A Jewish Aramaic curse tablet from Antioch

Folmer, M.L.; Elitzur-Leiman, R.

doi:doi:10.1163/17455227-bja10041

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3674044

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Institute for Area Studies (LIAS)

Folmer, M.L.; Elitzur-Leiman, R. (2023)

A Jewish Aramaic curse tablet from Antioch

Article / Letter to editor

In this contribution we publish a lead circus curse tablet written in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (Princeton Art Museum excavation no. 3608-I57). The tablet was found in 1935 during excavations near the first turning-post at the hippodrome of Antioch on the Orontes (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). The use of Greek and Latin defixiones agonist-icae (agonistic binding spells) in chariot races was a wide-spread phenomenon during the Roman Byzantine Period. Curse tablets were inscribed with aggressive incantations that aimed at the defeat of rivals in the chariot races. The tablet under discussion is a unique piece: It is the only known lead circus curse tablet that was written in a Jewish language and script. The tablet is datable to the fifth or sixth century CE.

Jewish Magic

Jewish Palestinian Aramaic