Small lead tablets inscribed primarily in Greek or Latin with private curses against rivals or wrongdoers reveal a darker side of ancient life that is often hidden from us in our sources for ancient history. This project aimed at a more intensive and contextualized study of these texts found throughout the Mediterranean basin and beyond. In the past these texts have generally been studied as a unified epigraphic corpus with little emphasis on the local context of their deposit in tombs, sanctuaries, and bodies of water, or on the local features of dialect and paleography. Recently excavated hoards from Greece, Italy, and Roman Germany allow us new opportunities to study these curses as material objects in their specific archeological and historical contexts. This project required a combination of technical skills: restoration, imaging, paleography, archaeology, and historical and religious studies. A series of four international conferences provided a platform for discussing and generating new editions of texts and collected volumes of essays focused on important aspects never considered in the past.
Edward Olson Professor of Classics in the Department of Classics and the College
University of Chicago
Honorary Professor of Ancient Religions
University of Erfurt
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Zaragoza
Professor of Classics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
University of Chicago
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Reading list for the Curses in Context research project at the Neubauer Collegium
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Reading list for the Curses in Context research project at the Neubauer Collegium
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