TWH – In November of 2024, Scientific Reports published “Multianalytical investigation reveals psychotropic substances in a Ptolemaic Egyptian vase.” Archaeologists had found evidence of psychotropic and medicinal substances inside a ritual vessel, a Bes Cup. It dated to the 2nd Century B.C.E. Inside, they found traces of alcohol, honey, and human fluids. Davide Tanasi and the other authors of that article theorized that people used the cup as part of a ritual of dream incubation. The Bes Cup may commemorate a key event in Egyptian mythology.
The researchers described the ancient Egyptian religion as an “intricate nexus of beliefs, magical practices, and medical, alchemic and herbalistic procedures all practiced conforming to the events and acts described in their sacred texts.” These ritual performances sometimes required the use of artificial aids.” They theorized that this Bes Cup functioned as one of those “artificial aids” in dream incubation rituals.
Holli Emore, a Kemetic practitioner, MDiv, the Executive Director of Cherry Hill Seminary, and founder of Temple Osireion, spoke via e-mail with the Wild Hunt. She said “we don’t really know much about or really IF ancient Egyptians used psychotropics … It’s likely that they did, as it seems that most cultures have made use of such things.”
Who was Bes?
Emore described Bes as a “very popular deity, more of a household god, one that commoners were very fond of. The Egyptians depicted him as dancing and playing music, a jolly fellow.”
The Czech Archaeologist, Petr Charát has written about Bes in “The Bes Jug.” In the Middle Kingdom, 2154 to 1690 B.C.E., Bes had a pugnacious aspect. By the New Kingdom, 1549 to 1078 B.C.E., Bes had become the god of sensual pleasures. Still, Bes maintained his darker role as an “underworld demon armed with a knife.” In the Greco-Roman period, Bes maintained both aspects.
The Ashmolean described Bes as a “dwarfish” muscular man with a large belly. Sometimes he is sticking out his tongue. At other times he is “snarling and fearsome.” His nose and ears are cat-like. He has a lion’s tail. Sometimes he wears a kilt. At other times, he has no clothing. Unlike most Egyptian gods who appear sideways, Bes usually looks out, facing the viewer head-on. Sometimes he wears a crown of feathers.
(a) Drinking vessel in shape of Bes head; El-Fayūm Oasis, Egypt; Ptolemaic-Roman period (4th century BCE − 3rd century CE), (courtesy of the Tampa Museum of Art, Florida). (b) Bes mug from the Ghalioungui collection, 10.7 × 7.9 cm (Ghalioungui, G. Wagner 1974, Kaiser 2003, cat. no. 342). (c) Bes mug inv. no. 14.415 from the Allard Pierson Museum, 11.5 × 9.3 cm (courtesy of the Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam; photo by Stephan van der Linden). (d) Bes mug from El-Fayum, dimensions unknown (Kaufmann 1913; Kaiser 2003, cat. no. 343). via Tanasi et. al. (2024)
The Bes Cup
Tanasi et al reported that Bes Cups form “a category of ceramic vessels decorated with the effigy or the head of Bes.” Bes Cups circulated in Egypt from 1599 B.C.E to 476 C.E.
Most Bes cups lack any provenance. In some of these Bes Cups, researchers were able to examine the residue. They found animal proteins. Those proteins could have come from broth, milk, or milk products.
Its antiquities dealer is the only source for the provenance of the newly examined Bes Cup. They said that it had been found in the Fayum district, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Cairo. They had tentatively dated its manufacture to between 200 and 101 B.C.E.
The research team found evidence of alcohol, Syrian rue, honey, and human fluids in the residue of that cup. Syrian Rue has medicinal and psychoactive properties. Depending on the dosage, it can aid in childbirth or induce abortions. They also found evidence of residue from two plant families: Cleomaceae, and Nymphaeaceae.
Cleome Gynandra is a plant in the Cleomaceae family. Like Syrian Rue, it can promote childbirth or abortion depending on dosage and means of administration.
Analysts also found evidence of human fluids in the residue in the cup. Those fluids could have been those of breast milk, mucous (vaginal or oral) and blood.
Cosmetic Container in the Form of a Bes-image [Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dream incubation
In the temples of the Hellenistic world, dream incubation had become a widespread practice. Dream incubation refers to spiritual practices that induce oracular dreaming. It has similarities to lucid dreaming. The seeds of Syrian Rue produce dream-like visions.
The researchers reported that “A ritual linked to the cult of Bes during the Greco-Roman periods involved the practice of incubation for oracular purposes, in which the consultants slept in the Bes Chambers at Saqqara to obtain prophetic dreams.” Late imperial writings and the Greek Magical Papyri document this practice.
Links between the Bes Cups and Egyptian Mythology
The researchers link the Bes Cup to the Myth of the Solar Eye. That myth tells a story like those in the Myth of the Heavenly Cow and the Tale of the Destruction of Mankind. Bes, however, only appears in the Myth of the Solar Eye.
In all three ancient stories, Hathor of the blood lust has gone on a rampage, killing humans. In the story of the Solar Eye, Bes makes an alcoholic drink spiked with a plant-based drug. Bes disguises it to look like blood. Bes meets with Hathor of the blood lust. Bes offers her that drink. Thinking it to be blood, Hathor of the blood lust drinks it. She gets “high.” She “nods out.” Beneficent Hathor wakes up refreshed, (and with no hangover). Life-giving Hathor has returned.
In the other two, more complex, myths, Ra learns that people are planning to overthrow him. Ra urges Hathor to kill all people. Life-giving Hathor becomes Hathor of the blood lust, her destructive aspect. In some versions of these myths, Hathor of the blood lust is called Sekmet. She begins killing people. Ra starts to have pity on people. Ra devises a plan to pacify Hathor of blood lust. Ra orders enough beer to be produced to flood Egypt. He adds red ochre to the beer, disguising it as blood. Hathor of the blood lust drinks the red beer. She gets “high.” She passes out drunk. When she wakes up refreshed (and with no hangover), life-giving Hathor has returned.
Festival of Drunkenness
“The Festival of Drunkenness” commemorated the time when Hathor drank herself into a stupor and lost her blood lust. Emore described it as a “big festival of Hathor” with “a lot of beer and public drunkenness.” She said it commemorated the return of the Eye (Sekhmet) from her wandering in the desert.”
Emore also reported that some sources have described Hathor, Wadjet (the Eye), Sekmet, and Bast as aspects of each other. She said “Rather than a conflation, you might see Hathor and Sekhmet as aspects of a great mother cow goddess. The Egyptians didn’t really leave us anything explaining their theology, just copious notes on and scripts for ritual.”
Victoria Jensen in “Predynastic Precursors to the Festival of Drunkenness: beer, Climate Change, cow-goddesses, and the Ideology of Kinship” described the relationship between “The Tale of the Destruction of Mankind” and the climate of Ancient Egypt. Hathor and Sekmet reflect the two aspects of the sun. One, Hathor, gives life – the crops along the Nile, fertilized by its flood. The other, Sekmet, takes life – the arid, unforgiving desert to the west. The beer covering Egypt reflects the annual flooding of the Nile. That annual event determined if Egypt would starve or prosper.
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