If you think politicians have it tough today, spare a thought for officials in the ancient world.
For a newly deciphered stone tablet reveals that 3,300 years ago the governor of Jerusalem was the target of a terrifying curse.
His mortal enemy is believed to have used “black magic” in engraving an inscription of chilling simplicity.
The script reads: “Cursed, cursed, you will surely die / Cursed, cursed, you will surely die / Governor of the city, you will surely die / Cursed, you will surely die / Cursed, you will surely die.”
The tablet dates back to the late Bronze Age and may be among the earliest inscriptions found in the City of David.
Alongside the inscription, it is peppered with holes, believed to have been placed so the curse could escape once it was activated by the tablet being smashed.
It was found in 2010 by archaeologist Eli Shukron in the compound of the Pillar Temple near the Gihon Spring at an excavation in which a temple and a pillar were also unearthed.
But only now has the tablet been deciphered, by Professor Gershon Galil, Head of the Institute for Biblical Studies and Ancient History in Israel.
He believes the inscription is a curse prepared against the city’s governor by his opponents.
Prof Galil told the JC: “References to curses have been seen in the Bible, in the stories of King Solomon and Job. We didn’t fully appreciate how curses were so mainstream.
“Thanks to this find, we now realise that we have a clear definite understanding of how voodoo and black magic was used during the Canaanite era.”
Galil says that this find was particularly interesting as ten holes were drilled into it, not visible from the other side and formatted in the shape of a head-like figure. “We know this kind of black magic has been used before in 2,000 BCE, even the Egyptians had similar acts.”
He explained: “If you wanted to curse one of your enemies, they would go to a witch or magician and tell them you wanted to curse someone. They created a jar where the clay was still wet.
“They put a curse inside it and let the jar dry in the sun and oven. They drilled in curse holes.
“They smashed the jars to activate the curse.”
The ancient Proto-Canaanite script, which is similar to the Proto-Sinaitic script (Photo by Gershon Galil)
The governor was the most senior official of the King of Jerusalem at the time. The inscription indicates a conflict that probably broke out between these officials.
Disagreements between the governor and the city residents appear in a few places in the Bible, for example in the story of Abimelech in Judges.
The inscription consists of 63 letters in the ancient Proto-Canaanite script, which is similar to the Proto-Sinaitic script.
According to Eli Shukron, who led the excavation: “Additional data unearthed in this area indicate that the mighty fortifications near Gihon existed continuously until the 8th century BCE, and testify to the strength and resilience of Canaanite and Israelite Jerusalem, in the Middle/Late Bronze age, as well as in the 10th century, after King David turned the city into the capital of the Israeli Great Empire.
“In the days of David and Solomon there was a fortified city which included walls eight metres high and 3.5 metres wide.”
