Cannabis was first used in Egypt around 2000BC to treat sore eyes and according to Diodorus Siculus ( the Sicilian Greek historian who lived from 90 to 21 BC ) Egyptian women also used cannabis "as a medicine to relieve sorrow and bad humour." It is not known whether it's use died out in subsequent centuries, but some historians think that it was "reintroduced" in the twelth century by mystic devotees arriving from Syria. In Cairo in 1253 the government ordered cannabis plants to be burned but cultivation immediately moved outside the city. In 1324 the Egyptian army was used to destroy the crop but they failed to eradicate it. In 1378 farmers fought troops who tried to burn down the crops, martial law was declared and traffikers executed. During his campaign in Egypt (1798-1800) the French General (later Emperor) Napoleon prohibited his men from using hashish* "It is forbidden in all of Egypt to use certain Moslem beverages made with hashish or likewise to inhale the smoke from seeds of hashish. Habitual drinkers and smokers of this plant lose their reason and are victims of violent delirium which is the lot of those who give themselves full to excesses of all sorts." But the ban, introduced over a year after his army had first arrived, proved ineffective. Some soldiers had already become addicts and it's use soon became popular in France, both by the medical establishment who initially used it in treating the mentally ill and also in fashionable bourgeois Parisian circles. With time Paris soon became the European hub of Cannabis consumption and investigation, particulary with the medical work of Dr Jacques-Joseph Moreau (1804-84) and the formation of a group of literary hashishophiles known as the "Club de Hachichins", whose members included Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo. It's use in Egypt also remained widespread. Biyard Taylor, a novelist and diplomat, reported on his own enjoyment of hashish while in Egypt in 1855. But then in 1868 Egypt became the first nation to ban cannabis consumption and in the Twentieth Century went on to lobby for the international outlawing of the crop in the League of Nations. However it's use in Egypt continued despite the ban. An article in Al Ahram Weekly ( 17 February 2000) describes how during the previous century "Dealers even took the time to manufacture special wrappings for their merchandise, inspired by current events. The most sought-after brand of hashish was "Churchill", although at one point, in 1940, it had been superseded by "Hitler". Less politically-oriented packaging was designed to attract music lovers and race goers, but there was also a version for purists, featuring Ramses II on his chariot." Footnote * which is pure dried cannabis resin from the flowering tops and leaves of the female plant and a more potent cannabis product than either marijuana or ganja* |