5 November 2024 The Future is the Product of the Past

1700-Year-Old ‘Cursed’ Sarcophagus on Display in Amasya Museum

Expressions made of Greek letters were encountered in the Roman sarcophagus found in the rescue excavation carried out by the Amasya Museum officials in 1994 in the Aktarla village of Merzifon district.

In the sarcophagus made of limestone in researches “May those who approach (this sacred place of final rest) with malicious intent, try to take over this grave or commit other evils, walk on this Earth as accursed beings – unable to traverse land or penetrate seas. Let them not see any benefit from their children, and especially not from their spouses, let their livelihoods reduce (to dust and splinters)” It was determined that he wrote.

The director of the Amasya Museum Celal Özdemir told Demirören News Agency (DHA) that the owner probably built the sarcophagus and inscribed a curse on it to prevent the ancient tomb from being robbed.

Özdemir said that the owner of the tomb most likely ordered its creation before he died and then had this curse written on it in hopes that it would deter grave robbers and treasure hunters from stealing the contents and destroying the sarcophagus.

Amasya museum
This is the ancient curse written on a 1,700-year-old sarcophagus that has been on display at the Amasya Museum in Turkey’s Black Sea region for over two decades. Photo: DHA

“All these warnings were to prevent the grave from being robbed, stealing the gifts of the dead, and from damaging the grave,” he said, adding that despite the curses and warnings, all the jewelry and valuable items buried with the family has been stolen.

Özdemir said there was a relief of the profiles of the grave owner and his wife outside the grave and four skeletons, two of the parents and two of the children, were found inside.

The mysterious sarcophagus is among the most precious works of the Amasya Museum where it is exhibited.

Cover Photo: DHA

Related Articles

Roman Canal and Road Uncovered in The Netherlands near UNESCO heritage sites

30 July 2021

30 July 2021

Dutch archaeologists that a canal and gravel road thought to have been built and used by the Roman military have...

Aldi construction uncovered Roman mosaic in UK

18 March 2023

18 March 2023

A team of Oxford Archaeology archaeologists discovered a Roman mosaic in the market town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. Ahead of...

Archaeologists may have found the Sanctuary of Samian Poseidon described in ancient texts

11 October 2022

11 October 2022

During excavations in the foothills at the ancient acropolis of Samicum in Greece, archaeologists may have found the sanctuary of...

In Parion, one of the most important cities of the Troas region, 2,000-year-old mother-child graves were unearthed

1 November 2022

1 November 2022

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Parion, the most important harbor city in the Hellenistic era, have uncovered  2,000-year-old...

Women in Anatolia from the Prehistoric Age to the Iron Age

19 March 2022

19 March 2022

Throughout the history of Anatolia: a woman appears as a goddess with creative and productive powers, as a ruling monarch,...

10,000-year-old Settlement Discovered in Turkey’s Şanlıurfa

25 June 2021

25 June 2021

A Neolithic settlement was discovered in the garden of a house in the Sayburç Neighborhood of Şanlıurfa’s Karaköprü district. News...

The Hittites Celebrated The Arrival of Spring With The Purilli Feast

23 March 2021

23 March 2021

Man is a being that lives in touch with nature. Spring is a season in which abundance gives many meanings...

3500-year-old grape seed remains found in western Anatolia

12 September 2023

12 September 2023

Archaeologists at the Aşağıseyit Höyük (Aşağıseyit Mound) site in western Anatolia’s Denizli have uncovered a 3,500-year-old grape seed. Aşağıseyi Höyük...

The first time in Anatolia, a legionnaires’ cemetery belonging to the Roman Empire unearthed

18 November 2022

18 November 2022

In the ancient city of Satala, in the Kelkit district of Gümüşhane in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey,...

The First Evidence of Match-Fixing Found in the Ancient World

23 February 2021

23 February 2021

There are hundreds of things that are old in our world, one of them is people’s passion to win. Where...

Torrential Rain Reveal 2500-Year-old Small Bull Statue

19 March 2021

19 March 2021

After heavy rains near the ancient Olympia site, a bronze bull statue of a bull believed to be at least...

Göbeklitepe Monolith will be Exhibited in the United Nations

15 May 2021

15 May 2021

A copy of one of the famous ruins of Göbeklitepe, known as the oldest temple in the world, will be...

Found in Spain a poem by Virgil engraved in a Roman amphora

22 June 2023

22 June 2023

Archaeologists have deciphered a verse by Virgil, the greatest poet of Rome’s Golden Age, carved into the clay of a...

The latest discovery at the villa Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii, the remains of a slave room

7 November 2021

7 November 2021

Ella IDE Pompeii archaeologists announced Saturday the discovery of the remnants of a “slave room” in an exceedingly unusual find...

In Cyprus, an important early Christian site has been discovered

12 September 2021

12 September 2021

An important Christian settlement was discovered with mosaics bearing clear inscriptions in Greek during the excavations carried out by the...