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Dec. 1st, 2013 10:22 amAn Ancient Curse Tablet Written 1,700 Years Ago was Discovered in Israel
A rolled-up sheet of lead bearing a Greek inscription was recently discovered - the writing was deciphered to reveal a curse tablet bearing a spell that was probably written by a professional sorcerer or wizard.
The tablet was discovered in one of the rooms of a recently excavated building from the Roman period. The building, which was constructed during the third century, was destroyed in an earthquake
When the tablet was discovered it was rolled up tight and resembled a small narrow pipe. The tablet was unrolled after many days of toiling, requiring much patience and nerves of steel to avoid damage to the inscription.
The tablet was created by a professional sorcerer. The inscription invokes the curse a woman named Kyrilla wants cast on a man by the name of Iennys, probably in the wake of some legal dispute, the nature of which is unclear. To this end she calls upon the help of the gods of the underworld, among them Pluto, Hermes Persephone, and even the Mesopotamian goddess Ereshkigal is asked to assist.
“I strike and strike down and nail down the tongue, the eyes, the wrath, the ire, the anger, the procrastination, the opposition of Iennys” – so says Kyrilla in one portion of the curse tablet. What we have here might be a metaphorical description of actions taken by Kyrilla designed to gain control over her legal opponent. At the same time we cannot rule out the possibility that writing the text on the tablet was literally accompanied by Kyrilla striking an image of Iennys with a hammer and nails in a kind of ancient voodoo ritual.
Kyrilla hid the tablet in a place associated with Iennys, possibly his residence or a courtroom where the trial of Kyrilla and Iennys was conducted.
Anguished love letter buried with 445-year-old mummy and written by the wife he left behind
A moving love letter found placed on top of the mummified body of a man has revealed the grief of his pregnant wife 445 years ago.
The letter was found on the mummy’s chest and asked him to ‘look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail’.
She also asks Eung-tae why he left her and their baby and confesses that she is not sure how she will be able to live without him.
‘I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit.’
A pair of slippers woven from the woman’s hair and wrapped in a delicate paper parcel were also found next to the mummy’s head in the tomb. While slippers made of hair might seem unusual to people living in the west, they reoccur in Korean literature as a symbol of love and hope for recovery from an illness.
A rolled-up sheet of lead bearing a Greek inscription was recently discovered - the writing was deciphered to reveal a curse tablet bearing a spell that was probably written by a professional sorcerer or wizard.
The tablet was discovered in one of the rooms of a recently excavated building from the Roman period. The building, which was constructed during the third century, was destroyed in an earthquake
When the tablet was discovered it was rolled up tight and resembled a small narrow pipe. The tablet was unrolled after many days of toiling, requiring much patience and nerves of steel to avoid damage to the inscription.
The tablet was created by a professional sorcerer. The inscription invokes the curse a woman named Kyrilla wants cast on a man by the name of Iennys, probably in the wake of some legal dispute, the nature of which is unclear. To this end she calls upon the help of the gods of the underworld, among them Pluto, Hermes Persephone, and even the Mesopotamian goddess Ereshkigal is asked to assist.
“I strike and strike down and nail down the tongue, the eyes, the wrath, the ire, the anger, the procrastination, the opposition of Iennys” – so says Kyrilla in one portion of the curse tablet. What we have here might be a metaphorical description of actions taken by Kyrilla designed to gain control over her legal opponent. At the same time we cannot rule out the possibility that writing the text on the tablet was literally accompanied by Kyrilla striking an image of Iennys with a hammer and nails in a kind of ancient voodoo ritual.
Kyrilla hid the tablet in a place associated with Iennys, possibly his residence or a courtroom where the trial of Kyrilla and Iennys was conducted.
Anguished love letter buried with 445-year-old mummy and written by the wife he left behind
A moving love letter found placed on top of the mummified body of a man has revealed the grief of his pregnant wife 445 years ago.
The letter was found on the mummy’s chest and asked him to ‘look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail’.
She also asks Eung-tae why he left her and their baby and confesses that she is not sure how she will be able to live without him.
‘I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit.’
A pair of slippers woven from the woman’s hair and wrapped in a delicate paper parcel were also found next to the mummy’s head in the tomb. While slippers made of hair might seem unusual to people living in the west, they reoccur in Korean literature as a symbol of love and hope for recovery from an illness.
