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American Drugs in
Egyptian Mummies S. A. Wells Abstract: The recent findings of cocaine,
nicotine, and hashish in Egyptian mummies by Balabanova et. al. have
been criticized on grounds that:
contamination of the mummies may have occurred, improper techniques may have
been used, chemical decomposition may have produced the compounds in
question, recent mummies of drug users were mistakenly evaluated, that no
similar cases are known of such compounds in long-dead bodies, and especially
that pre-Columbian transoceanic voyages are highly speculative. These criticisms are each discussed in
turn. Balabanova et. al. are shown to
have used and confirmed their findings with accepted methods. The possibility of the compounds being
byproducts of decomposition is shown to be without precedent and highly
unlikely. The possibility that the
researchers made evaluations from
faked mummies of recent drug users is shown to be highly unlikely in
almost all cases. Several additional
cases of identified American drugs in mummies are discussed. Additionally, it is shown that significant
evidence exists for contact with the Americas in pre-Columbian times. It is determined that the original
findings are supported by substantial evidence despite the initial
criticisms. [Please refer also to
<Edlin>] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a one-page article appearing in
Naturwissenschaften, German scientist Svetla Balabanova (1992) and two of her
colleagues reported findings of cocaine, hashish and nicotine in Egyptian
mummies. The findings were
immediately identified as improbable on the grounds that two of the
substances were known to be derived only from American plants - cocaine from Erythroxylon coca, and nicotine from Nicotiana tabacum. The suggestion that such compounds could
have found their way to Egypt before Columbus' discovery of America seemed
patently impossible. The study was done as part of an
ongoing program of investigating the use of hallucinogenic substances in
ancient societies. The authors
themselves were quite surprised by the findings (Discovery, 1997) but stood y
their results despite being the major focus of criticism in the following
volume of aturwissenschaften. Of the
nine mummies evaluated, all showed signs of cocaine and hashish
Tetrahydrocannabinol), whereas all but one sampled positive for
nicotine. It is interesting too that
the concentrations of the compounds suggest uses other than that of abuse. (For example, modern drug addicts often
have concentrations of cocaine and nicotine in their hair 75 and 20 times
higher respectively than that found in the mummy hair samples.) It is even
possible that the quantities found may be high due to concentration in body
tissues through time. Without question, the study has
sparked an interest in various disciplines.
As Balabanova et. al. predicted, "...the results open up an
entirely new field of research which unravels aspects of past human
life-style far beyond [sic] basic biological reconstruction." The Criticisms The biggest criticism of the findings
of Balabanova et. al. was not necessarily directed at the extraction process
per se, although this was discussed.
The biggest criticism was that cocaine and nicotine could not possibly
have been used in Egypt before the discovery of the New World, and that
transatlantic journeys were not known - or at least they are highly
speculative. It is safe to say that
the criticisms of the study would have been minimal or nonexistent if the
findings had been made of Old World drugs.
Such findings, in fact, would not have been at all unusual as the use
of stimulants were known in Egypt.
Poppy seeds and lotus plants have been identified for just this use in
manuscripts (the Papyrus Ebers) and in hieroglyphs (as Balabanova et. al.
show). Schafer (1993) argues that, "the
detection of pharmacologically active substances in mummified material never
proves their use prior to death." He argues that such compounds could
have been introduced as part of the mummification process. The suggestion is that (especially)
nicotine could have been introduced around the mummy (and subsequently
absorbed into its tissue) as an insecticide (being used as a preservative)
within relatively modern times. A
similar criticism was raised by Bjorn (1993) who wondered if nicotine might
have been absorbed by the mummies from cigarette smoke in the museums where
the mummies have been preserved.
According to Schafer, the only way to show that the compounds were
taken into the bodies while they were alive would be to find different
concentrations at different distances from the scalp - a procedure not
undertaken by the authors. Another interesting criticism of
Schafer (1993) is that Balabanova et. al. might have been the victims of
faked mummies. Apparently people
(living in the not too far distant past) believed that mummies contained
black tar called bitumen and that it could be ground up and used to cure
various illnesses. In fact the very
word 'mummy' comes from the Persian 'mummia' meaning bitumen (Discovery,
1997). A business seems to have
developed wherein recently dead bodies where deliberately aged to appear as
mummies and that some of the perpetrators of such deeds were drug abusers. The criticism that seems most popular
is that the identified drugs might have been products of "necrochemical
and necrobiochemical processes" (Schafer, 1993; Bjorn, 1993). One explanation is that Egyptian priests
used atropine-alkaloid-containing plants during the mummification process
that subsequently underwent changes in the mummy to resemble the identified
compounds. Yet another argument is that there is
nothing in the literature showing that any of the three compounds have been
identified in bodies that have been dead for some time. Reply to the Critics Analytical Techniques
and Contamination “In the study, samples were taken
from nine mummies that were dated from between 1070 B.C. to 395 A.D. The samples including hair, skin and
muscle were taken from the head and abdomen.
Bone tissue was also taken from the skull. All tissues were pulverized and dissolved in NaCl solution,
homogenized, and centrifuged. A
portion of the supernatant was extracted with chloroform and dried and then
dissolved in a phosphate buffer.
Samples were then measured by both radioimmunoassay (Merck; Biermann)
and gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (Hewlett Packard) - hereinafter
GCMS. “ “This is the procedure used to
produce what McPhillips (1998) considered indisputable evidence for
confirming products of substance abuse in hair. Within recent years, hair analysis has been used more commonly
in this kind of screening process and the techniques employed have been
optimized. Mistakes are known to have
occurred in some cases evaluating for metals, but the ability to detect drugs
such as cocaine, nicotine, and hashish seem not been problematic (Wilhelm,
1996). The two possible mistakes in
analyzing hair for drugs include false positives, which are caused by environmental
contamination; and false negatives, where actual compounds are lost because
of such things as hair coloring or perming.
In recent years, these techniques of hair analysis have revealed the
interesting findings of arsenic in the hair of Napoleon Bonaparte, and
laudanum in the hair of the poet Keats. “ “The procedure includes a thorough
washing of the hair to remove external contaminants followed by a process of
physical degradation using a variety of methods (such as digestion with
enzymes or dissolution with acids, organic solvents, etc.,). Following these preparatory procedures,
the hair is then analyzed. Antibody
testing (e.g. radio immunoassay) is a well-established procedure although
there is small potential of obtaining false positive results. These are mainly caused by the
cross-reactivity of the antibody with other compounds, including minor
analgesics, cold remedies and antipsychotic drugs - compounds not likely to
be found in Egyptian mummies. Because
of the possible false positives, chromatography (GC-MS) is routinely utilized
to confirm the results. “ “The suggestion of nicotine
contamination from cigarette smoke is eliminated by the use of solvents
and/or acids in the cleaning process - methods used by Balabanova et. al. and
all other researchers that have documented drugs in mummies. “ “The validity of Balabanova's
findings seems to be vindicated at least so far as the analytical methods
used in the study. The authors'
methods as well as those in the additional findings reported here (see below)
have used the combination of immunological and chromatographic methods to
both analyze and confirm samples. “ Faked Mummies “The argument that the mummies might
have been modern fakes was investigated by David (Discovery, 1997). David is the Keeper of Egyptology at the
Manchester Museum, and undertook her own analysis of mummies, independent of
Balabanova's group. In addition, she
traveled to Munich to evaluate for herself the mummies studied by
Balabanova's group. Unfortunately
the mummies weren't available for filming and they were being kept isolated
from further research on grounds of religious respect. David had to resort to the museum's
records. She found that, except for
the city's famous mummy of Henot Tawi (Lady of the Two Lands) the mummies
were of unknown origin and some were represented only by detached heads. “ “David's inability to examine the
mummies herself may have kept the possibility of faked ones open; however,
her evaluation of the museum's records seemed to indicate otherwise. The mummies were preserved with packages
of their viscera inside. Some even
contained images of the gods. In
addition the state of mummification itself was very good. The isolated heads may have been fakes
(evidence one way or the other is lacking) but the intact bodies examined in
Balabanova's research were clearly genuine. “ Chemical Changes “The argument that the identified
drugs might be byproducts of decomposition is highly unlikely. The argument appears to resemble a 'Just
So' story of biochemical evolution without the benefit of natural selection. Schafer (1993) admits that natural
decomposition or mummification has never led to the synthesis of cocaine or
related alkaloids but leaves the possibility open anyway. He argues that the compounds in question
might theoretically have been produced by atropine-alkaloid-containing plants
(such as were present in species that were utilized in the mummification
process). “ “The benefit of the doubt in this
case clearly goes to Balabanova et. al. Until it is shown how cocaine could
be produced in this way, the argument is hypothetical at best. “ Isolated Example “The detection of drugs in human hair
is a fairly recent endeavor (McPhillips, 1998; Sachs, 1998). A few compounds were identified during
the 1980's but it wasn't until the 1990s that drug screening via hair
analysis became accepted and used as a possible alternative to urine
sampling. The criticism that no
known cases of cocaine, nicotine, or hashish have been reported in human hair
must, therefore be interpreted with clarification. None of these compounds had been observed in human hair because
the process had not been fully developed, nor had the application even been
considered until quite recently.
Even then the claim is not true. “ “Cartwell et. al. (1991) using a
radio immunoassay method detected cocaine metabolites in pre-Columbian mummy
hair from South America. In this
study two out of eight mummies analyzed showed cocaine metabolites. All samples tested were confirmed by a
separate laboratory (Psychomedics Corporation, Santa Monica, California)
using GC-MS. The two mummies testing
positive were from the Camarones Valley in northern Chile. The artifacts as well as the mummies at
this site were typical of Inca culture. “ “Since the initial work of Balabanova
et. al., other studies have revealed the same drugs (cocaine, nicotine, and
hashish) in Egyptian mummies, confirming the original results. Nerlich et. al.
(1995),
in a study evaluating the tissue pathology of an Egyptian mummy dating from approximately
950 B.C., found the compounds in several of the mummy's organs. They found the highest amounts of
nicotine and cocaine in the mummy's stomach, and the hashish traces primarily
in the lungs. These findings were
again identified using both radio immunoassay and GSMS techniques. Very similar results were again found in
yet another study by Parsche and Nerlich (1995). Again, the findings were obtained using the immunological and
chromatographic techniques. “ “David's work (Discovery, 1997)
though not finding cocaine, did confirm the presence of nicotine. This finding has seemed a little less
threatening to conservative scholarship in that it seems possible (albeit
unlikely) that a nicotine-producing plant may have existed in Africa within
historic times - only becoming extinct recently. “ “Such a possibility might allow for a
comfortable resolution to conservative scholarship but doesn't explain the
evidence of cocaine. Additionally,
the possibility of a native plant going extinct is unlikely. Much more reasonable would be that an
introduced species under cultivation could go extinct, yet this only begs the
question of the original provenance of the species. “ “In any event, considering the
several confirmations of Balabanova's work (as well as that of Caldwell et.
al. prior to her study) it appears that the argument against their findings
based on too little evidence is quickly vanishing (if not already obviated).
“ Pre-Columbian Voyages
to America “The major reason for the initial
criticisms to Balabanova's work is the disbelief in pre-Columbian
transoceanic contacts. Egyptologist
John Baines (Discovery, 1997) went so far as to state, "The idea that the Egyptians should have traveled to
America is overall absurd...and I also don't know anyone who spends time
doing research in these areas, because they're not perceived to be areas that
have any real meaning for the subjects.
" Another interpretation on why researchers haven't considered
the subject closer is given by Kehoe (1998), "After mid-century, any
archaeologist worried about money or career avoided looking at pre-Columbian
contacts across saltwater [p. 193].." It appears that acknowledging that
pre-Columbian contacts occurred was not academically acceptable. Kehoe (1998) also gives examples of
several researchers whose work has been academically marginalized because it
supported these views (e.g. Stephen Jett, Carl Johannessen, Gordon Ekholm,
Paul Tolstoy, and George Carter). “ “Surprising at it may seem, evidence
for early ocean voyages to America from the Old World is not lacking - nor is
it negligibly verifiable. Within the
last two years, two periodicals, focusing on these contacts have been
established. The first, entitled Pre-Columbiana,
is edited by Stephen C. Jett, Professor of Clothings and Textiles at the
University of California, Davis; the second is entitled Migration and
Diffusion and is edited by Professor Christine Pellek in Vienna, Italy. There is certainly quite a bit of
spurious reports of early contacts from the Old World, however, a general
disregard for all of the evidence is, anymore, itself evidence of academic
negligence, as these two periodicals indicate. “ “A bibliography of these early
contacts is given by John Sorensen (1998) in the first issue of
Pre-Columbiana. It is a good example
of the kinds of evidence being uncovered by legitimate researchers and
institutions. The bibliography is
itself a condensation of a two-volume work of these publications and includes
titles such as: The world's oldest ship? (showing evidence for a
pre-Columbian ship in America) published in Archaeology; Peruvian fabrics
(showing very strong similarities between Peru and Asia) published in
Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History; Robbing
native American cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity and the Olmecs
(showing evidence for connections between Africa and the Olmecs of Middle
America) published in Current Anthropology; Possible Indonesian or Southeast
Asian Influences in New World textile industries (showing at least three
textile-related inventions that appear in both Indonesia and the New World)
published in Indonesian Textiles; and, Genes may link Ancient Eurasians,
Native Americans, published in Science.” “And the list goes on and on - some
evidence being better than others - but as a whole it seems pretty much
irrefutable. Claims to the contrary seem to be made by individuals with a
vested interest in the isolationist position. The evidence, pro and con, when
evaluated objectively, would seem without question, to favor the diffusionist
position (which claims that pre-Columbian contacts took place). “ Considerations “The initial reaction to the findings
of Balabanova et. al. was highly critical.
These criticisms were not based on a known failing in the authors'
research methodology, rather they were attempts to cast doubt on an
implication of the research - that cocaine and nicotine were brought to Egypt
from the New World before Columbus.
This conclusion is not acceptable to conservative investigators of the
past. In fact it suggests a
deep-rooted aversion to what Balabanova suggested might mean an unraveling of
aspects of history contrary to basic reconstructions. This aversion, according to Kehoe (1998)
stems from the conviction that Indians were primitive savages destined to be
overcome by the civilized world - that the acme of evolutionary success
resided in the conquering race itself.
‘Childlike savages could never have voyaged across oceans.’ “ “Balabanova's findings bring yet
other evidence forward that humanity is not so easily pinioned into the
pre-conceived notions of primitive and advanced - even as this might be
related to the presumed technology of earlier times. The quest for discovery - to find new
worlds - is not just a modern selective advantage of our species. Perhaps it is the defining
characteristic. “ Literature Cited: Balababova, S., F. Parsche, and W.
Pirsig. 1992. First identification of drugs in Egyptian
mummies. Naturwissenschaften
79:358. Bisset, N.G. and M.H. Zenk. 1993. Responding to 'First identification of drugs in Egyptian
mummies'. Naturwissenschaften
80:244-245. Bjorn, L.O. 1993. Responding to 'First identification
of drugs in Egyptian mummies'. Naturwissenschaften80:244.
Cartwell, L.W. et. al. 1991. Cocaine metabolites in pre-Columbian mummy hair. Journal of the Oklahoma State Medical
Association 84:11-12. Discovery Information. 1997. Curse of the Cocaine Mummies. Thirty-six
page transcript of program viewed on US National TV in January 1997 and July
1999. Kehoe, A.B. 1998. The Land of Prehistory, A Critical History
of American Archaeology. Routledge,
New York and London. 266 pp. McIntosh, N.D.P. 1993. Responding to 'First identification of
drugs in Egyptian mummies'. Naturwissenschaften
80:245-246. McPhillips, M. et. al. 1998. Hair analysis, new laboratory ability to test for substance
use. British Journal of Psychiatry
173: 287-290. Nerlich, A.G. et. al. 1995. Extensive pulmonary hemorrhage in an Egyptian mummy. Virchows Archiv
127:423-429. Parsche, F. 1993. Reply to "Responding to 'First
identification of drugs in Egyptian mummies'". Naturwissenschaften
80:245-246. Parsche, F. and A. Nerlich. 1995. Presence of drugs in different tissues of an Egyptian
mummy. Fresenius'. Journal of
Analytical Chemistry 352:380-384. Sachs, H. and P. Kintz. 1998. Testing for drugs in hair, critical review
of chromatographic procedures since 1992.
Journal of Chromatography (B) 713:147-161. Schafer, T. 1993. Responding to 'First identification of
drugs in Egyptian mummies'. Naturwissenschaften
80:243-244. Sorenson, J.L. 1998.
Bibliographia Pre-Columbiana. Pre-Columbiana 1(1&2):143-154. Wells, S. A. American Drugs in Egyptian Mummies:
A Review of the Evidence. www.colostate.edu,
Wilhelm, M. 1996. Hair analysis in environmental
medicine. Zentralblatt
fur Hygeine und Umweltmedizin 198: 485-501. |