When archaeologists learned ancient Israelites burned cannabis as part of their religious ceremonies it was a remarkable discovery. It was in 2018 when scientists found residues of cannabis in a 2,700-year-old temple in Tel Arad just south of Tel Aviv.

It was the first evidence of psychotropic drugs being used in Jewish religious ceremonies. According to a report on the BBC website, the temple was discovered in the Negev desert in the 1960’s. Archeologists found two well preserved limestone altars buried inside the temple. On one altar Frankincense was discovered. On the other altar scientists found  tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) – all compounds found in cannabis that was used almost 3,000 years ago.

For thousands of years, this temple was the place where the Samaritan community observed Passover. Samaritans, one of the world’s smallest religious groups, believe they descended from three of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel and that the Jewish religion became corrupted during the “Babylonian Exile” when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, strongly encouraged the Jews to return to Palestine. Historians consider the “Babylonian Exile” to be the first example of the great Diaspora where over hundreds of years millions of Jews were forced from their homeland.

Led by the head priest cradling a silver Torah case, the men ascend Mount Gerizim in the early morning darkness, climbing stone steps past the remains of their temple, destroyed by the Hasmoneans in the early second century B.C. At points along the ascent, they stop to pray before continuing their trek to the top.

Mount Gerizim, or Jebel et-Tor, is the sacred mountain of the Samaritans and has been so for thousands of years. On the summit is a rock where the Samaritans believe was the place where Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac. By the early 21st century, the Samaritans were a small Palestinian community of only a few hundred people living between the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon and the West Bank village of Kiryat Luza.

Learn more on the National Geographic website.