Opium Poppy pickers - near Afyon, Turkey
Opium Poppy Pickers. The pickers have faces covered to prevent too much ingestion of the crop! The name of the city of Afyon is derivated from Opium. Only the milk of opium is dangerous because it has a base of Morphine. Cultivation of opium poppies for food, anesthesia, and ritual purposes dates back to at least the Neolithic. The Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Minoan, Greek, Roman, and Persian Empires each made widespread use of opium, which was the most potent form of pain relief, allowing ancient surgeons to perform prolonged surgical procedures. It is grown for the medicinal trade today
Picture No
10296676
Media ID
45533359
Size
4704px x 3076px
(2.2MB)
Credit
Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection
Source
Unattributed postcard
Date
circa 1920s
