"LONDON - Everyone thinks they know the story of Moses, the Biblical
prophet who led the Hebrews out of Egypt over 3,000 years ago and into
the Promised Land of Israel. But new research from Israel suggests
that Moses's divinely-inspired visions, from the burning bush to the
smoke and trumpet-blasts that shook Mount Sinai, were not so much holy
as hallucinogenic.
A new study by Israeli professor Benny Shanon, of Jerusalem's Hebrew
University, reportedly shows that two plants in the Sinai desert have
a similar molecular structure to a powerful plant concoction from the
Amazon rainforest. This brew, known as ayahuasca, is used for shamanic
and medicinal purposes in the Amazon; its potent hallucinogenic
effects led beat poet Allen Ginsberg to imagine he was a "vomiting
snake."
Writing in British journal Time And Mind, Shanon said that similar
plants in the Middle East had long been used for their healing powers.
This could help explain the vivid images in the Book of Exodus, which
include God's descent onto Mount Sinai: "The whole mount quaked
greatly…the voice of the trumpet sounded long…Moses spoke, and God
answered him." (Exodus, Chapter 19)
"As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned," Shanon is reported as
saying in an Israeli radio interview, "it was either a supernatural
cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't
believe either. Or finally, and this is very probable, an event that
joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics."
This is not the first time alternative theories have been put forward
to try and explain Biblical legends. Moses's legendary parting of the
Red Sea has been interpreted as a rather more mundane moment of low
tide. Similarly, the smoking, trembling Mount Sinai could have been an
example of volcanic activity rather than something divine.
It may take a while for Shanon's theory to become acceptable to the
general public, given that classic movies like The Ten Commandments
and the more recent Prince Of Egypt rely on a more respectful view of
Moses and the Israelites. According to the BoxOfficeMojo website,
which adjusts motion-picture earnings for inflation, The Ten
Commandments is the fifth-highest grossing film of all time."
prophet who led the Hebrews out of Egypt over 3,000 years ago and into
the Promised Land of Israel. But new research from Israel suggests
that Moses's divinely-inspired visions, from the burning bush to the
smoke and trumpet-blasts that shook Mount Sinai, were not so much holy
as hallucinogenic.
A new study by Israeli professor Benny Shanon, of Jerusalem's Hebrew
University, reportedly shows that two plants in the Sinai desert have
a similar molecular structure to a powerful plant concoction from the
Amazon rainforest. This brew, known as ayahuasca, is used for shamanic
and medicinal purposes in the Amazon; its potent hallucinogenic
effects led beat poet Allen Ginsberg to imagine he was a "vomiting
snake."
Writing in British journal Time And Mind, Shanon said that similar
plants in the Middle East had long been used for their healing powers.
This could help explain the vivid images in the Book of Exodus, which
include God's descent onto Mount Sinai: "The whole mount quaked
greatly…the voice of the trumpet sounded long…Moses spoke, and God
answered him." (Exodus, Chapter 19)
"As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned," Shanon is reported as
saying in an Israeli radio interview, "it was either a supernatural
cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't
believe either. Or finally, and this is very probable, an event that
joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics."
This is not the first time alternative theories have been put forward
to try and explain Biblical legends. Moses's legendary parting of the
Red Sea has been interpreted as a rather more mundane moment of low
tide. Similarly, the smoking, trembling Mount Sinai could have been an
example of volcanic activity rather than something divine.
It may take a while for Shanon's theory to become acceptable to the
general public, given that classic movies like The Ten Commandments
and the more recent Prince Of Egypt rely on a more respectful view of
Moses and the Israelites. According to the BoxOfficeMojo website,
which adjusts motion-picture earnings for inflation, The Ten
Commandments is the fifth-highest grossing film of all time."
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