The Selenite and Lead Curse Tablets from Amathous, Cyprus and the Transmission of Magical Technology
Discovered in the late nineteenth century and subsequently acquired by the British Museum, the cache of more than 200 lead and selenite tablets from Cyprus is one of the largest archives of curse tablets from antiquity. Three features of the assemblage suggest connections with magical texts known fr...
| Published in: | Religion in the Roman empire |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Mohr Siebeck
2021
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| In: |
Religion in the Roman empire
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Amathus (Cyprus)
/ Greece (Antiquity)
/ Religion
/ Curse table
/ Ritual
/ Zauberpapyri
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BC Ancient Orient; religion BE Greco-Roman religions KBL Near East and North Africa |
| Further subjects: | B
Curse Tablets
B Archaeology B Magical Papyri B Ritual B network theory B ritual technology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Discovered in the late nineteenth century and subsequently acquired by the British Museum, the cache of more than 200 lead and selenite tablets from Cyprus is one of the largest archives of curse tablets from antiquity. Three features of the assemblage suggest connections with magical texts known from Egypt, the Levant and other locations: references to a 'muzzling deposit', the use of charaktêres, and an invocation to Chthonic deities. This paper analyses these features to explore the mechanisms by which ritual knowledge may have been transmitted in the Mediterranean, positing that ritual techniques may have travelled through direct and indirect pathways within a broad network of exchange. |
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| ISSN: | 2199-4471 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion in the Roman empire
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1628/rre-2021-0006 |