Seven hundred small glass and ceramic bottles containing ancient medicines have been discovered during excavations in Turkey. The medications include 1,300-year-old antidepressant pills and drugs for heart disease.
The discovery was made in Bathonea, an ancient Greek city on the banks of Küçükçekmece Lake in Istanbul’s Avcılar district, which dates back to the 2 nd century BC.
According to Hurriyet Daily News , there were a lot of mortars, pestles and a big cooker around the bottles. The researchers believe that the site was a center for drug production. Archeologists also found many spatulas and other medical tools. The researchers believe that the discovery come from the 7 th century AD or even earlier. The laboratory may have been destroyed during the attack of the Avar Empire in Istanbul in 626 AD, as evidenced by a fire layer dating to between 620 AD and 640 AD.
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