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Religious ceremonies that took place thousands of years ago in what is now Israel involved the burning of cannabis, according to a study of an ancient shrine. The finding suggests psychoactive substances played a key role in rituals performed in the biblical Kingdom of Judah.

鈥淚n many places in the world, psychoactive materials were used for religious purposes,鈥� says Eran Arie of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 the first time that we have positive evidence from Judah itself.鈥�

Arie and his colleagues studied two stone altars dated to between 760 and 715 BC. Both are from Tel Arad, an Iron Age fortress to the west of the Dead Sea, and were excavated in the 1960s. They are now on permanent display in The Israel Museum.

Both altars have blackened residues on their tops, which previous analyses couldn鈥檛 identify. Arie鈥檚 colleagues took samples and used modern techniques to identify the substances.

The larger altar yielded chemicals characteristic of frankincense: a perfume made from the sap of Boswellia trees found in Africa and Asia. It had been mixed with animal fat, probably to ensure that it heated up enough to evaporate.

Frankincense is often used in incense, and is mentioned in the Bible as one of the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the three wise men. There is extensive evidence of frankincense being traded in Africa and Eurasia at the time, so Arie wasn鈥檛 surprised to find it.

However, the team was startled to find traces of cannabis on the smaller altar. It had been mixed with animal dung, which when burned would have heated it up enough to release the psychoactive substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The cannabis was almost certainly burned for its psychoactive effects, says Arie, as it doesn鈥檛 grow in the area so would be difficult to obtain, and unlike frankincense its fragrance isn鈥檛 particularly pleasant. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first evidence for religious ecstasy in the official courts of any kingdom in the ancient Near East,鈥� he says.

Several religions struggled for dominance in the Kingdom of Judah, including the monotheistic religion that became modern Judaism and later gave rise to Christianity. 鈥淭he shrine of Arad was most probably a shrine for Yahweh, the god of Israel and Judah,鈥� says Arie.