The discovery of coca remains in Egyptian mummies
The alternative theory of pre-contact between the peoples of the Middle East and South America: the discovery of coca remains in Egyptian mummies
According to academic history, in ancient times there were no contacts between the peoples of the Middle East and those of the New World. However, the evidence of an ancient contact between these two worlds, separated by the Atlantic Ocean, is such that, in my opinion, we can speak of a pre-contact, which, however, was not made official or disclosed.
According to traditional history Europe and America went in contact for the first time in 1492 after Christopher Columbus 's expedition, despite the discovery remained hidden and only the elites of the time were able to take advantage of some secrets, such as the location of mines and the use of some medicinal plants.
There is the possibility that a pre-contact was real, either by studying some petroglyphs (as in the case of the Pedra de Ingá) or by analyzing some objects (such as the Fuente Magna or the Pokotia Monolith) or by going deeper in some controversial cases of recent history (such as the case of the metal library of Father Carlo Crespi) or by examining ancient paths that from the coast of Brazil lead to the interior of the continent (such as the Peabirú road).
There is, however, another very important piece of evidence, which this time was found not in South America, but in some Egyptian mummies.
As we know, the coca plant (erytroxylon coca) is native to South America and does not grow in any other environment.
Not even in tropical Mexico does this plant grow, so much so that drug traffickers must import it from South America. Inside the coca leaf there is an alkaloid called cocaine (not to be confused with the chemical drug also called cocaine).
We know the traditional and ancestral use that the indigenous peoples of South America make of the coca leaf: they chew it and obtain a stimulating and anesthetic effect. According to academic history, this plant was surely unknown outside of South America before 1492.
How is it possible then that traces of the alkaloid cocaine have been found in some Egyptian mummies dating back to times between 1070 BC and 395 AD?
The discovery, which was made by the German scientist Svetlana Balabanova in 1990, irrefutably proved that in the Egyptian mummies present in the Monaco museum and in Sudan there are traces of cocaine and also nicotine (tobacco, scientific name nicotiana tabacum). We know that tobacco is also a plant endemic to South America and, therefore, the question arises: how is all this possible?
As far as nicotine remains are concerned, it was hypothesized that some tobacco-like plants were cultivated in Asia and Africa in ancient times, while in the case of coca, there is no explanation.
The cocaine alkaloid was later found in 71 human skeletons found in Nubia, dating back to a period between 600 AD and 1100 AD. Can this be definitive proof of contact between the peoples of the Middle East (in this case, from ancient Egypt) and those from South America?
Skeptics put forward innumerable theories to maintain that the discovery of the scholar Balabanova should not be considered proof of pre-contact: they maintained that the mummies were contaminated and that the tests were not conducted with scientific methods, which does not correspond to the truth.
Some argued that the mummies analyzed were fakes, but that too was refuted. Most academic scientists, however, criticized Balabanova's discovery only on the grounds that contact between the Egyptians and the peoples of South America was impossible for them and, for this reason, they ruled it out a priori.
In my opinion, the remains of cocaine alkaloid found in Egyptian mummies is one of the proofs that the American continent (in this case, South America) was known by the people of the Middle East, who traveled there to exchange products with some indigenous peoples.
Certainly, these trips were not made public, but rather kept secret.
The routes to reach South America were probably jealously guarded and were not disclosed. This knowledge was reserved for few, only for the elites of the time.
