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Phanagora was a known Athenian businesswoman [1] who owned and operated a local kapeleion (tavern) in Athens during the late 5th or early 4th century BCE. [2] In a grave pyre cache, archeologists discovered five lead curse tablets, including one which cursed the tavern operated by Phanagora. [3] The epigraph [4], addressed her with business partner, Demetrios, who may be related to her (i.e. husband, son, or brother) and dates to around 400-375 BCE. [5] The curse inscription begins with an invocation of " chthonic" Hekate, Artemis, and Hermes, followed by a line targeting Phanagora's property and possessions and seeking to ruin her life. Mentioning of the workplace may suggest that this curse tablet was written out of commercial rivalry or based upon distasteful tavern activities. [6] The writer binds Phanagora "in blood and ashes" which could be a reference to the Homeric epic, The Odyssey, and perhaps show a change from oral to written curse tradition because the old Attic and Ionic alphabets are interchanged. [7] The tablet also includes a line that may relate to festival cycles, that usually last 4 years, and suggests the curse won't loosen after that time period. [8] This single binding curse phrase is used in a similar capacity in other tablets found outside the Athenian Long Walls and demonstrates the importance of private cursing in the late 5th century BCE. [9]
The curse tablet cache was excavated in-situ outside the Athenian Long Walls, near classical Xypete; slightly northwest of the harbor port, Piraeus. [10] It was excavated in 2003 by former ΚΣΤ’ Ephorate for Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities in rescue excavations and studied by Yale's Department of Classics and American School of Classic Studies at Athens. The assemblage is stored at Piraeus Archeological Museum. [11]
- ^ On Athenian businesswomen: Cohen 2016, 714-725.
- ^ Lamont 2015, 159.
- ^ Lamont 2021. For complete assemblage images, visit Lamont 2021, as well as associated commentary.
- ^ MII 11948. For a photograph or drawing of tablet (MII 11948), see Lamont 2021, 81.
- ^ Lamont 2021. For information on tablet dating, see Lamont 2021, 79.
- ^ Lamont 2015; Lamont 2021. For kapeleion (tavern) activities, see Lamont 2015, 170.
- ^ For differences and discussion on old Attic and Ionic alphabets visit, Lamont 2021, 79-80.
- ^ Lamont 2021; Lamont and Boundouraki 2018. For festival examples, visit Lamont 2021, 100, with associated discussion.
- ^ Lamont 2021, 76.
- ^ For a map of cache location, see Lamont 2015, 160.
- ^ Lamont 2021, 76-78.
- Cohen, Edward. “The Athenian businesswomen.” In Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World, edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin and Jean Macintosh Turfa, 714-725. London: Routledge, 2016.
- Lamont, Jessica. “A New Commercial Curse Tablet from Classical Athens.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 196 (2015): 159-174.
- Lamont, Jessica. “Crafting Curses in Classical Athens: A New Cache of Hexametric Katadesmoi.” Classical Antiquity 40, no. 1 (2021): 76-117.
- Lamont, Jessica and Georgia Boundouraki. “Of curses and cults: private and public ritual in Classical Xypete.” In Popular Religion and Ritual in Prehistoric and Ancient Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Giorgos Vavouranakis, Konstantinos Kopanias, and Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos, 125-136. Archaeopress, 2018.
| This is the sandbox page where you will draft your initial Wikipedia contribution.
If you're starting a new article, you can develop it here until it's ready to go live. If you're working on improvements to an existing article, copy only one section at a time of the article to this sandbox to work on, and be sure to use an edit summary linking to the article you copied from. Do not copy over the entire article. You can find additional instructions here. Remember to save your work regularly using the "Publish page" button. (It just means 'save'; it will still be in the sandbox.) You can add bold formatting to your additions to differentiate them from existing content. |
Phanagora was a known Athenian businesswoman [1] who owned and operated a local kapeleion (tavern) in Athens during the late 5th or early 4th century BCE. [2] In a grave pyre cache, archeologists discovered five lead curse tablets, including one which cursed the tavern operated by Phanagora. [3] The epigraph [4], addressed her with business partner, Demetrios, who may be related to her (i.e. husband, son, or brother) and dates to around 400-375 BCE. [5] The curse inscription begins with an invocation of " chthonic" Hekate, Artemis, and Hermes, followed by a line targeting Phanagora's property and possessions and seeking to ruin her life. Mentioning of the workplace may suggest that this curse tablet was written out of commercial rivalry or based upon distasteful tavern activities. [6] The writer binds Phanagora "in blood and ashes" which could be a reference to the Homeric epic, The Odyssey, and perhaps show a change from oral to written curse tradition because the old Attic and Ionic alphabets are interchanged. [7] The tablet also includes a line that may relate to festival cycles, that usually last 4 years, and suggests the curse won't loosen after that time period. [8] This single binding curse phrase is used in a similar capacity in other tablets found outside the Athenian Long Walls and demonstrates the importance of private cursing in the late 5th century BCE. [9]
The curse tablet cache was excavated in-situ outside the Athenian Long Walls, near classical Xypete; slightly northwest of the harbor port, Piraeus. [10] It was excavated in 2003 by former ΚΣΤ’ Ephorate for Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities in rescue excavations and studied by Yale's Department of Classics and American School of Classic Studies at Athens. The assemblage is stored at Piraeus Archeological Museum. [11]
- ^ On Athenian businesswomen: Cohen 2016, 714-725.
- ^ Lamont 2015, 159.
- ^ Lamont 2021. For complete assemblage images, visit Lamont 2021, as well as associated commentary.
- ^ MII 11948. For a photograph or drawing of tablet (MII 11948), see Lamont 2021, 81.
- ^ Lamont 2021. For information on tablet dating, see Lamont 2021, 79.
- ^ Lamont 2015; Lamont 2021. For kapeleion (tavern) activities, see Lamont 2015, 170.
- ^ For differences and discussion on old Attic and Ionic alphabets visit, Lamont 2021, 79-80.
- ^ Lamont 2021; Lamont and Boundouraki 2018. For festival examples, visit Lamont 2021, 100, with associated discussion.
- ^ Lamont 2021, 76.
- ^ For a map of cache location, see Lamont 2015, 160.
- ^ Lamont 2021, 76-78.
- Cohen, Edward. “The Athenian businesswomen.” In Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World, edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin and Jean Macintosh Turfa, 714-725. London: Routledge, 2016.
- Lamont, Jessica. “A New Commercial Curse Tablet from Classical Athens.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 196 (2015): 159-174.
- Lamont, Jessica. “Crafting Curses in Classical Athens: A New Cache of Hexametric Katadesmoi.” Classical Antiquity 40, no. 1 (2021): 76-117.
- Lamont, Jessica and Georgia Boundouraki. “Of curses and cults: private and public ritual in Classical Xypete.” In Popular Religion and Ritual in Prehistoric and Ancient Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Giorgos Vavouranakis, Konstantinos Kopanias, and Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos, 125-136. Archaeopress, 2018.