Poppy

The Poppy in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Nanti// or //Spn//

The Red Corn Poppy was attested since the 4th Dynasty, and was used in medicine, having slightly narcotic properties. The Pink Opium Poppy was grown in Egypt since the second millennium B.C.E. The flower was used for ornamental purposes - formal bouquets seem to have been composed of mandrake, poppy, and cornflower. Beads in the shape of poppy leaves were popular in jewelry. Poppies were also used as an adhesive or binding agent, and added to beer. During the Festival of Sekhmet, poppies were added to wine to enhance its narcotic effect.

But the main use of the poppy was medical. It seems that the ancient Egyptians knew how to extract morphine. A substance called //shepenet// was brewed with poppy seeds and used as a sedative, and was much esteemed for soothing crying babies. In a little stone vessel, found in the tomb of Kha at Deir el Medina, there was some unguent which contained morphine. It had not lost its potency, inducing sleep in a frog and a mouse, and when a larger amount was injected under the skin of another frog, it killed it.

The Flowers of Ancient Egypt