‘Qunnabu’, The Ancient Akkadian name of Cannabis: The Ritual use of cannabis in the Ancient Near East

In the heart of ancient Mesopotamia, amid the towering ziggurats and the meticulous cuneiform records of kings and priests, a plant known as qunnabu—or qunubu, qunnapu, and related forms beginst to appear as a medicine and as a sacrament for temple rites. Identified by generations of Assyriologists as cannabis, this substance surfaces in the second quarter of the first millennium BCE not as a mere commodity, but as a valued source of oil, fiber, medicine, incense, and ritual anointing. From the libraries of Ashurbanipal to the great temples of Eanna and Ebabbar, and in sacred rites prescribed for kings like Esarhaddon, qunnabu was woven into the religious, medicinal, and aromatic life of Assyria and Babylonia—offering a striking window into how one of humanity’s most versatile plants was understood and employed more than 2,500 years ago.

Elizabeth Wayland-Barber, a professor of archaeology and linguistics, notes that it was in the second quarter of the first millennium BCE that the “word qun-nabu (qunapy, qunubu, qunbu) begins to turn up as for a source of oil, fiber and medicine” (Barber 1989). This term has generally been identified with ‘cannabis’ by Assyriologists. See The Assyrian Dictionary, Volume 13 (1982); The Assyrian Languages Sureth Dictionary entry for qunnabu. Assyrian references to qunnabu identify it as an item in sacred rites, and as an offering at temples, and in the forms of incense, anointing oils and infusions.

Recipes for cannabis, qunubu, incense, regarded as copies of much older versions, were found in the cuneiform library of the legendary Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, (b. 685 – ca. 627 BC, reigned 669 – ca. 631 BC). Cannabis was not only sifted for incense like modern hashish, but the active properties were also extracted into oils. “Translating ‘Letters and Contracts , no.162’ (Keiser, 1921), qu-un-na-pu is noted among a list of spices (Scheil, 1921)(p. 13), and would be translated from French (EBR), ‘(qunnapu): oil of hemp; hashish.’”(Russo, 2005)

Here is what you get when you search “aromatic” in the Akkadian dictionary, note how qunnabu ‘cannabis’ and qanu ‘reed’ are grouped together, and this could very well indicate a linguistic connection.

“Aromatic” from The Akkadian Dictionary

qunnabu – hashish; qunnabtu – cannabis flower

Neo-Assyrian Akkadian 𒋆𒄣𒌦𒈾𒁍 and it’s various phonetic translations qunnabu, qunappu, qun(u)bu.

Interestingly, we see here that qunnabu is seen as hashish, whereas the whole plant appears as qunnabtu. This is interesting as the bu and btu, are not the same in both, and without them we get something very phonetically close to the Akkadian term for reed.

It is worth noting here that when you search ‘reed’ in The Akkadian Dictionary, you get 67 entries, and variations of qanu account for only 3 of those. When you search ‘aromatic’ you get 14, with qanu twice and qunnabu once, and as that term means ‘hashish’ and qunnabtu means ‘cannabis plant’, it appears that qunna is the key component of the word, bringing us very close to qanu, reed, and giving us the likely older root.

Assyriologist Barbara Böck says the name for qunnabu, can also be rendered qunnubu, Thompson, in his Dictionary of Assyrian Botany, includes the rendering qunubu. Still other sources, list it with a single n, bring it even closer. A spelling shared by (Löpelmann, 1968, and numerous others). These bring us all bring us closer to qanu, ‘reed’ as a root for cannabis terms in Akkadian.

A 2002 edition of the Compte Rendu, Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, a journal from the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (RAI) the annual Assyriological Conference, in a paper on hashish and opium noted “Qunnabu or qunnubu has emerged as the best candidate for identifying cannabis.” The respected journal gives us some insights into the methods and extent of its use: “…A Neo-Assyrian recipe for making perfume speaks of steeped cannabis; a smoking pool is mentioned immediately in front of it. The context is unfortunately destroyed … cannabis together with other aromatics. Oil and wash was used in an unspecified ritual process…. Not insignificant quantities of this plant are delivered to the large temples – Eanna and Ebabbar.” Eanna was an ancient Sumerian temple in Uruk. Considered “the residence of Inanna” and Anu, is mentioned several times in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Ebabbar, was the temple of the sun-god Shamash, the chief deity of the pantheon. These were the main temple sites of the region. The Journal also notes that “In recipes, hemp is often combined with myrrh” as with the Exodus recipe.

In Science and Secrets of Early Medicine, Jurgen Thorwald records: “Quunabu – such was the Assyrian name for Indian hemp. This is basically the same word as it was later known by cannabis (Cannabis Indica), and hemp is cognate with it … it was often employed in Mesopotamia to relieve the pain of bronchitis, bladder trouble, rheumatism, and as a remedy for insomnia” (Thorwald, 1963). Likewise, as noted in the 1907 German edition of Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften (Notes on the History of Medicine and Science) in reference to “the Indo-European plant names” that appear in Assyrian texts, “the plant qunubu – hemp corresponds exactly to the form of the name cannabis, as well.”

More recently, Barbara Böck, of the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East, explained in her essay “Mind Altering Plants in Babylonian Medical Sources” in The Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World:

A plausible candidate for Cannabis sativa in Akkadian is the plant term qunnabu or qunubu. The name is a Wanderwort that has entered as loanword not only Akkadian but many other languages and cultures. Interestingly, the name qunnabu is attested relatively late in the ancient Mesopotamian record, namely from the eighth century BCE onwards. This late appearance fits well with the fact that wandering words spread usually through trade connections, and it occurs in cuneiform documents at a time the Assyrian and Babylonian empires reached their greatest territorial expansion and thus expanded commercial contacts… Akkadian qunnabu is almost exclusively attested as one ingredient among many in incense blends and perfume mixtures used in the religious cult… (Böck, 2022).

The case for qunubu as cannabis, is built on much more solid ground than these other words:

“Qunnabu, the probable Assyrian word for cannabis, is attested in texts of the first millennium BCE. It occurs in a Neo-Assyrian recipe for perfume, and a contemporary letter refers to its use in ritual contexts. A later Neo-Babylonian text records the delivery of large quantities of qunnabu to the great temple of Eanna and Ebabbar, and there are recipes in which hemp is an ingredient of aromatic oil used for cultic purposes. So cannabis was available in Mesopotamia during the sixth century BCE at the time when the Hebrew Bible was compiled in Babylon” (Stein, 2009).

Recipes for cannabis, qunubu, incense, regarded as copies of much older versions, were found in the cuneiform library of the legendary Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (b. 669 – ca. 631 BC, reigned 669 – ca. 631 BC). Indications are that cannabis was not only sifted for incense like modern hashish, but the active properties were also extracted into oils. “Translating ‘Letters and Contracts, no.162’ (Keiser, 1921), qu-un-na-pu is noted among a list of spices (Scheil, 1921)(p. 13), and would be translated from French (EBR), ‘(qunnapu): oil of hemp; hashish’” (Russo, 2005).

Records from the time of Ashurbanipal’s father Esarhaddon, (reigned 684 – 669 BC) give clear evidence of the importance of such substances in Mesopotamia, as cannabis, ‘qunubu‘ is listed as one of the main ingredients in a royal ritual.

The letter (excerpt):

To the queen mother, my ‘lord’: your servant, Nergal -ša rrani.

Good health to the queen mother, my ‘lord.’

May Nabû and Marduk bless the queen mother, my ‘lord.’

May Tašmetu, whom you revere, take your hands.

May you see 1,000 years of kingship for Esarhaddon.

As for what the queen mother, my ‘lord,’ wrote to me, saying:

“What is going into the ritual?” —

These are its constituents: sweet-scented oil, wax, sweet-scented

fragrance, myrrh, cannabis, and ṣadīdu -aromatic.

[I will] perform it [for a]ll [the … th]at the queen mother com[manded].

Source ORACC : SAAo

In The Cults of Uruk and Babylon, Marc Linssen notes another cultic use of cannabis, “some of the known aromatics, such as … qunnabu… are mentioned in the… Kettledrum ritual text TU 44, IV, 5ff…. In the list of ingredients for this rite 10 shekel qunnabu– aromatics”( Linssen, 2004). Archaeologist Diana Stein notes: “A later Neo – Babylonian text records the delivery of large quantities of qunnabu to the great temple of Eanna and Ebabbar , and there are recipes in which hemp is an ingredient of aromatic oil used for cultic purposes” (Stein, 2009). Ebabbar, was the temple of the sun-god Shamash. Eanna was an ancient Sumerian temple in Uruk. Considered “the residence of Inanna” and Anu, it is mentioned several times in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Frederick Mario Fales (1946-2024) was Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at the University of Udine, he translated the following ancient cuneiform verse (No. 12. BM103205. Copy: p. 252) regarding Ishara and a ‘qunubu‘ cannabis salve:

The salve of Ishara

is cannabis;

The salve of Ishara

is cannabis:

From the

mouth of Qisirayyu

I hear so

As Fales explains “the connection between the salve of the plant qunubu and the name of this goddess might be sought in the aspect of the latter as deity of love. On qunubu… as cannabis… another [Assyrian] attestation of the plant [is translated]… ‘(She) said: ‘what is required for the ritual?’’ Quality oil, wax, quality salves (and particularly) salve of myrrh and salve of cannabis…’” (Fales, 1983).

As Gavin White has also noted:

…[T]he multifaceted goddess Ishara. She does not appear to be a native Mesopotamian deity, but was worshipped by many people throughout the ancient Near East, which has led to a confusing array of attributions – she is known as a great goddess to the Hurrians, the wife of Dagon among the West Semites, and to the Akkadians she was a goddess of love of love with close affinities to Ishtar, whose sacred plant cannabis (qunnabu) was known as the aromatic of Ishara… from her widespread worship she is also known as the queen of the inhabited world. (White, 2008)

The connection to Ishtar here is interesting, as this Goddess’ cult, like that of Asherah’s was known for its shamanic priestesses. As the British Archeologist Diana Stein has noted “Inspired prophecy is a Mesopotamian phenomenon that is linked, in particular, to the ecstatic cult of Ishtar. The cult of Ishtar is described as an esoteric mystery cult that promises transcendental salvation and eternal life to its initiates. Altered states of consciousness, visions, and inspired prophecies were achieved by means of various ecstatic techniques…” (Stein, 2009). We can see here that cannabis and likely other entheogenic substances were a part of this technique.

Volkert Haas, a German Assyrologist and Hittitologist stated in Geschichte der hethitischen Religion (1994) that: “the nature of ‘Išḫara is closely related with that of the goddess Ištar [sic – Ishtar]. At the end of the 2nd millennium BC Išḫara is hard to distinguish from Ištar anymore. For instance in a cuneiform lexical list “the star of Išḫara” is similar with “Ištar, the mistress of the Lands”. In the beginning of the 1st mil. her aspect as goddess of sexuality is completed with goddess of war. Then epitheta like “Išḫara, Mistress of Mankind” show that henceforth she is melted with Ištar”

However, many sources see an older relationship between Ishtar and Inanna, another goddess that holds ties with cannabis. Like Ishtar, who she is conflated with, Inanna was an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. As with other similar near Eastern Goddesses, Inanna also seems to have had strong ties with the ritual use of cannabis. Inanna had a famous cultic temple in Eanna, and as noted “later Neo-Babylonian text records the delivery of large quantities of qunnabu [cannabis]to the great temple of Eanna” (Stein, 2009).

Ishtar may have also received a cannabis infused drink offering under the epithet Beltu. As noted in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (1999)

“The name of the Babylonian goddess Beltu (var. Belit, Belti) is the feminine form of Bel (‘Lord’), and means ‘Lady’. She is identified either with Ishtar or Ṣarpanitu [Wife of Marduk, and a goddess of childbirth]. Her mention in the Hebrew Bible is conjectural… biltî in Isa. 10.4 into bēltî, ‘my Lady’….Since the name Beltu is not really a name but an epithet (‘Lady’), the identification with a specific deity is beset with problems. Used in genetical constructions such as Belet-Akkadi or Belet-ekaliim, the term ‘Lady’ is an element in the name (or epithet) of numerous Babylonian and Assyrian… goddesses… The goddess to have been designated most frequently by this epithet, both in Summerian… and Akkadian… is no doubt Ishtar”

In a Sourcebook for Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine (2014) JoAnn Scurlock records a recipe that requires 3 shekels of qunnabu [cannabis]to be mixed with other aromatic plants “a total of 26 shekels of aromatics in a mortar. You wash raisins in date beer. You take (them) out and mix these aromatics into them. You pour white (beer) onto it and then it is sealed for three days. On the fourth (!) day, you open (it) and pour out a libation to Beltu (before use).”

This is notable in relation to references to Ishtar in 18th century BCE tablets from the Palace of Mari, which was located in modern day Syria. These texts refer to a ritual dedicated to the Ishtar and refer to a drink given to ecstatic seers, who spoke on behalf of the Goddess.“Presumably this drink contained psychoactive substances, perhaps mixed with wine, as Mari was a key centre in the wine trade” (Stein, et. al., 2022).

As noted, cannabis, qunnabu, was offered at the temple of the male god Enlil, and interestingly, it was also considered part of the body of Tammuz. The Neo-Assyrian literary/ritual text published as SAA 3 38 (Alasdair Livingstone, Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea, State Archives of Assyria vol. 3, 1989; the tablet itself is the Berlin VAT 9946 from Assur).

The key line is:

[šim]qu-nu-bu zappašu “[H]emp is his bristle” (or “cannabis/qunnabu is his bristle/hair”).

This appears in a description of the materials that constitute (or symbolize) the body of the god Tammuz/Dumuzi. In Mesopotamian ritual practice, the “body” of a deity (especially in the context of the taklimtu “display” or mourning rites for the dead Tammuz) could be represented by an assemblage of aromatic plants, foods, and other substances rather than a literal statue.

The identification of qunnabu/qunubu here as cannabis/hemp follows the standard modern scholarly consensus (reflected also in the CAD and other dictionaries). The text is one of the rarer non-incense/perfume contexts for the plant name.

Cannabis also appears in a list of aromatics and spices delivered or accounted for (often dated around the time of Nebuchadnezzar) – [Keiser, Letters and Contracts from Erech no. 162 (BIN 1 162 / Yale BC 004001)]. This is the passage most frequently quoted for the “hashish / oil of hemp” identification. Interestingly Daniel 43 depicts this Babylonian King, “eating grass as doth an ox”.

Cannabis also occurs in later Seleucid-period ritual text from Uruk (qu-an-na-bu). This appears in one of the late temple ritual tablets from Seleucid Uruk (published among the texts edited by Thureau-Dangin and later re-edited/discussed by Linssen in The Cults of Uruk and Babylon). It is listed as an aromatic ingredient in a cultic recipe or offering list (alongside other aromatics such as myrrh, etc.), using the broken/late spelling qu-an-na-bu. Linssen and others treat it simply as the same qunnabu known from earlier periods, appearing in the standard position of incense or perfume ingredients for temple rites. No dramatic narrative translation exists; it is a brief entry in a longer list of materials for a ritual performance.

Other Suggested Assyrian Cannabis Names

Prior to this time the 8th century BCE, it was suggested that cannabis was known under a variety of earlier names, such as azalluˆ – A.ZAL.LA, gan.zi.gunnu, Sami nissati ‘a drug for sorrow’ and others. As British archaeologist Diana Stein has noted in reference to this sutuation “Cannabis has many variants, and it is possible that these were known by a variety of different names, some cryptic and others descriptive or allegorical (as is the case today: marijuana, hashish, hemp, grass, weed, dope, pot, skunk, kit, bhang, etc.).” (Stein, 2009). See Dr. Ethan Russo’s History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet (2007), which summarizes the various entries in R. Campbell Thompson’s A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany (1949) for a more thorough investigation of these terms and their various usage.

The indications of medicinal, intoxicating and fibrous qualities associated with azallu has had more than a few researchers regard them as indicating Hemp.

“Cannabis sativa, Indian hemp, is the azallû of the Assyrians according to M.R.C. Thompson; its virtue is in combating “depression of the spirits,” anxiety, sorrows, which accords well with its action; its name reconciles with the Syriac verbal root which signifies to spin or weave, a term which also accords with the usage that one makes with hemp in the rope industry.”(Contenau, 1940)

As Dr. Ethan Russo noted, in passages using these other suggested names; “cannabis was used with the plant El in petroleum to anoint swelling…. [and]was also employed as a simple poultice” (Russo 2005) More interestingly, records of topical ointments used in the treatment of “Hand of Ghost” an ancient malady now thought In Studies on Neo-Assyrian Texts II: “Deeds and documents” from the British Museum (1983); “An Assyrian medical tablet from the Louvre collection (AO 7760)(Labat, 1950)(3,10,16) was transliterated as follows…, ‘ana min sammastabbariru sama-zal-la samtar-mus.’ Translating the French [EBR], we obtain, ‘So that god of man and man should be in good rapport:—with hellebore, cannabis and lupine you will rub him.’ (Russo 2005).

Unfortunately, these references rely on the term azallu, and there is a more general acceptance of the identification of qunubu as cannabis amongst researchers than with azallu. Along with other earlier suggested names, like gan.zi.gunnu, Sami nissati, the case is, these terms lack the scholarly consensus in regards to their firmer identification that qunnabu holds. As Thompson recorded “Towards the end of the eighth or first half of the seventh century B.C. the word qunubu has come in, it being mentioned on a Sargonid letter… to the King’s mother, along with myrrh, etc., in reference to certain dullu (work, or rites)” (Thompson, 1949). In the 1907 German edition of Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften (Notes on the History of Medicine and Science) in reference to “the Indo-European plant names” that appear in Assyrian texts, “the plant qunubu – hemp corresponds exactly to the form of the name cannabis, as well.”

Conclusion

Taken together, the linguistic, textual, and contextual evidence makes a compelling case that qunnabu (and its variants) was cannabis: an aromatic, medicinal, and cultic plant whose name itself may echo older roots connected to the reed. Whether sifted into incense, steeped into oils and salves, delivered in quantity to major temples, or prescribed for ailments ranging from pain to sorrow, cannabis held a recognized place in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian practice. While earlier terms such as azallû remain more debated, the relative consensus around qunnabu—and its appearance precisely when Assyrian and Babylonian empires expanded their trade networks—underscores both the plant’s practical value and its cultural resonance. In these ancient records we glimpse not only the early history of cannabis, but also the sophisticated ways Mesopotamian societies integrated mind- and body-altering botanicals into the sacred and the everyday.

This article was adapted from the larger presentation: Kaneh Bosem 101: The Botanical, Linguistic, Archaeological and Contextual case for Hebrew ‘kaneh’ as ‘Cannabis’