A biblical-era Israeli shrine shows signs of the earliest ritual use of marijuana

A limestone altar from an Iron Age shrine in Israel contains remnants of the world’s earliest known instance of burning cannabis plants in a ritual ceremony, a new study finds.

This altar, along with a second altar on which frankincense was burned, stood at the entrance to a room where religious rites were presumably held inside a fortress of the biblical kingdom of Judah.

Previous analyses of recovered pottery and documented historical events at the site indicate that the shrine was used from roughly 760 B.C. to 715 B.C.

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Israel Antiquities Authority Collection, photo The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Laura Lachman

A section of the more than 2,700-year-old shrine at Arad, rebuilt from original archaeological finds for display at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, includes two altars, one with frankincense residue (left) and one with cannabis residue (right).

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