TY - JOUR
AU - Lucas, A.
AB - (198) By A. LUCAS IT is commonly stated in books on toxicology that the ancient Egyptians used prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) as a poison. These statements may all be traced back to the alleged translation by Duteil of a passage in 'an extremely ancient papyrus in the Louvre', which is as follows: 'Ne prononcez pas le nom de lAO, sous la peine du pecher' ('Speak not the name of lAO '-one of the Hebrew names for God-'under the penalty of the peach-tree ').1 Mr. Alan Rowe tells me that this papyrus must be attributed to a Gnostic. Commenting on this passage, R. A. Witthaus says2 'it would be difficult to draw any other inference than that the Egyptian priests were acquainted with the preparation of a poisonous substance (hydrocyanic acid) from peach leaves or kernels with which those who betrayed the secrets of the priesthood were destroyed '. Wynter Blyth is more emphatic and states" that' The Egyptians knew prussic acid as extracted in a dilute state from certain plants, among the chief of which was certainly the peach'. It may be pointed out, however, that although the peach-tree is grown to a small extent in gardens in Egypt, 
TI - Poisons in Ancient Egypt
JF - The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology
DO - 10.1177/030751333802400136
DA - 1938-12-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/poisons-in-ancient-egypt-yqBe8OXvvb
SP - 198
EP - 199
VL - 24
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -