The Scythians and Cannabis
Sythia was an
ancient country which occupied parts of
Europe and
Asia in the region north and northeast of
Black Sea and east of
Aral Sea.
Herodotus, a
Greek historian and
ethnographer of the 5th century BC, gave a
detailed account of the Scythian life and
history. Subsequently, modern
archeology of the area both confirmed and
supplemented his account. Of particular relevance for our discussion is a
royal grave where researchers found a
fur pouch which contained
hemp seed, a
censer for burning them and a
tent in which to inhale their
fumes. Herodotus described all these items as part of the
rituals surrounding a
burial. This and other ancient accounts would indicate that use of cannabis was both
ubiquitous and
sanctioned in the Scythian culture.
Both Herodotus and
Hippocrates described the Scythian tribes as
nomads, who had
shamans or
seers, (called in
Greek enareis), who engaged in
divination facilitated by the use of
psychoactive plants. The
enareis appear to have occupied a special position in the
community. Herodotus describe the enareis as being
androgynous, which can be explained by the practice in other cultures of having both
male and
female shamans, with
transvestite males dressed as women.
Another Greek writer, Glaukos, describes a
beverage he called
melugion (= '
mead'), which he says is more
intoxicating than
wine. It is made of
honey boiled with
water into which "a certain
herb" is added. Other
cultures have added cannabis to beverages and, remembering that the Scythians were fond of
hemp, it is quite possible that the herb was
cannabis.