A Defixio?

The Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet

History V

[Post eleven of thirty-two]

What landed in Snyder’s tray, she identified as a defixio, an ancient curse tablet.¹

Note

This is the eleventh post of my memorandum on the Curse Table.

If you have accessed this post from other than captivatingtwists.com and wish to start the journey from the beginning, click here.

Otherwise, continue below.In Snyder’s analysis, Stripling and many of their experienced associates concurred. Why? These they had often seen. From the Greco-Roman world, they are common archaeological finds. 2

Still, they also recognized the irony. This they had found on Deuteronomy’s “Mountain of Curses!”

Stripling also understood that a defixio posed a problem. Zertal had dated the altar site from 1400 to 1250 B.C. He concluded this from careful pottery analysis. 3 But Stripling knew that defixios dated to the Greek and Roman eras. That is primarily the fourth century B.C. onward. A defixio seemed inappropriate by around a millennium.4

He, however, was aware of a possible precedent.

The Book of Job speaks of Job’s desire to write on lead with an iron pen (Job 19:24).

many

Many scholars consider that book the oldest biblical text. One reason is that it does not allude to the Law of Moses. 2

The defixio concept could have come from that or a similar ancient tradition. 2

Will new clues give insights? Find out in my next post.

Now, here are some questions. What was your earliest encounter with the idea of a defixio? What was the context?

Let me know below in the comments.

Thank you for engaging with this topic thus far!

The next post, the sixth in our review of the Curse Tablet’s history, is: “An Inscription!”

I look forward to continuing with you there.

If you appreciate this type of analysis, please “subscribe”, “like”, and “share”.

To support this work, you can donate below. If so, thank you for the encouragement.

Next post: “An Inscription!“

1. Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/ current-events-list/, Youtube, (06:24), March 24, 2022. ↩︎
2. Sean McDowell, Oldest Hebrew Writing? Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet (Revisited) m.youtube.com>watch, (42:34-43:44), 11 May 2023; and
   Associates for Biblical Research, “ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found”, biblicarchaeology.org/current-events-list/, Youtube, (11:40; 19:25), March 24, 2022. ↩︎
3. Ariel David, “New Studies Debunk Controversial Biblical ‘Curse Tablet” from Mt. Ebal”, haaretz.com, paragraph 4, November 30, 2023 ↩︎
4. Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (28:30) 1 November 2024. ↩︎
5. Breaking News “Mount Ebal Curse Tablet Peer Review Complete”, Appian Media In Roads, May 12, 2023 (!0:30) ↩︎
6. Associates for Biblical Research, YaHWeh Curse Tablet: A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5njOpRCHQ&t=85s, (28:56) 1 November 2024. ↩︎