Cannabis, The Assyrian Kettledrum Ritual and the Supreme God Enlil

Was cannabis used as an oracular tool in the Ancient World?

In The Cults of Uruk and Babylon, Marc Linssen documents a further cultic application of cannabis under the Akkadian term

qunnabu, noting that “some of the known aromatics, such as … qunnabu [cannabis]… are mentioned in the … Kettledrum ritual text TU 44, IV, 5ff… In the list of ingredients for this rite ten shekel qunnabu-aromatics” (Linssen, 2004).

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). Qunnabu appears as an item in the ‘sacred rites’, and as an offering at temples, and in the forms of incense, anointing oils and infusions, in contemporary references to the Biblical era.

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). Records from the time of 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 of the pivotal ‘Sacred Rites’. In response to Esarhaddon’s mother’s question as to “What is used in the sacred rites”, a high priest named Neralsharrani responded that “the main items…. for the rites are fine oil, water, honey, odorous plants (and) hemp [qunubu]”.

The kettledrum (lilissu) was far more than a musical instrument. In Mesopotamian theology it was treated as a living divine entity, the “voice and heart of Enlil.” Its consecration—especially the fashioning and installation of a new bull-hide membrane—was a carefully orchestrated rite that accompanied the opening of a new temple or the periodic renewal of cultic equipment. The drum itself was ritually “washed,” purified, and animated so that its deep, resonant beat could function as a celestial messenger, carrying the prayers of the temple community to the gods and, conversely, conveying divine responses to the human sphere. The inclusion of ten shekels of qunnabu among the aromatics burned or offered during this ceremony indicates that cannabis was regarded as an appropriate aromatic for one of the most sacred acts of temple service: the animation of an object that was itself a god.

An important cuneiform text found at Uruk describes an elaborate ritual used to cover the kettle-drum with a new skin. The tablets make it clear that these were secret ‘mystery’ rites that could not be spoken of to the uninitiated. The magical power associated with these rituals is evident in the words the priest recited upon completion of the ritual: ” these ritual acts the totality-of-the-gods has performed, I did not perform (them).” Once these rituals were completed, the kettle-drum received the status of a god and was ‘taken by the hand and led into the temple to take its place alongside other images of the gods.

The ritual preparation of the sacred kettledrum required the sacrifice of a specially raised, unblemished black bull whose hide would become the drum’s membrane. A priest whispered lengthy incantations into the animal’s ear through a reed, addressing it with words such as “Great Bull that treadest the celestial herbage.” The bull was thereby transformed from a living creature into a divine vehicle; its hide, once stretched and consecrated, allowed the drum to speak with the voice of the gods—most especially the deep, resonant voice of Enlil. The presence of ten shekels of qunnabu (cannabis) among the aromatics burned during this rite raises the possibility that the plant helped subdue the bull or induce a ritual trance in the participants, ensuring the solemnity of both the whispered prayers and the subsequent slaughter.

In a possibly related Zoroastrian mythical account recorded in Bundahishn 4:20, Ohrmazd (Aka Ahuramazda, The Zoroastrian God) administered healing cannabis to the wounded Bull of Creation to ease its suffering. These accounts share with the Mesopotamian kettledrum rite the combination of a sacred bull, restricted cannabis use, and the opening of a channel through which the divine voice could be heard. Parallels appear elsewhere in the ancient Near East. The biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar eating “grass as doth an ox” for seven years (Daniel 4:32–33) has been interpreted by some early scholars, including C. Creighton, as a veiled reference to hashish intoxication, the Semitic term for grass carrying a secondary meaning of cannabis.

The kettledrum rite itself was closely guarded. Only the initiated novice might witness the procedure; an outsider’s days would be shortened, and the tablet containing the instructions was a “taboo of Anu, Enlil and Ea.” Such secrecy recalls later prohibitions surrounding kaneh bosem, the suggested Hebrew word for ‘cannabis’ in Israelite tradition and underscores the instrument’s status as a living divine messenger, comparable to the sacred furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and the Inner Temple described in Exodus.

Scholarly discussion has long noted structural and functional affinities between Enlil and Yahweh. Enlil, “Lord Wind,” was the storm-god and executive authority of the Mesopotamian pantheon, decree-giver, and sender of the Flood. Yahweh inherits similar storm-theophany imagery, mountain associations, and the dual role of destroyer and protector. In the Hebrew Flood narrative Yahweh combines attributes once distributed between Enlil (who decrees the deluge) and Enki/Ea (who warns the flood-hero). Some researchers further propose that the Hebrew term ʾĕlîlîm (“idols” or “worthless gods”) in Isaiah may derive from the Akkadian name Illil/Enlil, adopted during the Neo-Assyrian period as a polemical label for foreign deities. While direct identity is not claimed, the shared theological profile—supreme sky/storm authority, control of destiny, and association with sacred bulls—points to a common Near Eastern conceptual matrix within which Israelite religion developed.

A striking parallel t the Assyrian use of qunnabu appears at the Judahite fortress shrine of Tel Arad (c. 760–715 BCE). There, residue analysis of two limestone altars standing at the entrance to the Holy of Holies revealed that the smaller altar had been used to burn cannabis (containing THC, CBD and CBN) mixed with animal dung, while the larger altar held frankincense mixed with animal fat. The deliberate low-temperature combustion of the cannabis—facilitated by the dung—would have released psychoactive fumes capable of inducing an altered state of consciousness. Scholars interpret this as intentional ritual use, the earliest physical evidence of cannabis employed for cultic purposes in the ancient Near East and the first such attestation within the Kingdom of Judah. This archaeological find strongly supports the long-standing linguistic argument, first advanced by Sula Benet and further developed in detailed botanical, linguistic and contextual studies (see my article Kaneh Bosem 101: The Botanical, Linguistic, Archaeological and Contextual case for Hebrew ‘kaneh’ as ‘Cannabis’), that the Hebrew kaneh bosem of Exodus 30:23 and related biblical passages originally designated cannabis and was used in sacred anointing oil and incense for similar inspirational purposes.

Links between Assyrian/Mesopotamian mythology and Zoroastrianism are more diffuse yet historically attested and these may include the use of cannabis. A parallel tradition appears in Zoroastrianism, where cannabis (bhanga / mang) was likewise reserved for elite initiates and mixed with wine or haoma to induce a controlled trance. King Vishtaspa, Zoroaster’s first royal convert, drank a cup of hom ut mang and fell into a seven-day unconsciousness while his soul journeyed to paradise; Zoroaster himself received “the wisdom of omniscience” in liquid form and lay in visionary trance for seven days and nights.

During the Achaemenid period, prolonged cultural contact produced syncretistic tendencies: Ahura Mazda was occasionally equated with Marduk, Mithra with Shamash, and Anahita with Ishtar. Babylonian astral lore and concepts of cosmic time appear to have contributed to the development of Zurvanism, the Zoroastrian speculation on Time as the ultimate principle. Demonology, dualistic cosmology, and royal ideology likewise show mutual influence. The Zoroastrian episode of Ohrmazd administering cannabis to the primordial Bull finds a suggestive counterpart in the Mesopotamian use of qunnabu during the deification of a bull whose hide becomes the “heart” and “voice” of Enlil—both traditions employing the plant in a mythic or ritual context of cosmic renewal and divine communication.

At Tel Arad, in the Mesopotamian kettledrum ritual, and in Zoroastrian visionary practice, the evidence indicates that cannabis functioned not merely as a fragrant offering but as a psychoactive agent intended to open the senses to the voice of the god. At Tel Arad the smaller altar, positioned at the threshold of the Holy of Holies, yielded residues of cannabis mixed with dung, burned at low temperature so that its THC-laden smoke could be inhaled, inducing an altered state in which worshippers might experience the presence or speech of Yahweh—consistent with the broader biblical indications for kaneh bosem as a sacred aromatic used for inspirational purposes. In the kettledrum rite the same plant appears among the aromatics that accompanied the transformation of a living bull into the resonant “voice and heart of Enlil.” In Zoroastrianism, cannabis (bhanga / mang) mixed with wine was reserved for elite Magi and used to induce a controlled trance that allowed the soul to journey to paradise and receive divine revelation—whether by King Vishtaspa or by Zoroaster himself receiving the “wisdom of omniscience.” In all three settings the plant served as a carefully controlled technology of inspiration: a means by which selected individuals could hear—and be heard by—the respective deities whose voices were believed to sound through sacred space, consecrated instrument, or visionary journey.

Excerpted from Cannabis: Lost Sacrament of the Ancient World (2023)