Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World
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This welcome reprint in paperback format will make the study more widely available (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament )
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In the ancient Graeco-Roman world, it was a common practice to curse an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit. More than a thousand such texts, written between the fifth century BC and the fifth century AD, have been discovered in places ranging from North Africa to England, and from Syria to Spain. Until now, however, there has been no English translation of these tablets and indeed the texts themselves have remained virtually unknown. This volume makes these fascinating texts available for the first time. A substantial introduction supplies the full cultural, social, and historical context for the texts. The selected translations, arranged thematically, are fully annotated and accompanied by extensive commentary. Reflecting a wide range of social occasions, including lawsuits, love affairs, business competition, and horse-races, the tablets open a window into the hearts and minds of ordinary people, shedding light on a dimension of classical society in which historians today are increasingly interested.
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The city's two strongest rivals are the Goose . . . and the Tower. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The city's two strongest rivals are the Goose . . . and the Tower. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Latin is perhaps as robust a language as we've had in Europe - something you don't learn in school. Its closest descendant, Spanish, can have a sharp edge too, in the right circumstances. But what this book isn't is a list of abusive terms. It's far worse than that. It comes nearer to voodoo. If you don't have a strong stomach, or aren't used to this sort of material, don't read it, for it's likely to haunt you.
The practice of placing metal (usually lead, a symbol of death) was well known in ancient times. In Latin, it was defixio. The Greek equivalent is more familiar: anathema. If someone really wanted to vent hatred, a single phrase wasn't enough. A long list of evil wishes, dedicated to some spirit, would specify every possible harm the ill-wished person might suffer, including even impotence and infertility. They could run for paragraphs, to omit not a single detail of the suffering desired. A taste of this practice, shortened, is portrayed in one of the later episodes of the HBO/BBC DVD, Rome. This is not easy reading. If you want to explore some of the nastier recesses of some ancient minds, it's valuable. If you want easy, holiday reading, don't open it, for that's
what it's not - and not intended to be
The practice of placing metal (usually lead, a symbol of death) was well known in ancient times. In Latin, it was defixio. The Greek equivalent is more familiar: anathema. If someone really wanted to vent hatred, a single phrase wasn't enough. A long list of evil wishes, dedicated to some spirit, would specify every possible harm the ill-wished person might suffer, including even impotence and infertility. They could run for paragraphs, to omit not a single detail of the suffering desired. A taste of this practice, shortened, is portrayed in one of the later episodes of the HBO/BBC DVD, Rome. This is not easy reading. If you want to explore some of the nastier recesses of some ancient minds, it's valuable. If you want easy, holiday reading, don't open it, for that's
what it's not - and not intended to be
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Important contribution to classical studies
18 Mar 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In this work, Professor Gager provides a catalog of curse tablets and binding spells from Europe and the Middle East and some fairly impressive analysis of these finds. If you are looking for a systematic analysis of such finds, skip this work. If you are looking for source material and enough analysis to make it interesting, this is the book for you.
Gager divides these materials into a number of sub-categories such as those involving race-course competition, sex love or marriage, business competition, pleas for revenge and so forth, This functional breakdown makes the material easier to piece together and draw connections between the samples presented.
The one thing that could have made this work much better would be to include many more of the inscriptions in their original languages.
I would highly recommend this work to anyone interested in ancient magical practices or classical studies.
Gager divides these materials into a number of sub-categories such as those involving race-course competition, sex love or marriage, business competition, pleas for revenge and so forth, This functional breakdown makes the material easier to piece together and draw connections between the samples presented.
The one thing that could have made this work much better would be to include many more of the inscriptions in their original languages.
I would highly recommend this work to anyone interested in ancient magical practices or classical studies.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great
29 May 2010
Format:Paperback
This book not only provides many examples of ancient spells but also gives the necessary background information about culture, religion and society that is necessary to properly understand the spells. If you're already familiar with this you may want an edition that focuses on primary texts only. But if you're looking for a solid introduction then this is a great book.
Other related books I liked are The Life of Apollonius of Tyana and The Syrian Goddess: De Dea Syria.
Other related books I liked are The Life of Apollonius of Tyana and The Syrian Goddess: De Dea Syria.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Useful General Introduction; Poor Use of Original Materials
3 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
Although this book provides a useful general overview and introduction to the subject of "defixiones", the editor is extremely verbose, and makes very poor use of original materials (in my opinion). Over 150 tablets are discussed; however, transcriptions and/or graphic representations are given for only a few. All the tablets discussed are given in English translations, provided by a group of different scholars noted in the front of the book (however, the separate translations are not signed or credited to any particular individual). Footnotes call out unusual, difficult, or particularly interesting words. Many times I thought the most interesting material was in the footnotes; this means the book probably was not properly conceived, structured or edited. The notes are often supplemented by the editor's "personal correspondence" with other scholars who have personally seen and/or unearthed/discovered the tablets.
If I were editing such a book, I think the most useful arrangement would be: (1) a photograph or transcription of each tablet, accompanied by; (2) a transliteration (i.e., the original language, whether Greek, Latin, Hebrew, or Aramaic, put into English characters); (3) then a translation (or a translation side-by-side with the transliteration); (4) then commentary, analysis, and general pedantry. I would expect no less from a book published by Oxford University Press; this book reads more like it was published by a Random House or other non-academic publisher. It is difficult to tell what, if any, original scholarly work has been provided here, beyond a compilation of already-existing material (apparently with new English translations).
Also on the plus side, the book does have a very useful Bibliography, which can help point people who want to know more (or more advanced students) in the right direction.
If I were editing such a book, I think the most useful arrangement would be: (1) a photograph or transcription of each tablet, accompanied by; (2) a transliteration (i.e., the original language, whether Greek, Latin, Hebrew, or Aramaic, put into English characters); (3) then a translation (or a translation side-by-side with the transliteration); (4) then commentary, analysis, and general pedantry. I would expect no less from a book published by Oxford University Press; this book reads more like it was published by a Random House or other non-academic publisher. It is difficult to tell what, if any, original scholarly work has been provided here, beyond a compilation of already-existing material (apparently with new English translations).
Also on the plus side, the book does have a very useful Bibliography, which can help point people who want to know more (or more advanced students) in the right direction.
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