Yet at the same time the plant qunnabu appears in a few recipes and receipts for aromatics, and in two tablets related to temple rituals using aromatics. These date from about 800 BCE to the end of the Hellenistic period (63 BCE). This means qunnabu is also not Sumerian.

 

Unlike azallû this plant could well be cannabis, as there is limited archaeological evidence for its presence in other parts of the Near East in the early centuries of the 1st millennium, and there may be a valid linguistic argument for it being a loan word (Böck 2022).

 

This identification, while generally accepted, requires confirmation from archaeology, as there is no archaeo-botanical evidence for cannabis from before the Classical period in Mesopotamia. There is equally no iconographic evidence for it, and claiming the Assyrian sacred tree, the ring-post of Ishtar or any other plant from iconography is cannabis is speculation.

 

Neo-Assyrian seal. © British Museum: 89135.

 

Goddesses and their plants

Finally, there is no clear connection with Ishtar, the Semitic goddess of sexuality and war, for cannabis. The goddess of love Ishara may have had some kind of association with qunnabu via the epithet 'Ishara's aromatic', but more examples of this would be helpful. 

 

One object could be the exception, not the rule, and there are other plants vying for the job of sacred plant of a love goddess, like majal Ištar and suḫsi Ištar.

 

I also fancy the plant imḫur ešra, that is described as - 'It-confronted-20-plant” (means) “(it is) like the radiance of Ishtar”;' (BRM 4,32 here). This plant is identified as 'highly probably' black bryony in Böck, Ghazanfar & Nesbitt (2023), but likeness to a goddess is actually not enough.

 

Personally, if I had to choose a plant sacred of Ishtar it would be one named after her - ^šamDilbat / ^ÚDIL.BAD - 'the plant of Dilbat' (Ishtar as the planet Venus, STT 2, 280 here), or for an aphrodisiac - ‘plant to create love’ - ^ÚKI.ÁG - (CT 14, 26 here), but don't quote me, this is also speculation.

 

 

A lot happened between Sumer and the appearance of qunnabu

So finally we return to my statement from the beginning of this post:

There is no evidence for cannabis from Sumer... not archaeological nor textual.

 

Nor is there any from the Akkadian Empire, or 2nd millennium Assyria and Babylon. 

 

In fact, cannabis only becomes a viable possibility in the 1st millennium in Assyria and Babylon when these powers had extended their political and economic control well beyond Mesopotamia. And when cannabis is first known archaeologically in western Asia.

 

 

Andrea Sinclair

 

November 2024

 

My thanks to Frank M. and to Ed V., who in different ways both motivated me to look into this topic in more detail.

Further reading and references

Eller, C. 2011. Gentlemen and Amazons: The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory. University of California Press.

Emboden, WA. 1972. 'Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa L.: A Historical-Ethnographic Survey.' In Flesh of the Gods, The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens, PT. Furst (ed), 214-36.
Samorini, G. 2019. ‘The Oldest Archaeological Data Evidencing the Relationship of Homo Sapiens with Psychoactive Plants: A Worldwide Overview.’ Journal of Psychedelic Studies 3(2): 63-8.

Sinclair, A. 2012. 'Erroneous Terms in Archaeology and Popular Literature: the 'Mother Goddess', or Why I Can be Tiresome at Social Engagements.' Ancient Planet Journal 3: 16-27 - https://works.hcommons.org/records/rkc7k-g5j56

 

Online resources

BABMED Corpora Online - https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/babmed/Corpora/index.html

EBL - Electronic Babylonian Library - Fragmentarium (tablets) - https://www.ebl.lmu.de/fragmentarium

ORACC: 

- Inana/Ištar: https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/inanaitar/

- State Archives of Assyria online (from Cole & Machinist, 1998), SAAo 13, 076, Report to the Queen Mother - https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa13/P334244

- URUANNA 17 - https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu//dcclt/Q000092.129

ePSD dictionary: Electronic PSD - http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/nepsd-frame.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawFuALxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWCLVmk7ECzb6NlZDj_E6eMy03Bn8A_unyCJn6Ho9QSrfT_mYHOlJc9nFg_aem_zcG2-Lg65l5Swd9tg47UiQ

 

The print dictionaries

Black, J., A. George & N. Postgate 2000. A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. Harrassowitz.

Borger, R. 1978. Assyrisch-babylonische Zeichenliste. AOAT.

Borger, R. 2004. Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon. Munster.

Labat, R. 1976. Manuel d'épigraphie Akkadienne. Paul Geuthner.

Civil, M., IJ. Gelb, B. Landsberger AL. Oppenheim & E. Reiner 1968/2004, The Assyrian Dictionary (CAD). Oriental Institute Chicago.

Schramm, W. 2005. Akkadische Logogramme. University Göttingen.

von Soden, W. 1965. Akkadisches Handwörterbuch I & II. Harrassowitz.

 

Mesopotamian botany, medicine, aromatics and herbals

Albright, 1926. 'Ass. Martakkal.' Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archaologie 3: 

Böck, B. 2015. 'Shaping Texts and Text Genres: On the Drug Lore of Babylonian Practitioners of Medicine.' Aula Orientalis 33(1): 21-57.

Böck, 2022. 'Mind Altering Plants in Babylonian Medical Sources.' Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World, DL. Stein, S. Kielt Costello & K. Pollinger Foster (eds), 121-137. Routledge.

Böck, B., SA. Ghazanfar & N. Nesbitt 2023. An Ancient Mesopotamian Herbal. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.

Farber, W. 1981. 'Drogen im alten Mesopotamien - Sumerer und Akkader.’ Rausch und Realität: Drogen in Kulturvergleich I, G. Völger & K. von Welck (eds), 270-291. Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum.

Jursa, M. 2009. 'Die Kralle des Meeres und andere Aromata.' Analecta Semitica in Memoriam an Alexander Sima, W. Arnold, M. Jursa, WW. Müller & S. Prochadzka (eds), 147-180. Harrassowitz.

Jursa, M.  2007. Räucherung, Rauchopfer. Reallexikon der Assyriologie 11: 225-229.

Rehm, M. 2010. '"Harz und Zeder mögen euch hervorrufen" Über die Räucherkultur im alten Orient.' Kulturlandschaft Syrien, Zentrum und Peripherie, J. Becker, R. Hempelmann & E. Rehm, 449-480. Ugarit Verlag.

Rumor, 2021. 'Medicinal Plants, Foods, Spices in Ancient Mesopotamia.' Health, Diseases, and Healing from Antiquity to Byzantium, H. Perdicoyianni-Paleologou (ed), 21-37. Adolf Hackert.

Scurlock, JA. 2006. Magico-Medical Means of Treating Ghost Induced Illnesses in Ancient Mesopotamia. Brill.

Scurlock, JA. 2014. Sourcebook for Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine. SBL Press.

Scurlock, JA. & BR. Anderson 2005. Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine: Ancient Sources, Translations, and Modern Medical Analyses. University of Illinois.
Thompson, RC. 1924. The Assyrian Herbal. Luzac & Co.

Thompson, RC. 1936. A Dictionary of Assyrian Chemistry and Geology. Oxford University.

Thompson, RC. 1949. A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany. British Academy.

 

General Assyriology

Abusch T. & D. Schwemer 2010. Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals. Brill.

Asher-Greve, JM. & JG. Westenholz 2013. Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Sources. Göttingen & Fribourg.

Dougherty, RP. 1933. Archives from Erech, Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods. GCCI II, Yale University.

Ebeling, E. 1931. Tod und Leben nach den Vorstellungen der Babylonier. de Gruyter.

Hackman, GG. 1937. Temple Documents of the Third Dynasty of Ur from Umma. Yale University.

Lambert, 1976-80. 'Ishara.' Reallexikon der Assyriologie 5: 176-7.

Langdon, SH. 1929. 'Babylonian and Assyrian Religion.' Encyclopaedia Britannica 14, vol 2. 

Linssen, MJH. 2003. The Cults of Uruk and Babylon: The Temple Ritual Texts as Evidence for Hellenistic Cult Practice. Brill.

Reiner, E. 1995. Astral Magic in Babylonia. American Theosophical Society.

Michalowski, P. 2005. 'The Life and Death of the Sumerian Language in Comparative Perspective.' Acta Sumerologica 22

Thompson, RC. 1903. The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia. Luzac & Co.

Zgoll, A. 2003. Die Kunst des Betens: ​Form und Funktion, Theologie und Psychagogik in babylonisch-assyrischen Handerhebungsgebeten zu Ishtar​​. AOAT. Munster.

 

Mesopotamian rope and textiles

Andersson Strand, E. 2012. 'The Textile Chaine Operatoire: Using a Multidisciplinary Approach to Textile Archaeology with a Focus on the Ancient Near East.' Paleorient 38, Prehistory of Textiles in the Near East (1/2): 21-40.

Röllig, W. 1972-75.  'Hanf.' Reallexikon der Assyriologie 4: 104.

Waetzold, H. 2011. 'Seil und Schnur. A. in Mesopotamien.' Reallexikon der Assyriologie 12: 354-5.

The misinformation (primary sources)

Clarke and Merlin 2015. Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany. Berkeley.

Bennett, C., L. Osburn, & J. Osbourne 1995. Green Gold Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic & Religion. Access United.

Bennett, B. 2009. 'Part II of the Great Keneh Bosem Debate.' Cannabis Culture blog.

Bennett, C. 2010. Cannabis and the Soma Solution. Trineday Press.

Bennett, C. 2019. 'The Mother Plant of the Goddess.' Cannabis Culture blog.

Bennett, C. and McQueen 2013. ‘Cannabis and the Hebrew Bible.’ In Entheogens and the Development of Culture, JA. Rush (ed.), 51-84. California.

Evangelista, N. (E. Komp) 2016. Tokin Women: A 4,000 Year Herstory. Regent Press.

Rätsch, C. 2001. Marijuana Medicine: A World Tour of the Visionary and Healing Powers of Cannabis. Healing Arts Press.

Komp, E. 2022. Women's History Month: A Deep Dive. California Norml blog.

Russo, EB. 2002. 'Cannabis Treatments in Obstetrics and Gynecology: A Historical Review.' Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics 5-34.

Russo, EB. 2007. ‘History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet.’ Chemistry and Biodiversity 4: 1614-1648.

Russo, EB. 2014. 'The Pharmacological History of Cannabis.' In Handbook of Cannabis, R. Pertwee (ed), 23-43. Oxford Academic.