Judahite worshipers in a temple at Tel Arad burned cannabis as part of their ritual worship some 2,700 years ago, new research has revealed. Furthermore, the finds at the site match closely with the reign and practices of Judah’s King Ahaz.

January 31, 2022 - The analysis of the residue on these altars is an indicator that frankincense was probably used religiously at Tel Arad. The laboratory analysis of the residues revealed plants that were present in the shrine in the eighth century B.C.E., helping ...

June 1, 2020 - The stone altars were found at the entrance of the shrine’s inner sanctum, known as the “holy of holies,” reports CNN. The chemical analysis conducted by researchers helps provide a window into the rituals and spiritual life of the Judahites. "This is the first time that cannabis has been identified in the Ancient Near East; its use in the shrine must have played a central role in the cultic rituals performed there," says Eran Arie, an archaeologist with the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and lead author of the new research, in the statement.

June 2, 2020 - In a research paper, the authors say the discovery from an eighth-century BC shrine at Tel Arad offers the first proof for the use of mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah, including the first Jewish Temple that stood in ...

May 29, 2020 - Researchers find resin on altar at Tel Arad is marijuana mixed with animal dung, used 2,700 years ago 'as deliberate psychoactive' - first evidence of ritual cannabis use in region

June 2, 2020 - “The presence of cannabis at Arad testifies to the use of mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah,” wrote the authors, which included Dvory Namdar from the Volcani Institute and Baruch Rosen, an independent researcher.

May 28, 2020 - Materials on altars from a religious shrine in Beer-sheba Valley, in Israel’s biblical site Tel Arad, contained cannabis and frankincense, a study found. It’s the first time physical evidence of cannabis has been identified in the Ancient ...

November 16, 2025 - Analysis of the material on two Iron Age altars discovered at the entrance to the 'holy of holies' of a shrine at Tel Arad in the Beer-sheba Valley, Israel, were found to contain cannabis and frankincense, according to new article.

October 12, 2025 - An altar at a Judahite shrine dating to the 8th century B.C. was used to burn cannabis for ecstatic effect, researchers Eran Arie, Baruch Rosen and Dvory Namdar report. The discovery was made by performing a chemical analysis of residue found ...

June 1, 2020 - The study, published Thursday in ... in the shrine.” · Via Tel Aviv. “It seems feasible to suggest that the use of cannabis on the Arad altar had a deliberate psychoactive role,” the study concluded....

April 27, 2023 - Analysis of the material on two Iron Age altars discovered at the entrance to the "holy of holies" of a shrine at Tel Arad in the Beer-sheba Valley, Israel, were found to contain Cannabis and Frankincense, according to a new article in the journal, ...

August 8, 2020 - Recent archeological evidence emerging out of Arad, Israel is confirming what a number of scholars have been suggesting for over a century: that the ancient Hebrews utilized cannabis for ritual purposes.

The larger altar contained an assemblage of indicative triterpenes such as boswellic acid and norursatriene, which derives from frankincense. The additional presence of animal fat―in related compounds such as testosterone, androstene and cholesterol―suggests that resin was mixed with it to facilitate evaporation. These well-preserved residues shed new light on the use of 8th century Arad altars and on incense offerings in Judah during the Iron Age.

June 1, 2020 - In a research paper, the authors say the discovery from an 8th-century B.C. shrine at Tel Arad offers the first proof for “the use of mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah,” including the first Jewish Temple that stood ...

May 29, 2020 - Archaeologists have discovered traces of weed on an ancient Israelite altar, suggesting that getting high was a religious ritual for the Hebrew people. The discovery was made using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry testing on an Iron ...

Cannabis and Judaism examines the ... BCE, yielded residues of cannabis (containing THC, CBD, and CBN) on a smaller altar, mixed with animal dung for low-temperature burning alongside frankincense on a larger altar, indicating ...

June 1, 2020 - In a research paper, the authors say the discovery from an 8th-century B.C. shrine at Tel Arad offers the first proof for “the use of mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah,” including the first Jewish Temple that stood ...

December 1, 2023 - In a research paper, the authors say the discovery from an 8th-century B.C. shrine at Tel Arad offers the first proof for “the use of mind-altering substances as part of cultic rituals in Judah,” including the first Jewish Temple that stood ...

November 23, 2025 - This confirms that cannabis was present and ritually burned in an official Judahite sanctuary during the 8th century BCE. While this does not prove it was the same substance used in the holy anointing oil of Exodus 30, it does firmly establish ...

June 18, 2020 - Researchers in Israel recently published a study that suggests the ancient Israelites used cannabis mixed with animal dung during worship, based on chemical analysis of resin found on the limestone altars of a Tel Arad shrine.