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The real story about the origins of the bong

The origins of the bong are characterized by the typical mystery of legends.

Let’s start with the etymology of the name. Bong comes from the Thai word “baung” which means “cylindrical tube made of wood or bamboo”. But the bong was not born in Thailand.

But where then does the Bongs come from and what are its ancestors?

Some of you may have heard that the bong is born or better can be considered a direct descendant of the hookah. The hookah uses water as a “filtration element” like modern bongs but this does not mean that the bong was developed from the hookah.

This belief is borne out by the fact that cannabis for many has its origins in central Asia, as its use has been widely demonstrated throughout Asian history. So many believe that the bong has Asian origins because it is mainly used with this raw material.

This information is superficial and not correct. There are studies and consequent evidence that the bong originates from a different continent than the Asian one. Let’s find out together what and how the true origins of this object were discovered.

Several archaeologists found the ancestors of the tobacco pipes that are used today in Africa. These findings were made for the vast majority in the West of the African continent. It was assumed that these objects only spread in Africa after the arrival of tobacco as a kola substitute. Therefore, it was natural to believe that the pipes and other objects used to smoke tobacco were created after 1600. Basically, after the first settlers spread the use of “discovered” tobacco on the American continent.

This theory strengthened the belief that the hookah was much older than the bong and therefore its ancestor.

The part of history shown above does not take into consideration all African cultures in East and South Africa. The populations that we can consider more primitive than the others in our imagination. But maybe, it wasn’t exactly like that.

JC Dombrowski found very strange objects in some caves in Ethiopia in the early 1900s. A dozen water pipes. Objects that were developed well before the arrival of tobacco. So well before 1600.

On these objects strange traces were found. The artifacts were analyzed, as is customary, and many cannabis residues were found. Yes you read that right: cannabis. The objects were dated between 1100 and 1400.

It seems to us just the progenitor of the bong

The official story has ignored all this. That’s right. And in addition to ignoring this part of the story, which is quite evident in our opinion, there is an anecdote that leaves us stunned.

In 1930 the Natural History Museum of Chicago printed a series of promotional / informative documents where it was reported that the Portuguese introduced water pipes from Persia. These documents were taken as reference by many researchers. It was easier and more comfortable to believe that European culture had influenced the spread of these objects in other cultures, rather than believing that they had existed long before colonial journeys.

Thus the belief spread that the hookah and other objects typical of Asian and Middle Eastern countries were the progenitors of the bong.

We have deepened the history of the origin of the bong a little more. But if you want to learn more about it online, find some very useful material.

ATTENTION: This article is for information only. There is no intent in inciting young people or adults to consume drugs that are aware of the laws that prohibit their use on Italian territory.

 

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