 The Cannabis plant has been in recorded history for literally thousands of years.
The use as a crop goes back as much as 12,000 years ("Marihuana: The First Twelve Thousand Years" (Springer, 1980). Early archeological evidence of hemp has been found from about 10,000 B.C. in China. The first record of the drug's medicinal use dates to 4000 B.C. Burned cannabis seeds have been found in burial mounds in Siberia dating at 3000 BC. Large quantities of psychoactive cannabis have been found in tombs in China that go back to 2500 BC. In 2019, scientists discovered what’s calleda wooden brazier with cannabinoid residue inside, that dates to around 1500 BC. Ten of these braziers were found in a cemetery in China. The brazier is basically a clever little pipe made from wood. To imagine what it looked like, picture a very short hollowed out piece of wood, with one hole. Small heated rocks were placed inside the brazier along with cannabis, and out came the smoke. The cannabanoid residue found inside of these had a much higher level of THC than today’s wild cannabis has. An Egyptian hieroglyph which refered to a plant used both for rope and medicine is believed by many scholars to be hemp. And remains of the cannabis plant have been found in the tombs of pharaohs who lived between 1335 and 1212 BC. Over in India, Sanskrit writings prominently featured cannabis dating to at least 800 BC. The Atharva Veda and Vedic poems celebrated cannabis as one of "five kingdoms of herbs” that release you from anxiety, are a source of happiness, and a bringer of joy and freedom. It was used for religious purposes, and also had an extensive list of uses medicinally. A drink made from cannabis, milk, nuts and spice was a common remedy for ailments and thought to be a favorite food of the god Shiva. The drink is called Bhang, and is still consumed in India to this day during sacred religious ceremonies, such as during Maha Shivaratri and the Holi festival. Back in Central Asia, in 600 BC, the ancient Scythians used gold bongs. Two have been found. A Greek historian, Heroduts, wrote of a “Scythian vapor bath” he saw, where people would sit inside a tent and place cannabis and heated rocks in wooden braziers. This could have been the first recorded hot box! The Greeks and Romans routinely used cannabis for rope and sails, and documented their use of it for medicine. During the second century CE, The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius had a doctor who warned about eating too many cakes containing hemp seeds. These were were very popular at Roman banquets for their ability to create relaxation, hilarity, and euphoria. The doctor cautioned that they also induced thirst, and made one sluggish. Viking ships dating to the mid ninth century have been found with cannabis seeds in them. And it’s documented that they used the plant for pain relief in child birth and for toothaches. This was also noted in the medival Germany region. In the last several hundred years, cannabis and hemp have been very well reported on for their many uses. A professor of geography at the University of Kansas, Barney Warf, said, "The idea that this is an evil drug is a very recent construction," and the fact that it is illegal is a "historical anomaly," Warf said. Marijuana has not only been legal around the world for most of its history, but highly regarded for all it’s amazing abilities and uses. Sources: Marijuana's History: How One Plant Spread Through the World | Live Science The origins of weed: How the plant spread across the world | Leafly Comments are closed.
|
RSS Feed