They unearth a “cursed vessel” used for witchcraft in ancient Greece

A curious discovery has revealed new evidence of how the citizens of Athens they used magic to harm their enemies. A team of archaeologists found a 2300 year old ceramic pot which contained the bones of a dismembered chicken that was probably part of an ancient curse to cripple and kill 55 people in ancient Greece.

In 2006, scientists discovered the container under the floor of a building used by the ancient craftsmen of the Agora. And today, a group of specialists analyzed and deciphered the curse. “The container contained the dismembered head and lower limbs of a young chicken,” he said. Jessica lamont, professor of Yale University, in an article published in the magazine Skipper.

The Agora of Athens was the center of the city’s political, administrative, commercial and social activity. It was a large rectangular space, open and surrounded by various public buildings. Under one of these constructions, archaeologists found the particular vessel dating from 300 BC

Experts believed that those responsible for executing the curse used a big iron nail pass through the container. “The entire outer surface of the ship is covered with more than 55 names, of which dozens survive only as scattered letters or light strokes of the stylus. In addition, nails were used in ancient curses because they symbolically immobilized or restricted the faculties of the victims of the curse, ”Lamont described.

According to the author of the investigation, the chicken was no more than seven months old when it was killed, and it is possible that the people who created the curse wanted transfer “the helplessness and inability of the animal to protect itself” to the persons whose names are written on the container.

The presence of the different limbs of the bird suggests that “by twisting and piercing the head and the lower part of the legs of the chicken, the authors of the curse they intended to neutralize the use of these same parts of the body in their victims ”.

The ship was placed near several burnt pyres which contained animal remains, what experts considered may have potentiated the power of the curse. “The ritual set belongs to the kingdom of Athenian curses and was intended to ‘bind’ or inhibit the physical and cognitive faculties of the named individuals,” Lamont acknowledged.

Archaeologists analyzed the style of writing on the container and concluded that at least two people wrote the names. “It was certainly done by people with a good knowledge of how to cast a powerful curse,” Lamont said.

While experts aren’t sure why they bothered to create such an elaborate spell, they felt it could be related to a court case. “The large number of names suggests that the most likely scenario was a trial run. Those who wrote the names of the curse could have cited every opponent imaginable in them, including witnesses and families of the accused, ”said the researcher.

The discovery of the ship under the floor of the building used by the craftsmen suggested to archaeologists that the lawsuit could be related to a labor dispute. “The curse could have been created by the same artisans who worked in the industrial complex, perhaps at the start of a lawsuit corresponding to a trade dispute,” Lamont said.

Another possibility that experts speculated on was that the curse was linked to the fighting in Athens around 2,300 years ago. After the death of Alexander The Great In 323 BC, his empire collapsed and its generals and officials fought for power. Historical records show that various factions fought for control of Athens at that time. “It was a time full of wars, sieges and unstable political alliances,” said the professor.

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