The first evidence of the use of vanilla has been discovered in residue from a 3,600-year-old (Bronze-age) tomb at Megiddo in Israel. Traders probably brought the spice from orchids grown in Africa. Scientists previously thought that vanilla originated in South America, several thousand years later.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/residue-found-in-3600-year-old-holy-land-tomb-rewrites-the-history-of-vanilla/

http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-Abstract-Book_updated_10-15-18.pdf (see page 134)