The history of the poppy and of opium and their expansion in antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean area

Sections

Note by the Editor
Table of contents PART I
I. INTRODUCTION
II. THE POPPY AND OPIUM AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS
III. THE POPPY AND OPIUM AMONG OTHER PEOPLES OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND IN INDIA

Details

Author: P. G. KRITIKOS , S. P. PAPADAKI
Pages: 17 to 38
Creation Date: 1967/01/01

The history of the poppy and of opium and their expansion in antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean area

Professor Dr. P. G. KRITIKOS
S. P. PAPADAKI
Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, University of Athens, Greece

Note by the Editor

The following work, which was first published in the Journal of the Archœological Society of Athens, has been reproduced here with some editorial modifications and the omission, for reasons of space, of cumulative archœological and other evidence, and criticism pertaining to the history of opium in ancient times. The present number carries the first part of the paper which presents research about the poppy and opium among the ancient Greeks as well as among other peoples of the eastern Mediterranean region.

The succeeding number of the Bulletin will carry the second part of this paper in which the authors present numismatic evidence about the opium poppy, discuss the etymology of opium, the ways of extracting the raw drug, the methods of taking it, and the symbolic meaning that it came to acquire.

[ translated by George Michalopoulos]

Table of contents PART I

			Page
I.	Introduction		17
II.	The poppy and opium among the Ancient Greeks		18
	A.	he testimony of classical texts	18
	B.	The testimony of archæological discoveries in Greece	23
III.	The poppy and opium among other peoples of the eastern Mediterranean and in India		35

I. INTRODUCTION

The poppy plant and its hypnotic qualities were well known in the classical period of ancient Greece and are mentioned by contemporary writers. It was regarded as a magic or poisonous plant and was used in religious ceremonies. At a later date it was also employed in the art of healing.

The original of this article is in Greek.

The ancient Greeks portrayed the divinities Hypnos (Sleep), Nyx (Night), and Thanatos (Death) wreathed with poppies or carrying poppies in their hands. They adorned statues of Apollo, Asklepios, Pluto, Demeter, Aphrodite, Kybele, Isis and other deities in like manner. Sometimes ears of corn were added to the bunch of poppies.

Poppy-capsules, with or without the addition of ears of corn, are also found on figurines, bas-reliefs, vases, tombstones, coins and jewellery.

Legend has it that Demeter, in despair over the seizure of her daughter Persephone by Pluto, ate poppies in order to fall asleep and forget her grief. According to Ovid, she supplied Triptolemus also with poppies in order to induce sleep.

The poppy became one of the symbols of this goddess. On a basket at Eleusis it is portrayed in combination with ears of corn.

The poppy-head, with or without ears of corn, is found in the hands of statues of various gods of the nether world, and because of the multiplicity of its seeds, it is considered to be a symbol of abundance and fertility.

We propose to refer in detail, in the relevant chapters, to the spread of the poppy over the region primarily under review, down to the first centuries A.D.

The present study consists of an enquiry, from a purely "pharmaco-historical" viewpoint, into matters connected with the poppy. This enquiry has naturally been limited to the data we have been able to glean from a scrutiny of archaeological works available to us, or from an investigation of the findings of archaeological research in Greece.

On various points, more specifically those depending principally on archeology, our conclusions are not definitive and may require further archaeological research.

II. THE POPPY AND OPIUM AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS

>A. The testimony of classical texts

The first written record of the poppy is found in Hesiod (eighth century B.C.), who states that in the vicinity of Corinth there was a city named Mekonê (Poppy-town): [1]

"For when the gods and mortal men were divided at Mekonê, even then Prometheus was forward to cut up a great ox and set portions before them, trying to beguile the mind of Zeus ".

According to commentators on Hesiod, [2] this city received its name from the extensive cultivation of the poppy in the area. Others, however, hold that it was because it was there that Demeter first discovered the fruit of the poppy, [3]

This prehistoric name of a city which previously had been called Aigialeis, Aigialê, Aigialeia or Aigialoi, was subsequently changed to Sikyon.

The poppy is also referred to as growing in the garden of Hekatê near Kolchis, as described in the Argonautica: [4]

"And there were overhanging grasses with roots sunken low,

And asphodel, and famed and lovely maiden's hair.

Yew and camomile and the black poppy

Mighty plants, and white hellebore and monkshood too

And many other baneful plants that grow upon the ground ".

Homer in the Iliad[5] also mentions the poppy:

"And as a poppy which in the garden is weighed down by fruit and vernal showers, droops its head on one side ".

In the Odyssey, Homer mentions [6] a drug, nepenthes, which Helen gave to Telemachus and his comrade to make them forget their grief. She had obtained the drug from the Egyptian Polydamna, wife of Thon:

"Presently she cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow .... Medicines of such virtue and so helpful had the daughter of Zeus, which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, had given her, a woman of Egypt, where earth the grain-giver yields herbs in great plenty, many that are healing in the cup, and many that are baneful ".

Theophrastus (372-287 B.C.), [7] referring to this passage, states that there is no plant with the properties attributed to nepenthes. It seems that either he was unaware of it or doubted its existence, when he wrote: "they appear to be inventions of the poets ". This view is supported by other writers before and after Theophrastus who believed that the word "nepenthes" referred allegorically to the blandishments and charms of Helen. [8]

Diodorus Siculus [9] gives added information to the effect that it was reported that in his day the women of Egypt used the drug because only the women of Diospolis had in very ancient times discovered this antidote to anger and grief.

According to Theophrastus, l0 the Mantineian root-doctor, Thrasyas wrote that from the juices of the poppy and hemlock an easy and painless death could be obtained.

1. The Minoan goddess, her hair adorned with poppy-capsules (see p. 23)

Hippocrates (460-377 or 355 B.C.) makes frequent mention of the poppy as being used in medicinal preparations. He distinguishes between the white, fire-red, and black poppy. In regard to its therapeutic qualities he mentions the unripe, [11] ripe, [12] and baked [13] poppy. He also mentions poppy-juice [14] as a hypnotic, narcotic, and styptic drug; also as a cathartic. [15] Finally, he mentions the hypnotic poppy, and the great nutritive property of its seeds.

We also find the poppy mentioned in Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) as a hypnotic drug, [16] but the scientific definition of its species is not given.

Theophrastus also makes frequent mention of the poppy, [17] and lists the following categories: the black or horned poppy, [18] the "flowing" poppy [19] and the Heraklean poppy. [20] These three types of poppy, according to the experts [21] differ from the hypnotic poppy. Nevertheless, it is clearly evident from the above references that when the capsule of the poppy was split, juice flowed and was collected.

As regards the extraction of plant-juice in general, he writes that it is done "through the stalks as with the spurge and the lettuce and most plants, or from the roots, or thirdly from the head, as in the case of the poppy. The poppy is the only plant from which the juice is extracted from the head; this is peculiar to it. From the former plants the juice oozes out by itself like tears; this happens with the juice of the tragacanth, which need not be slit. In most cases the juice emanates from cuttings. Sometimes the juice is collected at once in jars, as is done with the juice of the spurge or the poppy. [22] The terms spurge-juice and poppy-juice are used interchangeably when the liquid emanates from plants with many openings."

Herakleides of Pontus (340 B.C.) writing in his work " On Government"[23] about the "Keian custom" (euthanasia), [24] makes the following statement: "Since the island is healthy and the population lives to a ripe old age, especially the women, they do not wait until they are very old for death to take them, but before they grow weak or disabled in any way, take themselves out of life, some by means of the poppy, others with hemlock".[25]

Theocritus[26] (310-245 B.C.) referring in his Idylls to the Temple of Demeter Alois, states that the goddess bore poppies in her hands.

Diokles of Karystos (fourth century B.C.) and Herakleides of Tarantum (third century B.C.) are said to have used opium but this is not definitely confirmed. [27]

Diagoras[28] (third century B.C.), the commentator on Hippocrates, states that Epistratos, one of the founders of the Alexandrian School (304-257 B.C.), disapproved of the use of opium for ear-ache and eye ailments, because it "dulled the sight and is a narcotic", whereas Mnisidemos considered that the only proper use of opium was "by inhalation for inducing sleep, all other uses being harmful". Dioskourides adds that experience proves this to be untrue.

Pliny the Elder says that both Diagoras and Epistratos rejected the use of opium for ear-ache, considering it to be a potent poison.

Andreas of Karystos (third B.C.), [29] physician to Ptolemy Philopator, states that "it is reported that if it was not adulterated those who smeared their eyes with it were blinded ".

In some texts mention is made of the adulteration of the so-called Egyptian opium in Alexandria. This opium is referred to later as Cyrenaic (opium Cyrenaicum) and Theban (opium Thebaicum). [30]

Nikandros of Kolophon (197-130 B.C.) mentions the poppy [31] and its juice which he calls "the tear-drop of the poppy"; [32] he also describes the effects of the juice.

Celsus (first century A.D.) refers to lacrymœ papaveris as being used as an antidote, and an hypnotic and pain-removing drug. Scribonius Largus (first century B.C.) distinguishes opium ("a milky juice ") from mekonion which was according to him an emanation from the leaves (Compositiones Medicamentorum, pp. 21-22. Ed. Helmreich, Leipzig, 1887).

Dioskourides (first century A.D.) mentions several kinds of poppy, as follows:

1. The "flowing" poppy, so called because "it sheds its flower rapidly".[33] He adds that this poppy has hypnotic properties.

2. The cultivated or garden poppy [34] whose seeds are used in baking bread. In this category poppies with an elongated head and white seeds are called pouched.

He also mentions wild poppy with an involuted and elongated capsule and black seed which is called the "jar" poppy, and also by some the "flowing" poppy "because the juice flows from it". Another variety is wilder and more poisonous with a more elongated capsule.

When the leaves and capsules of these poppies are boiled in water, he writes, they induce sleep. As regards the juice he states that "when it is cooled and dried and taken in small quantities like vetch, it is harmless, induces sleep, aids digestion, relieves coughs and stomach troubles; when more of it is taken it plunges one into lethargic sleep and is very injurious ". He considers that juice to be most potent which is thick, "heavy in odour, soporific, bitter to the taste ".

Furthermore, he mentions the various ways in which the juice can be taken:

1. Some cut off the leaves and capsules, grind them in a press, rub them in a mortar, and make tablets of them. This product, he says, is called mekonion and is less potent than opium.

2. By slitting the fruit with a small knife "after the dew-drops have become well dried. The knife must be drawn round the crown without piercing the fruit within; then the capsules must be directly slit on the sides near the surface and opened lightly, the juice drop will come forth on to the finger sluggishly but will soon flow freely".[35]

1. The horned poppy, growing by the sea and wild.[36]

2. The foaming poppy, called the Herakleian poppy by some.[37]

According to Professor E. Emmanuel, who has made a special study of the Constantinopolitan Code of Dioskourides,[38] the "cultivated poppy" corresponds to the papaver somniferum, the "wild poppy" to the papaver orientalis, the "flowing poppy" to the papaver hybridum, the "foaming poppy" to the gratiola officinalis, and the "horned poppy" to the glaucium luteum.

Galen (second century A.D.) refers in parts of his works to the poppy [39] and to its several forms,[40] as well as to the specific nature of its seeds;[41] he also writes at length on the juice of the poppy "which physicians are in the habit of calling opium".[42] He also mentions [43] that because the juice flows forth from the poppy it has been called "flowing poppy". In the chapter on the Antidote of Philon, he writes that Philon states that the word opium ("opion" in Greek) is derived etymologically from the juxtaposition of the exclamatory O and pion = fat.

Regarding the use of opium,[44] Galen states: "Opium is the strongest of the drugs which numb the senses and induce a deadening sleep; its effects are produced when it is soaked in boiling water, taken up on a flock of wool and used as a suppository; at the same time some can be spread over the forehead and in the nostrils. If it is mixed with a drug that mitigates its power, its effects are greatly reduced."

Athenaios (second century B.C.) also makes frequent mention of the poppy.[45]

Pausanias[46] (second century A.D.) relates that the roof beams of the Philippeion in the Altis were held together by a bronze poppy, and furthermore that in the temple of Aphrodite at Sikyon there was a statue of the goddess seated, executed by Kanachos the Sikyonian, in which she was shown holding a poppy in one hand and an apple in the other.[47]

of Dioskourides, Athens, 1921. In this are mentioned also corresponding products defined by previous researchers (Coh., Daubenn, Bonnet, Sibthorp). On the products recorded by Dioskourides, research has been undertaken by J. Berendes in his work: Arzneimittellehre des Dioskourides, Stuttgart 1902, pp. 397-401.

Polemon, according to Athenaios (XI 478d): "Polemon in his treatise on the divine capsule says: 'After that, he performs the ceremony and grasps the objects from the recess and distributes them to those above carrying the vessel around. This vessel is an earthenware vase with many little cups glued within it. These contain sage, white poppies, grains of wheat, grains of barley, peas, vetches, lentils, beans, spelt, oats, fig pudding, honey, oil, wine, milk, unwashed sheep's wool. And he holding it up as though he were carrying the sacred basket tastes the contents' ".

Alex Tschirch [48] places the use of opium in the fourth-third century B.C., and states that, as its Greek name indicates, Roman physicians imported it from Greece or from the Greek colonies.

Apart from the Latin authors already quoted in relation to Greek authors, it is relevant to mention the statement made by Pliny the Elder, in which he says that the black poppy is hypnotic through the juice produced by the slitting of its bud at the beginning of its flowering. This is Diagoras's interpretation, but according to Jollas the slitting should take place after the flowering, at the bland time of day (three hours after sunrise when there is no longer any dew on the poppy). It is recommended that the notches should be made on the lower part of the capsule and calyx; it is the only type of plant on which the notches are made on the capsule. The juice, as in the case of every plant, is collected on wool, or, if the quantity is small, is broken off with the thumb-nail... It is then allowed to thicken and is kneaded into small loaves that are dried in the shade. This juice not only acts as a soporific, but if taken in large doses induces death through sleep, and it is called opium. Pliny also says that Diagoras and Erasistratos rejected it, forbidding it to be instilled into the eyes because it was a lethal poison and injurious to the eyesight, and that Andreas added that it did not induce blindness immediately, because in Alexandria it was adulterated. But he goes on to say that later, its use was not excluded in the famous preparation called diakodion (from the poppy-capsule). He also says that tablets are prepared from powdered seeds, and are taken in milk as an hypnotic. Opium mixed with rose-oil is used to cure headaches; this mixture is also used as eye-drops for the easing of pain. Mixed in woman's milk it is applied to the members of arthritics, as are the leaves also. Mixed with vinegar it is used as a cure for erysipelas and wounds. In any case Pliny does not approve of the use of opium in eye-washes, and definitely not in preparations to reduce fever. He further mentions that the black poppy in wine is prescribed for adbominal ailments, and that by boiling the capsules and leaves an infusion is made called "mekonion", whose effects are far milder than those of opium.

Besides the black poppy, Pliny [49] also mentions the papaver rhœas as an intermediate type between the cultivated and the wild poppy, and a third type, the euphorbia paralias[50] called "mecon" by some and "paralion" by others.

Virgil[51] also mentions the poppy frequently, as do many other Latin authors.

The above extracts from classical authors allow the following conclusions to be drawn.

1. That the poppy was known from the earliest times and is mentioned in the earliest recorded authors (Homer, Hesiod et al.).

2. It is not precisely established when the poppy-juice began to be used, though it was known in the fourth century B.C.

3. That two preparations emanating from the poppy existed:

1. The juice, extracted by notching the capsule, which from the time of Pliny was known as opium; and

2. Mekonion, an emanation from plant leaves and fruits of the poppy, used later, and which was less potent than opium. (Under the same name - mekonion - according to Hippocrates, the juice was pressed out and made into small tablets.)

1. That the name opium must derive etymologically from the word opos = juice, in spite of Galen's affirmation that it comes from o and pion = fat (the latter derivation is noted by Philon).

2. That the notches were at first circular and cut around the crown; and that later they were cut in straight vertical lines in the lowest section of the capsule (Dioskourides and Pliny).

3. That the poppy, including its leaves, blooms and capsule, was used in making various kinds of preparations, unadulterated or in mixtures, eye-washes, poultices and tablets.

4. That opium was more potent than mekonion.

5. That the use of opium as an hypnotic drug taken by nasal inhalation of vapours - the most suitable method of inducing sleep- was known, apart from its use through internal, oral consumption and external application (by means of poultices and eye-washes, and as a suppository).

Nec non et lini segetem et Cereale papaver tempus humo tegere et iamdudum incumbere aratris, dum sicca tellure licet, dum nubila pendent (I 212) urunt, Lethaeo perfusa papavera somno. (I 78)

Post, ubi nona suos Aurora ostenderit ortus, inferias Orphei Lethœa papavera mittes et nigram mactabis ovem lucumque revises. (IV 544)

1. That the seeds of the poppy had great nutritive value.

2. That the opium and the products of the poppy were hypnotic, pain relieving and narcotic, and that its juice mixed with hemlock induced a speedy and painless death.

B. The testimony of archœological discoveries

It has already been pointed out that scant data exist concerning the poppy in antiquity and in Greek mythology. They are preserved in the works of a few of the ancient writers (the Argonautica of Orpheus, Hesiod, et al.).

It has also been mentioned that it is only from the ninth century B.C. that Greek written records contain any information on the subject, and this seldom extensive.

More information and enlightenment, covering the period before that century as well as the classical age and subsequent times, are afforded by the considerable archæological finds resulting from the various excavations throughout Greece.

Prior to the 1950s, very little had been written about the poppy from the standpoint of the present enquiry; it was chiefly mentioned in archæological observations on its recognition as a symbol or an ornament on statues, vases, coins, etc.

In the sections that follow we deal with findings relating to the poppy that arise out of archæological research.

Our warmest thanks are due to Professor Sp. Marinatos for the wealth of information with which he has provided us concerning the various stages of our present study (Crete, Kozani, Ithaca, Attica and elsewhere).

We also warmly thank, in addition to those mentioned in special chapters, N. Karouzos, Member of the Academy; Professors N. Kontoleon, Max Robinson, and H. Wedeking; the Curators of Antiquities, N. Verdelis and S. Charitonides; the Directors of the Archæological Department of Cyprus, P. Dikaios and B. Karagiorgis; as well as the following archæologists: Miss A. Yiannoulatos, Dr. Chr. Kardara, Miss Char. Barla, Mrs. Rhea Kotionis and Miss K. Papapavlos. To all these persons we are grateful for their willing assistance in the task of compiling the bibliography.

We set forth below our findings in separate chapters, each dealing with a sector of the Hellenic Mediterranean area. We have included comparative information pertaining to the non-Hellenic parts of the eastern Mediterranean, as well as India.

The poppy in Minoan Crete

The surest and most ancient evidence concerning the poppy, the extraction of opium, and the use of both not only in Crete but in the whole Greek area, is that first uncovered in July 1959 as a result of an observation made on the gods of Gazi by Professor P. Kritikos, one of the authors of the present study. This was subsequently communicated to the Academy of Athens.[52]

It refers to one of the five figurines representing the Minoan goddess with "hands uplifted ", which were discovered at Gazi by Professor S. Marinatos.[53]

Of these five figurines, the first and largest, 775 mm in height (not counting the pins which rise 2 cm higher) has been called by Professor Marinatos "The Poppy Goddess, Patroness of Healing ", because it bears on the head three movable pins in the likeness of heads of the sleep-inducing poppy ( papaver somniferum) (Fig. 1).

The joint author of this study, P. Kritikos, has examined the figurine now in the Museum at Herakleion with a view to determining its pharmacological implications, and has formulated the following conclusions: [54]

1. The three pins on the head of the goddess do in fact represent heads of the opium poppy.

2. The vertical notches in the capsules, which are more deeply coloured, belong to one of the typical forms of poppy used for producing opium.

3. The carving of the capsules, then executed vertically, is different from the circular carving usual today, or the mixed pattern, circular around the top and then vertical as that of the figurine (Dioskourides, Pliny).

4. Of especial interest is the artist's rendering of the colouring in the notches: it corresponds with the colour of the dried juice of the poppy.

5. The Minoan goddess appears to have her eyes closed as though asleep.

6. Especially impressive are the folds in the cheeks giving a smiling effect, and the lifelessness of the parting of the lips.

Prof. Marinatos writes that other analogous representations of the Minoan goddess had already been found, with snakes wound around her forearms or doves upon her head (the goddess of the snakes; a chthonian or household deity,' and the goddess of the doves: a deity of the sky or of love). The goddess with the uplifted hands is frequently found over a wide area of the prehistoric world and was probably handed down from the Late Minoan III period to that of early Hellenic civilization in which the same goddess is found under various identities.

1. He expressed the opinion that a tubular vase discovered at the same site, and belonging, according to S. Marinatos [55] , to the equipment of the goddess, was used for preparing inhalations of opium. This receptacle had a base and a hole on the sides, and bore a remarkable resemblance to those used in Java in earlier times for the inhalation of the vapours of opium [56] (Fig. 2).

2. Left and centre: objects associated with the cult of the poppy goddess and found at the same site; right: a vase front Java for inhaling the fumes of opium

1. It is to be noted that the goddesses were found in a room (presumably sacred) enclosed on all sides, doorless and windowless, and obviously approached from above. On the ground were found the remnants of a heap of coal.

From the above observations he concluded that:

1. The poppy and the extraction of its opium through a vertical notch was already known at least at the time of the making of the statuette, viz. the Late Minoan III period- that is to say, long before the fourth third centuries B.C., as accepted in the bibliography up to that time.

2. This manner of notching survived in the East Indies up to the beginning of our century.[57]

3. The use of opium, for religious purposes at least, was known in Crete in the same period.

4. The significance of the poppy and of opium was such that to it should be attributed the special posture of the goddess with uplifted hands.

5. From the other objects found near the goddess (receptacles and coals), it must be inferred that the opium was taken by the inhalation of vapours.

1. The goddess appears to be in a state of torpor induced by opium; she is in ecstasy, pleasure being manifested on her face, doubtless caused by the beautiful visions aroused in her imagination by the action of the drug. For this reason he proposed that she should be called "the goddess of ecstasy '; and lastly

1. The passivity of her lips is also a natural effect of opium intoxication.[58]

3. Receptacle for coca leaves discovered in a Peruvian tomb (See footnote 58)

The use of the poppy during the Minoan age was more widespread as is shown by further archaeological discoveries in other parts of the island. Thus, in a grave at Pachyammos in the district of Hierapetra, was found jar, shown in Fig. 4, of the Late Minoan III period (1300-1250 B.C.). On the body of the jar the poppy head is portrayed between the sacred horns and is guarded by birds. This reveals the sacred nature attributed toa

4. A covered jar with the sacred horns and the poppy motif

the plant by the Minoans. On the lid of the jar is the picture of a bird tearing apart the capsule of the poppy.[59]

Capsules similarly guarded by two birds are seen on a primitive Attic jar [60] (cf. "The Poppy in Attica ").

At Mouliana in Crete 6l there was found in a grave a pin 17 cm in length, the head of which was similar to those of Myceæan origin found in Mycenæ, Tiryns, Argos and other Hellenic areas, which, in our opinion, bear the shape of poppy capsules (cf. "The Poppy in Corinth ").

The foregoing observations lead to the conclusion that the poppy and opium were known to the Minoans.

Christian Zervos [62] writes that the poppy must be added to the list of the sacred plants of the Minoans because its capsule contains various narcotic substances which they considered as symbols of immortality.

We must note with especial emphasis the original peculiarity of the censers, commented upon by Professor Marinatos,[63] and other objects in the Herakleion Museum yielded by excavations in Crete, which from the nature of their workmanship may be assumed to have been used for taking opium by nasal inhalation.

The poppy in Cyprus

There is no recorded evidence of the spread of the poppy and the use of its juice in Cyprus as far as wecan ascertain from the bibliography available to us, while archaeological finds do not give a clear picture of the poppy.

Nevertheless a related study by R. S. Merrillees [64] concerning trade in opium towards the end of the Bronze Age in the Levant [65] is of especial interest.

In examining Cyprian vases discovered in Egypt,[66] which were hand-made (Fig. 5), and whose shape resembled that of the capsule of the opium poppy, he came to the conclusion that these vases were used for carrying pharmaceutical preparations emanating from the poppy.

5. left, a poppy-capsule shown with centre and right, Cypriot vases discovered in Egypt showing resemblance with the form of the capsule

According to Merrillees, the capsule shape of the vases, in the absence of identifying inscriptions, was indicative of their content; and, since no leather or metal prototypes of these have been discovered, poppy capsules must have served as such for their manufacture.[67] Merrillees concludes that the Cyrpians of the last years of the Bronze Age appeared to be aware of the method of taking opium.

He writes that his view is supported by the dimensions of the vases with bases I and II, analogous to those of the poppy head, and by their chestnut colour corresponding to that of the notched capsule.

In some vases of the end of the fifteenth century B.C., one notices a change both in the base and in the decoration, which is painted on and not worked in relief. In certain vases of a transitional period both types of decoration are found.

The latter type of decoration, always according to this writer,[68] betokens an improvement in the method of taking opium: by means of an instrument on which many metallic blades were fixed close together, the capsule was notched more speedily and over a greater surface, thus permitting the extraction of as great a quantity of opium as possible. The painted white parallel lines must be the representation of the juice emanating from the corresponding notched surfaces; the juice would be white at first, then would become brown when it dried and thickened and was transformed into opium.

In fact, according to S. Gabra,[69] both the opium poppy and the pomegranate poppy were known to the Egyptians from antiquity.

Merrillees concludes from archaeological and bibliographical data that the original appearance of opium in Egypt in the form of preparations can be traced back to the XVIIIth Dynasty. These preparations were imported from abroad. The shape of the vases indicates that they must have been imported in liquid form, which would be easy owing to the solubility in water or wine of the components of opium.

He further mentions Gabra's comparison of the shape of porcelain containers with that of the poppy capsule, showing that the Egyptians must have been aware of the plant during the period of the XVIIIth Dynasty.70

He also relates the early importation in large quantities of vases with circular base I and the subsequent importation in lesser quantities of those with base II, after the Tel-el-Amarna period in which the porcelain copy-vases are found.

He further notes the reference made by Sciaparelli [71] to the effect that in the tomb of the architect Cha, who died during the reign of Amenhotep III, there was found an alabaster bucket containing vegetable oil " medicato con ferro e con opio ", i.e., a preparation including opium.

Finally, he concludes that during this last period in Egypt the cultivation of the poppy and the extraction of opium must have been known, so that it was no longer necessary to import it.

Merrillees's findings lead to the conclusion that during the period when the vases of category II were being made the capsule notches were no longer vertical but convergent.

We note, however, that both types of notching - the older and the newer - remained in use for the extraction of opium down to our century.

6. Vases of the late Cypriot I period (1600-1400 B.C.), inspired by the form of the poppy-capsule

In addition to these vases of Cyprian origin found in Egypt, a number of capsule-shaped vases have been found in Cyrpus itself as we were able to ascertain during our visit to the island. These were discovered in tombs in the course of excavations undertaken in previous years, and, more recently, by the Cyprus Archaeological Service.

Among these vases of the Late Cyprian I period (1600-1400 B.C.) three are to be found in the Nicosia Museum (Fig. 6).[72]

On some of these vases (e.g., Fig. 6, Vase B), clearly capsule-shape and with a base that is smooth and not pronged, we find two parallel vertical lines in relief; these correspond with the poppy-capsule notches from which the juice pours out. As the juice becomes solid, it appears to stand out in relief over the notch in a manner corresponding with the lines on the vase.

The double line on the neck of the vase shows the joint of the stalk to which the handle of the vase was attached.

Finally, in Cyprus, a necklace was discovered of multicoloured glass beads to which an amulet was attached (cf. "The Poppy at Corinth "). One of the beads shows incisions corresponding to the notches in a poppy capsule.[73]