Anyone who ignored such warnings would do so at their own peril. Inscriptions sometimes spoke of the deceased coming back to life to seek revenge, or called for judgement to be taken in the underworld. Nothing instilled more fear in the tomb raiders of times past than the possibility of encountering a curse that warned of dire consequences for taking things from ancient places. In ancient Egypt, curses were sometimes placed on tomb entrances, inscribed in the tomb chapel and the more public part of the tomb complex, and written on walls, false doors, stelae, statues, and sometimes coffins – all this in an effort to protect the sacred monument from being disturbed or looted. Stopping Tomb Raiders with the Curse of the Pharaohs Gods and demons were often called upon to unleash all sorts of bad luck, ill-health, punishment, and death upon enemies, unrequited lovers, bad neighbors, and even relatives. There were curses meant to stop marriages, such as the Pella curse tablet, and others to punish thieves. The purpose of curse tablets varied: some Olympic athletes relied on the dark arts to win, while others wrote curses meant to hinder someone’s sexuality, such as the Penis Curse from the kingdom of Amathus in Cyprus. One tablet found in London reads: “I curse Tretia Maria and her life and mind and memory and liver and lungs mixed up together, and her words, thoughts and memory thus may she be unable to speak what things are concealed, nor be able.” As ancient civilizations interacted with one another, gods became somewhat fluid, and deities such as Osiris could be as easily summoned by the Egyptians as the Greeks or Romans.īut the gods were not always mentioned on curse tablets, sometimes the text simply named the victim and the misfortune or death that was to befall them. Sometimes tablets appealed to underworld gods, Hades, Hekate, Hermes, or Persephone, however it was also common for gods of other cultures to be summoned in conjunction or in place of these gods and goddesses. The tablets would be rolled up, nails were driven into them, and they were placed underground, at the bottom of wells, nailed to temple walls, inserted into the walls of houses, or buried with the dead.Ī curse tablet wrapped around a chicken bone.
The oldest tablets found so far date back to the 5th century BC, though there are likely undiscovered finds going back even further. These tablets were one way the people of ancient Greco-Roman societies attempted to harness malevolent spirits and the wrath of powerful gods to damn their foes. Curse tablets were the slam-books of ancient Greece and Rome. But they could also be simple requests for vengeance or complex strategies for pain and suffering. They could be broadly vague or incredibly specific they could be politically, economically, or emotionally driven. Invoking Gods and Demons with Greek and Roman Curse TabletsĬurse tablets in the ancient world are like Facebook posts today-they were everywhere and created by almost everyone. In antiquity a curse was a powerful phenomenon, often viewed as the summoned wrath of gods or the presence of evil forces. The aim is to see harm befall the recipient - bad luck may dog them, death may take them, or any number of dire (or annoying) fates may plague them. The history of curses certainly varies between cultures, locations, religions or beliefs, and times however, such beliefs and practices have continued to the present day.Ī curse, sometimes called jinx, hex, or black magic, can be verbalized, written, or sometimes cast through elaborate rituals. Archaeological evidence shows a plethora of ancient curses. Ever since the days when magic first arose, people have been looking to manipulate the world with supernatural means and divine intervention – often for positive ends, but also to punish or send misfortune to enemies.
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