International Congress Series 1242 (2002) 23 29

Archaeological evidence on the use of opium

in the Minoan world
Helen Askitopoulou a,*, Ioanna A. Ramoutsaki b, Eleni Konsolaki c
a

Department of Anaesthesiology, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion 71110, Greece

b
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
c
University Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion 71110, Greece

Abstract
A wealth of prehistoric archaeological findings unearthed by archaeologists has brought forward a
rich harvest of information about the use of opium poppy in the Minoan civilization. They reveal the
widespread use of opium for cult rituals or healing purposes in the east Mediterranean and Crete at
least since 5th century BC, when no written references existed. Poppy capsules ornamenting figurines,
bas-reliefs, vases, pins and jewelry imply the multiple symbolic meanings of opiumhealing,
fertility, wealth and immortality. The Minoan goddess of poppies, patronage of healing, dated from
1300 BC, wearing in her head three hairpins of poppy capsules, is a distinct example of the knowledge
in the Minoan world of the healing and soporific properties of opium and also of the methods of
extracting it from the poppy capsule. The presence of opium poppy in different objects of everyday
life like lekythia, rings, pyxis from Crete and Mycenae also suggests a long tradition of the use of
opium byproducts in the ancient East Mediterranean.
D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: Analgesia, opium; History of medicine, ancient, Greek

1. Introduction
In prehistoric Greece, no written data exist concerning the use of opiumone of the
most significant and powerful known medicines in those times. It is mainly the
archaeologists spade which has brought forward a rich harvest of information on the
opium poppy that proves its widespread use in the eastern Mediterranean basin, at least

*
Corresponding author. Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital of Heraklion, PO Box 1352,
Heraklion 71110, Crete, Greece. Tel.: +30-003-081-392414; fax: +30-003-081-392413.
E-mail address: askitop@her.forthnet.gr (H. Askitopoulou).

0531-5131/02 D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

PII: S 0 5 3 1 - 5 1 3 1 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 7 6 9 - 0

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since the 15th century BC. This paper deals with the findings relating to the opium poppy
that arose out of archaeological research in Crete and Mycenae.

2. The opium poppy in Minoan Crete

Opiums healing and soporific properties were well known since the Late Bronze Age
(ca. 1450 BC). A number of small lekythi (jar with narrow neck) from various places of
central and eastern Crete (Fig. 1), which were manufactured by Cretan potters to store
local products, is proposed to have contained pharmaceutical opium [1]. The evidence that
the group of Cretan wares contained opium for medical purposes is based on several
points. First, the globular conical shape of the body of the jars in dimensions analogous to
those of the poppy head, in the absence of identifying inscriptions, must be indicative of
their contents and a way of announcing to would-be purchasers what the jars contained [2].
Second, the decorations of each vessel with vertical ridges (Fig. 2) bear a striking
resemblance to the vertical cuttings made in the poppy capsule to extract the opium and
show the familiarity of the artist with the process of harvesting opium [3]. Third, the
medical use of opium is strongly implied by a snake in relief applied below the handle of
one of the vases (Fig. 1a) [4]. The connection to health of the chthonic and healing
symbolism of the snake was well known in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Fourth, the shape of
the vases also indicates that opium must have been stored in liquid form, which would be
easy owing to the solubility in water or wine of its components [5].
Archaeological findings from other parts of Crete depict the opium poppy in different
objects of everyday life. The poppy capsules are portrayed in the painted decoration of a

Fig. 1. Poppy-shaped trefoil small lekythi, ca. 12th 10th century BC, from various places of central and eastern
Crete, with decorations consisting of simple incised motifs and vertical ridges. If they are placed upside-down,
they have a striking similarity to the poppy head. The one on the left (a) has a snake in relief applied below its
handle. From the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

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Fig. 2. Pyxis of the Late Minoan period, ca. 1390 1370 BC, found in a chamber tomb in eastern Crete. The
painted decoration on the body of the pyxis portrays the poppy capsule guarded by birds standing between the
sacred Cretan horns. The lid of the jar shows the picture of a bird tearing apart the capsule of the poppy. From the
Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

pyxis (a box of cylindrical shape with a lid, used in the Greek and Roman antiquity for
toilet articles) of the Late Minoan period (ca. 1390 1370 BC). The lid of the pyxis shows
a bird opening a poppy capsule, while a scene on the body of the pyxis portrays two birds
on either side of a poppy stalk ending in a capsule, standing between the Cretan horns of
consecration [1,3,5]. This ubiquitous symbol of Minoan religion reveals the sacred nature
attributed to the plant by the Minoans [5]. For this reason, it has been proposed that the
poppy must be added to the list of the sacred plants of the Minoans as the various narcotic
substances it contains were considered symbols of immortality [5].

3. The Minoan goddess of poppies

From the second half of the 14th century BC onwards, a typical Minoan religious
symbol of fertility was the bare-breasted figurine of a goddess with raised arms. The
goddess of poppies, one of the best known of these figurines, presents the surest and most
ancient evidence concerning the poppy, the extraction of opium, and the use of both not
only in Crete but in the whole of the Greek realm (Fig. 3). This 78-cm high terracotta
figurine bears on its head three movable hairpins shaped as beautiful, well-slit poppy
capsules, called mekones, the poppies of Papaver somniferum [6]. The goddess was
found in 1937 in Crete in the secret room of a rural cult house from the Late Minoan III
period (1300 1250 BC) [7]. The poppy capsules that adorn the headdress of the goddess
have five to six vertical notches (Fig. 3, top panel), which suggests that Cretans knew the
method of extracting opiumby incising the unripe seed capsules of the poppy plant to
gather the sapat least since 1250 BC [5,8]. Their methods of harvesting opium were not
much different from the methods used today of circular carving [3,5]. Especially

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Fig. 3. The goddess of poppies, ca. 1300 1250 BC. At the top of the picture are the magnified view of three wellslit poppy capsules, stained brown like opium, ornamenting the hair of the goddess of poppies. Nowadays, this
goddess has become the symbol of the Department of Anaesthesiology of the University of Crete, to emphasize
the origin of analgesia and anaesthesia in Cretan antiquity. From the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete.

impressive are the folds in the cheeks giving a smiling effect and the lifelessness of the
parting of the lips, giving her the appearance of being in a state of torpor induced by
opium [5]. For this reason, the archaeologist who discovered her proposed that she should
be called the goddess of ecstasy [7]. Several scholars have argued that opium was
probably used in the cult ceremonies of the goddess with upraised arms either for its
healing abilities or for the purpose of inducing a state of ecstasy [3,5]. It is noteworthy that
a tubular vase discovered at the same site and belonging to the equipment of the goddess is
proposed that it was used for preparing inhalations of opium [7]. The finding of the
remnants of a heap of coal on the ground in the room where the goddess was found
provides further evidence that the opium was taken by the inhalation of vapours, probably
for psychotropic purposes [7].

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4. The opium poppy in ancient Mycenae

Correlatively to the Minoan civilization, the Mycenaean one was spread over many
areas of Greece and carried to Crete and East Mediterranean, indicating many similarities
in the two civilisations. The most beautiful representation of the poppy capsule appears in
the famous golden signet ring (ca. 1450 BC) discovered in the acropolis of Mycenae
[3,5,8]. It depicts a female deity receiving an offering of three opium capsules, surrounded
by cult Cretan symbols like the double axe, with the sun and moon above and seated under
a tree (Fig. 4). This shows that the goddess must be associated with the worship of trees,
therefore of nature and fertility [8]. The first worshipper offers the poppy capsules, the
second brings lilies, while the third brings flowers. It has been proposed that this goddess
is the prehistoric goddess mother or goddess of nature who was worshipped in rural
districts during the prehistoric era [9,10]. In the archaeological findings where three poppy
capsules appear, as in the goddess of poppies and the Mycenaean ring, they imply its
multiple symbolic meanings corresponding to the multiple attributes of the goddess as life
or wealth, therapy, well-being, and, by extension, fertility.
Brooch pins of special interest, since their head is capsule-shaped (Fig. 5), were also
discovered at the royal tomb III at Mycenae. The Mycenaean pins (ca. 1550 BC) have
bronze stems with heads made from crystal, manufactured locally and depicting poppy
capsules with their stalks (Fig. 5) [11]. They certainly represent the most artistic display of
the poppy capsule in antiquity. As modern Greek scholars suggest, the long metal poppyshaped pins (too long to warrant their use for attaching clothing or pinning up hair) were

Fig. 4. Golden ring from the acropolis of Mycenae, ca. 1450 BC. The surface of a gold ring (2.5 cm in length and
3.4 cm in diameter) that depicts a seated goddess holding sacred flowers, the white poppies, while two other
women are offering her poppies and lilies. The symbol of the double-axe, the poppies, and other details of this
nature, which surround the scene manifest influences from the Minoan civilization. From the National
Archaeological Museum of Athens.

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Fig. 5. Mycenaean poppy pins, ca. 1550 BC, (a, b, c) with bronze stems and crystal heads (16, 16 and 5.5 cm in
length respectively), depicting poppy capsules with their stems. From the Archaeological Museum of Mycenae.

most probably used as instruments for carrying the opium to the source of heat and
producing vapours [11]. The opium poppy was known at Mycenae, according to evidence
showing that seeds of P. somniferum were cultivated and harvested in Terynth (near
ancient Mycenae) since 1300 BC [11].

5. Conclusions
Few names can be more evocative than the word opium. Derived from the Greek word
opos, the sap of the poppy capsule [6], it has moved a long way from its original
innocent meaning. Apart from its medicinal use, opium served the Greeks in a spiritual or
occult capacity. The significance of the opium poppy in the art and religion of ancient
Greece and its worshipping symbolism in cult rituals is difficult to prove. Healing was one
of the many symbolic associations linked to the opium poppy in Minoan times. The
symbolic meaning of healing must be related to the narcotic, hypnotic, and general
curative properties of opium, while that of life or wealth to the oil taken from its multitude
of seeds. Conversely, the symbolism of euphoria, voluptuous ecstasy and also sleep and
death are closely related to its specific pharmacological properties. It has also been
suggested that the poppy capsule functioned in certain contexts as a symbol of the sleep of
nature or death [9]. In later Hellenistic art, the opium poppy was a regular attribute of the
god of Sleep Hypnos. The god was conceived as a youth holding in one hand a drinking
horn from which he dispersed sleep, possibly in the form of an opium honey solution, and
in the other poppy heads [3,6]. In the hands of Apollo and Asklepios, gods of medicine,
the poppy-capsules were clearly symbolic of the curative qualities of the plant. Later, it

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represented the sleep of nature during the winter months as an attribute of the Greek
goddess of fertility, Demeter [9]. The poppy capsule probably represented only one phase
in the natural cycle that leads to sleep and awakening or to death and rebirth, as a reference
to the idea of cyclical renewal in nature, an idea central to the Minoan religion [3].
The precise shape of poppy capsules recurring in objects of everyday life, or in pictorial
representations, gives an excellent example of the long-standing tradition in the use of
opium byproducts in the whole of the Greek world in the East Mediterranean basin. The
plant of P. somniferum, which abounds in representations of the Minoan and the
Mycenaean period, strongly suggests that the Minoans knew the poppy and the ways of
extracting its opium. This is confirmed by botanical studies, which have indicated that the
original home of the opium poppy was the Anatolian south coast of the Black Sea rather
than the northeastern Mediterranean coast [3]. Therefore, it seems most likely that the
theory, accepting that the secret of opium originated around the Black Sea and spread
south and west from there, holds truth. The cultivation of the poppy started much later in
Thebes, the Egyptian city that became so famous for its poppy fields, from which the term
thebaine, opium of Thebes, originated [6].

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