Carved Words | Publication of the 2023 Conference Papers

Inscribed words had a special effect in antiquity. The texts on curse tablets (defixiones) were mainly written on thin lead tablets with a pointed stylus. The act of writing had a symbolic meaning, which could be further emphasized by additional ritual manipulations such as folding, rolling, or piercing. Such manipulations in the craft of writing pervaded not only curse tablets but much of the literature of the New Testament world.

The Mainz conference “Das geritzte Wort. Fluchtafeln und die Literatur der neutestamentlichen Welt. Oder: Von Texten in Dingen und Dingen in Texten” explored this topic in February, 2023 (you can find the programme here). Selected papers from the conference have now been published in the journal Archiv für Religionsgeschichte, vol. 26 (2024).

Survey of Contents

Michael Hölscher, Introduction [to the section „Carved Words: Material Aspects of Curse Tablets and the Literature of the New Testament World“], in: ARelG 26 (2024) 147–149. https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2024-0006

Anja Klöckner/Mareike Chudaska, Defixiones in sepulkralen Kontexten. Zur Materialität und Temporalität von Deponierungen in Gräbern, in: ARelG 26 (2024) 151–173. https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2024-0007

Annemarie Ambühl, „Eros hat mir ins Herz geritzt“. Reflexe der Materialität von Fluchtafeln im hellenistischen Liebesepigramm, in: ARelG 26 (2024) 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2024-0008

Michael Hölscher, Haptic Storytelling. Body Markings and Destroyed Bodies in the Book of Revelation through the Lens of Amulets and Curse Tablets, in: ARelG 26 (2024) 197–221. https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2024-0009  

Jürgen Blänsdorf, „Verkehrt sollst du leben, so wie dies verkehrt geschrieben ist.“ Manipuliertes Schreiben als Medium und Analogie der Verfluchung, in: ARelG 26 (2024) 223–234. https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2024-0010

Martin Pennitz, Qui sacra impia nocturnave, ut quem obcantarent defigerent obligarent, fecerint … Zu Motiv und Funktion von Fluchtafeln gegen Diebe aus Sicht des römischen Rechts, in: ARelG 26 (2024) 235–257. https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2024-0011

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