|
 "The alphabet is Greek, that much we know. The language is
Aramaic – it's a Middle Eastern mystery to us," Miomir Korac,
chief archaeologist at the site in eastern Serbia, told Reuters.
The skeletons were found at the foot of a massive coal-fired
power station where searches are being carried out before
another unit of the electricity plant is built on the site of an
ancient Roman city.
Last week, after carefully brushing away soil from the bones,
Korac's team found two amulets made of lead that, when opened,
were each found to rolls of precious metal - silver and gold -
covered in symbols and writing.
They believe the inscriptions are magic spells, taken to the
grave to invoke divine powers to perform good or evil.
"We read the names of a few demons, that are connected to the
territory of modern-day Syria," archaeologist Ilija Dankovic
said at the dig, as more skeletons from the 4th century A.D.
were being uncovered.
The fragile, golden and silver scrolls - which once unrolled
look like rectangles of foil similar in size to a sweet wrapper
- may never be fully understood.
[to top of second column] |
They are the first such items discovered in Serbia but resemble
amulets of "binding magic" found in other countries, Dankovic said.
"They were often love charms, ordering someone to fall in love, but
there were also dark, malignant curses, to the tune of: ‘may your
body turn dead, as cold and heavy as this lead,’" he said.
Magic charms tended to be buried with dead children or adults who
had suffered a violent death, Dankovic said, because of a belief
that "souls of such people took longer to find rest and had a better
chance of finding demons and deities and pass the wishes to them so
they could do their magic."
(Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
