Cursing tablets and the rituals associated with them for cursing competitors and other unpopular contemporaries were en vogue in ancient times. Interestingly, this pagan practice even found its way into the Bible: In the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of John, there are many parallels to the ancient cursing rituals, as a research project has revealed. These allusions were probably intended to strengthen the demarcation of the ancient early Christians from the Roman-pagan majority society.
Curse tablets were popular and widely used in ancient times. In the period from 500 BC to 500 AD, such tablets and the rituals associated with them were used from the Mediterranean region to far into northern Europe, for example to outdo opponents in a court case, competitors at the racecourse or competitors in love affairs. They were popular as an everyday phenomenon in both simple and educated circles. Around 1700 such curse tablets have already been found and new ones are still being added or are being newly deciphered.
Curse via text and ritual
Back then, if you wanted to eliminate an opponent or competitor with a curse, you wrote or scratched the appropriate curses on sheet lead. The lead tablets with the inscribed curses were then often deposited in graves or near sanctuaries, because it was assumed that the powers of the underworld were close at such special places. They should help the damaging spell to succeed. "Not only the binding spell in the respective formulations, but also the writing process itself, piercing the tablets or burying them in certain places are part of the cursing ritual," Michael Hölscher from the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Mainz.
The curse, known in science as “defixion”, was considered black magic in ancient times and was even forbidden in Roman law. However, that did not stop the people of that time from practicing cursing tablets and the rituals associated with them, as the numerous archaeological finds show. As part of the “Disenchanted Rituals” project, Hölscher is researching the influence the Curse Tablets even had on Christian writings such as the Book of Revelation. He examines the text of the last book in the New Testament of the Bible for hidden parallels to the Curse Tablets and their rituals. The work of the seer John was written in the first century AD and was intended for Christians on the west coast of Asia Minor.
Clear echoes in the Revelation of John
In fact, Hölscher found what he was looking for. "In the Book of Revelation we can see echoes of the inscriptions and practice of the Curse Tablets," reports the researcher. "We find linguistic formulations that were used in a very similar way on the curse tablets, even if there are no verbatim quotations." As an example, he cites the description of an angel throwing a stone into the sea with the words: "Just as this stone falls into the sea, Babylon too shall perish." This description can be read like a cursing ritual, explains the theologian. The people of that time would certainly have recognized these allusions to curse rituals.
“Anyone who read or heard the Revelation of St. John as an ancient person could associate whole passages of text or just individual terms or motifs with the binding magic,” says Hölscher, describing the influence of the curse tablets. According to the researcher, these references to pagan and magical practices helped reinforce the message of Revelation. Because she describes – dressed up in mythical figures – Roman rule and the imperial cult as demonic, satanic influences from which the Christian minority is supposed to distance itself.
Help with the demarcation of the early Christians
"This may have indirectly contributed to the demarcation and self-assurance of the early, often threatened Christians," says Hölscher. "The revelation supports the process of self-discovery, the effort to find an identity of the Christian minority in a Roman majority society in which homage is paid not only to the emperor but also to the great Roman gods." In the DFG research project "Disenchanted Rituals", Hölscher and his colleagues are still looking for further parallels between the New Testament and ancient curse tablets until 2025. From February 22nd to 24th, a workshop on “The scratched word: Curse tablets and the literature of the New Testament world” will take place at the University of Mainz.
Source: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz