A “cursed” ancient Roman tablet, intended to invoke divine and demonic wrath upon one’s enemies, has been deciphered by researchers at Heidelberg University in Germany.

The magical lead tablet, originally discovered by Dutch archaeologists in the Netherlands, was crafted in the second century AD. Strangely, it is written in ancient Greek, although in an Egyptian style, rather than the Latin that would be expected for what was then a Roman province of Lower Germania.

Today, the excavation site within the city of Heerlen in the southeast of the Netherlands, near the German border, is home to the country’s largest ancient Roman ruins.

Curse Tablets

The object is not entirely unique, as it belongs to a category of curse tablets called katadesmoi in Greek and defixiones in Latin. The Greeks and Romans believed that cold, heavy iron was especially useful in binding supernatural entities, making it the go-to material for crafting such objects.

As this artifact’s material was both cold and heavy, it reminded ancient people of the bleak underworld. Additionally, lead is also easy to work with in practice, as it is both inexpensive and easy to inscribe.

These small tablets were typically inscribed with curses and then buried, with the intention of bringing misfortune upon rivals in matters of sport, law, or love.

At the time the tablet was created, Heerlen was a Roman military settlement known as Coriovallum. Dutch archaeologists unearthed the 9.3-by-4.8-centimeter katadesmos from a pit beneath the former town square.

Deciphering an Ancient Curse

Researchers at the University of Heidelberg’s Institute for Papyrology used reflectance transformation imaging, a technique that combines photographs taken under different lighting conditions to enhance subtle surface details. Their analysis revealed three distinct types of characters within the inscription.

The combination of Egyptian-style invocations of deities and demons written in ancient Greek is highly unusual for a region where Latin was the dominant written language. Also notable are three symbols known as “Characteres”—magical symbols believed to facilitate communication with supernatural entities—along with two male and two female names.

Dr. Rodney Ast, Academic Director of the Institute for Papyrology, suggests that these four individuals were either the targets of the curse or those on whose behalf it was created. However, Dr. Julia Lougovaya, a research associate at the institute, notes that the male names are Latin while the female names are Greek, a distinction that may hold additional significance.

“It cannot be ruled out that one of the two women was the author of the inscription and had brought the supposed ability to communicate with divine powers through such curses with her from Roman Egypt,” said Dr. Lougovaya.

Ancient Magical Practices

Magic played an important role in Egyptian society, where rituals aimed at healing and protection formed a visible part of religious life, while malicious spells were typically practiced more discreetly.

“In the early centuries A.D., Near Eastern, Egyptian, Jewish, and sometimes even Christian traditions increasingly merged and spread throughout the entire Roman Empire of that time – a development that the discovery from Heerlen impressively underscores,” explained Prof. Joachim Quack, Director of the Institute for Egyptology at Heidelberg University.

A forthcoming scholarly publication will provide the full transcription of the inscription and details of the analysis. The tablet is also scheduled to go on display at a museum in Heerlen in the future.

Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.

A small Greek island on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean has revealed a new species inside a man-made tunnel carved into a hillside.

During a survey of Kastellorizo in the Dodecanese, researchers found a previously unknown cave cricket inhabiting an artificial underground passage on Mount Vigla. The species, described in the Journal of Orthoptera Research, is part of the genus Dolichopoda. These cave-dwelling crickets occur throughout southern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, and often form distinct species when populations become isolated in separate underground habitats.

These cave-dwelling crickets  throughout southern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean and often form distinct species when populations become isolated in separate underground habitats.

The team named the species Dolichopoda balrogi after the Balrog, the ancient fire-demon who resided beneath the mountains in the Mines of Moria in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien’s story, the Balrog remained hidden underground until disturbed by the Dwarves.

An Island With No Caves

Kastellorizo covers about nine square kilometers, making it one of the smallest inhabited islands in Greece. The island is actually located closer to the Turkish coast than to the Greek mainland. The landscape also lacks any accessible natural caves. The only underground environment available for survey was a single man-made tunnel, which explains why the cricket remained undiscovered until now.

Morphological analysis of both male and female specimens showed that D. balrogi has a unique combination of physical features. The structure of the male epiphallus, the shape of the tenth tergite, and the form of the female ovipositor set it apart from other Dolichopoda species.

Molecular analysis confirmed this. DNA barcoding showed that the Kastellorizo population belongs to an evolutionary lineage alongside southwestern Anatolian Dolichopoda species, especially D. sbordonii and D. lycia. However, this is the first time an Anatolian Dolichopoda lineage has been documented within European territory.

A Biogeography Bridge

Kastellorizo’s location already makes it a unique case in the eastern Mediterranean. Although it is officially part of Greece, the island sits just a few kilometers from the Turkish mainland, and its plants and animals reflect this proximity. The discovery of D. balrogi fits this pattern since its closest relatives are not found on other Greek islands but along the coast of Anatolia.

This finding also adds to the evidence that Kastellorizo acts as a biogeographic bridge, hosting species with roots and connections that set them apart from the rest of the Aegean islands.

“These findings remind us that biodiversity discoveries are not limited to remote tropical forests or deep oceans,” added lead researcher Konstantinos Kalaentzis. “Even familiar landscapes and human-made structures can harbour species that have remained unnoticed.”

A Fragile Find

Cave-adapted organisms such as Dolichopoda crickets are particularly vulnerable. Their entire known range may extend only to a single tunnel, cave, or hillside. D. balrogi appears to only exist in this single man-made passage. Construction, flooding, or other disturbances to that habitat could eliminate the species before researchers fully understand it.

The authors note that documenting hidden subterranean fauna is a necessary first step toward protection, and that artificial underground environments should receive more attention as possible refuges for specialized cave-dwelling species.

The Greek islands are among the least studied archipelagos in the Mediterranean in terms of biodiversity. The discovery of a new species with Anatolian evolutionary roots in a single tunnel on a nine-square-kilometer island suggests that the region’s unexplored caves and crevices may harbor many more undiscovered species.

Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a data analytics certification. His work focuses on breaking scientific developments, with an emphasis on emerging biology, cognitive neuroscience, and archaeological discoveries.