Ancient Egyptian Forum

JOY! · Scribe Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 55

I do wonder why tobacco was in some the mummies? I'm assuming there was some kind of plant that had tobacco as a ingredient? I know the egyptians are often shown sniffing those blue flowers Laughing

but Rameses lived to be so old, I don't know too many men who could live to be 90 something while still smoking tobacco (or chewing it w/e).
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tnrees · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:59 pm Post subject:

Tobacco is an American plant. Presumably there are old world plants that resemble tobacco in appearance and/or chemical content.

Neb-Ma'at-Re · Pharaoh Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Posts: 690

"Prehistory: Although small amounts of nicotine may be found in some Old World plants, including belladonna and Nicotiana africana, and nicotine metabolites have been found in human remains and pipes in the Near East and Africa, there is no indication of habitual tobacco use in the Ancient world, on any continent save the Americas."
Tobacco Timeline
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