A medieval “curse tablet” seeking to sic Satan on two people has been found in the German city of Rostock.
The tablet was first believed to be an “inconspicuous piece of metal,” according to a December report on the website LiveScience, citing a translated statement.
The tablet was found at the bottom of what was a medieval latrine unearthed at a construction site, according to the magazine Archaeology News.
The message on the tablet was etched in Gothic writing that was barely visible without having the letters blown up.
Ancient “curse tablet” targeting unlucky pair unearthed by archaeologists in Germany https://t.co/kWTqBIIWOF pic.twitter.com/zKIeG0x69p
— CBS Sacramento (@CBSSacramento) December 18, 2023
The letters spelled out a single, ominous, five-word phrase.
Researchers interpreted the text as a curse upon a woman named Taleke and a man named Hinrik, or Heinrich, calling upon Beelzebub, which is another name for Satan, and a demonic spirit called Berith.
“Did someone want to break up Taleke and Heinrich’s relationship? Was this about spurned love and jealousy, should someone be put out of the way?” researchers asked in the news release, according to LiveScience.
Should the item be destroyed?
Curse tablets were stashed “where they were difficult or impossible to find” so “the cursed ones shouldn’t find out about the impending disaster” and the “damaging magic could therefore unfold in peace,” according to CBS, citing the German-language news release about the find.
Jörg Ansorge, who led the excavation project, said the tablet was “truly a very special find.”
He said previous curse tablets were linked with much older cultures.
“Curse tablets are actually known from ancient times in the Greek and Roman regions, i.e. from the period from 800 B.C. to 600 A.D.,” Ansorge said, according to CBS.
“Our discovery, on the other hand, can be dated to the 15th century,” he said.
A 1,500-year-old curse found in an ancient theater in Israel contained a Greek curse on a rival dancer.
Some 2,400-year-old tablets found in Athens directed the gods of the underworld to hurt some tavern keepers.
According to Archaeology News, the calligraphy used in the curse dates from between the 12th and 17th centuries.
The remains of a 14th-century house and foundations from the 16th and 17th centuries were also found at the site where the tablet was discovered.
