Ancient Egyptians and the Blue lotus

Factual Questions
1

I have some reproductions f ancient Egyptian tomb paintings, and all of them show the flowers of th Blue Lotus. I understand that these people drank an infusion of the flowers in wine-is this subatnce a drug of some kind?
Has any modern scientist tested the blue lotus flowers for psychoactive effects?
Anyone tried it?
The 'lotus eaters" are mentioned in the Oddyssy of homr-is this the same plant that the Egyptians used?

2

Well, the Wikipedia article on the Lotus-Eaters says, regarding the blue lotus:

But there’s no citation, so I don’t know where the information about it being used as a soporific and having psychotropic properties comes from.

It also says we don’t know what the lotus referred to by Homer was.

3

Interestiung. I suppose Homer is the source of Robert E. Howard’s “black lotus” narcotic in Conan the Barbarian stories?

4

Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) and Indian sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) both contain the alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine. Nuciferine is a dopamine receptor blocker, and may be expected to show effects similar to dopamine antagonists like thorazine; it’s known to cause catalepsy. Aporphine is a little hard to figure out, as work is more common done on its relatives and derivatives, which can very widely in their effects.

5

And that’s why Nametag is still my hero even though his (or her?) signature no longer proclaims it with every post. <sob bravely>

6

And, more to the point, dopamine antagonists aren’t addictive and pleasant, though, right? Like the lotus plant the lotus-eaters were eating was supposed to be?

7

Do you have a reference for this? It seems surprising given that the plants are about as distantly related as two dicots can be. Or are these alkaloids found in just about all plants?

8

OK, I take it back.

I have looked through over 100 websites looking for something more than a bare assertion; everybody, from shamans to vendors to Wikipedia, claims that they both do. I have found only two that claim otherwise, one being a hallucinogen fan-site (neurosoup) that I hesitate to link to here, and the other being a Googlebooks results for Egyptian Mummies and Modern Science By Ann Rosalie David. These folks stress that Nymphaea is a water lily, not a lotus; apparently no one has actually identified an active principle in Nymphaea caerulea.

So, um. nevermind.