Andrew J. Koh, Agnete W. Lassen, Alison M. Crandall, “The Pharmacopeia of Ancient Egyptian Alabaster Vessels: A Transdisciplinary Approach with Legacy Artifacts”, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies (2025) 13 (3): 317–333. https://doi.org/10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.13.3.0317

Abstract

Two decades ago, the first organic residue samples ever extracted by ARCHEM came from legacy objects excavated by Flinders Petrie at Sedment, Egypt, which are now in the Penn Museum. They included Cypriot Base Ring juglets and plain Egyptian alabaster (i.e., calcite) vessels. After years of refining nondestructive sampling protocols and developing a transdisciplinary, tripartite approach to organic residue analysis fusing ethnography, science, and technology, the Yale Ancient Pharmacology Program continues to analyze the contents of Egyptian alabastra to elucidate their roles in ancient societies. The most recent subject is an intriguing vase in the Yale Babylonian Collection inscribed in four ancient languages (Akkadian, Elamite, Persian, Egyptian) to Xerxes I (d. 465 BCE). This study presents the clearest comprehensive evidence yet that opiates were a broader part of ancient Egyptian society and mark the first time that the contents of an inscribed Egyptian alabastron have been identified through scientific techniques.