Bronze tablet, second century, 8 × 13.4 cm, found at Avignon, France
A small number of spells for protecting various kinds of prepared ground – like orchards, vineyards or fields – against extreme weather conditions are preserved. The artefact introduced here is a small bronze tablet which was found in Avignon, France. It has the shape of a tabula ansata but only the left ansata is preserved and inscribed with a single magic sign.
The short text comprises words we do not immediately understand today, like “Thôsouderkyô” and “Noumixonthei”. On first sight these could be interpreted as words of power or as divine names which would be typical for ancient Greek magic, but Roy Kotansky found a different explanation for the first one. He writes:
“The corrupt and damaged reading of the Avignon tablet is just close enough to the reading and sequence of Il. 5.89f. (…) to suggest a direct citation that had become corrupted by repeated transmission and misunderstanding of the original verse:
For he stormed across the plain like unto a winter torrent at the full, that with its swift flood sweeps away the embankments; this the close-fenced embankments hold not back, [90] neither do the walls of the fruitful vineyards stay its sudden coming when the rain of Zeus driveth it on (…)
The verse on the amulet, now merely a conflated magical incantation, would have originally stood in a magic formulary as an apotropaic prayer to be written or uttered with the whole text. The rationale of citing this verse – the invocation of a condition dissimilar to that actually desired – represents a magical practice well-documented in the ancient world.”
The use of Homeric verses is well attested in the Greek magical papyri,. The most extensive and powerfull applications are detaild in the Greek ritual manual PGM IV.
Become a patron for more infographics, research and videos: https://www.patreon.com/ancientmagic