Rewriting the Narrative: Opium in Royal Vessels A groundbreaking chemical analysis of an alabaster vessel once attributed to Xerxes I has revealed traces of opium alkaloids, reshaping scholarly understanding of ancient Egyptian pharmacology and the looting of Tutankhamun’s tomb. This revelation gains even greater resonance as the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) prepares to unveil the entire  collection of King Tutankhamun's tomb for the first time in history—a moment that invites

Saqqara was an ancient burial ground for the rich and famous and was active from the Archaic period to Roman-Greco times. It was a...