Classical and Hellenistic Curse Tablets from the Athenian Agora

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This article publishes 25 lead tablets recovered during systematic excavations of the Athenian Agora, 24 of which were inscribed with curses. All objects date from the 4th century b.c. and emerged in three discrete contexts: beneath the Tholos, in the southern Industrial District, and in the well beside the so-called Crossroads Enclosure. These tablets expand and complicate our understanding of Athenian curse-writing rituals during the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic periods, while shedding new light on onomastics, prosopography, ritual space, and social history in 4th-century Athens.