Pella curse tablet

The Pella curse tablet is a text written in a distinct <a href="/facts/Doric_Greek/QeIeRA9C">Doric Greek</a> idiom, found in <a href="/facts/Pella/xdak9cAr">Pella</a>, the ancient capital of <a href="/facts/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom)/g0F1DEgc">Macedon</a>, in 1986. Ιt contains a <a href="/facts/Curse/VhHCHBXj">curse</a> or magic spell (<a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_language/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a>: κατάδεσμος, <a href="/facts/Katadesmos/3RPqjRdw">katadesmos</a>) inscribed on a <a href="/facts/Lead/EYljasJN">lead</a> <a href="/facts/Scroll/dcCV0rNQ">scroll</a>, dated to the first half of the 4th century BC (c. 380–350 BC). It is held in the <a href="/facts/Archaeological_Museum_of_Pella/U9adjXTH">Archaeological Museum of Pella</a>. It was published in the Hellenic Dialectology Journal in 1993. The Pella curse tablet exhibits some of the typical Northwest Greek features, as well as a cluster of unique Doric features that do not appear in other subdialects of this family (e.g. <a href="/facts/Epirote_Greek/V3JYycFf">Epirote</a>, <a href="/facts/Locrian_Greek/Yxd1pubu">Locrian</a>). It represents the same or a very similar vernacular dialect that is also attested in the other Doric inscriptions from Macedonia. This indicates that a Doric Greek dialect was not imported, but proper to Macedon. As a result, the Pella curse tablet has been forwarded as an argument that the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Macedonian_language/724e1XxN">Ancient Macedonian language</a> was a dialect of <a href="/facts/Northwest_Greek/QeIeRA9C">Northwest Greek</a>, and one of the Doric dialects.
The spell was written by a woman, possibly named Dagina or Phila. It was intended to prevent the marriage of her love interest, Dionysophon, with Thetima, and secure that Dionysophon would marry and live a happy life with her instead. The spell was entrusted to the corpse of a deceased man, named Macron.

Pella curse tablet open-in-new

Pella curse tablet