22 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Evil-Wisher Well: Ancient curse tablets 2,500-year-old found in a well in Athens

30 ancient curse tablets were found at the bottom of a 2500-year-old well in ancient Athens.

In 2020, Archaeologists from the German Archaeological Institute found 30 lead tablets engraved with curses on them at the bottom of a 2,500-year-old well in Athens‘ downtown neighborhood of Kerameikos (Ceramicus).

Discovered in the area of Kerameikos, ancient Athens’ main burial ground, the small tablets invoked the gods of the underworld in order to cause harm to others.

A total of thirty well-preserved curse tablets dating back to the Classical period ( (MÖ 480-323) were found in an ancient well which was originally discovered back in 2016, when other everyday objects—but not the tablets—were found. These curses were ritual texts, usually scratched on small lead objects.

The ancient Greeks were known to engrave curse tablets and place them to wells or graves in order to curse someone with whom they had major disagreements.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Before the discovery of the 30 specimens in the well, dozens of curses from the classical period had been found mainly in tombs of dead people who had died in an untimely manner and were therefore thought suitable to carry the spell to the underworld. One had also been found in another well. But there was good reason for the transition of ill-will from graves to wells in ancient Athens.

The rocky, muddy opening to the ancient well in Kerameikos, Athens where the curse tablets were found. Photo: Dr. Jutta Stroszeck – German Archaeological Institute

The tablets would be placed near tombs because they believed that the souls of the dead would carry these curses to the gods of the underworld.

The hexes were apparently in the well for a reason. According to Cicero (De Legibus II 66), Demetrios of Phaleron, who governed Athens from 317 to 307 B.C.E., passed legislation governing tomb administration. He also established a new magistrate’s office to ensure that the law was followed: et huic procurationi certum magistratum praefecerat.

To begin with, “black arts” were frowned upon in Athens, and with the new cemetery rule, hexes couldn’t just be placed in tombs, as had been the custom (35 had been found in the graves of Kerameikos, in previous excavations).

As a result, during the late fourth century B.C.E., ill-wishers had to discover alternative ways to communicate with the underworld gods. They appear to have devised the strategy of secretly hurling their curses into wells.

Love and Hate: This curse tablet was created against a newlywed woman named Glykera. The curse, which focuses on her vagina, was made by someone who envied the woman’s marriage. Photo: Dr. Jutta Stroszeck – German Archaeological Institute

Inside the well the archaeologists found a wealth of material, including drinking vessels (skyphoi), wine mixing vessels (krater), clay lamps, cooking pots, special broad-mouthed clay pots used to draw water (kadoi), wooden artifacts including a trinket box, a scraper used by potters, a wooden pulley, part of the drawing mechanism of the well) a number of bronze coins, as well as organic remains such as peach pits.

Since water, and especially drinking water, was sacred, it was believed that every well had a nymph to protect the water. And angering this nymph could have had dire consequences. Offerings like little containers carrying liquids and other gifts were thrown into the well to satisfy these emotionally unstable godlets.

Lead objects found at the bottom of the Kerameikos well dating back to the 5th century BC. Photo: Dr. Jutta Stroszeck – German Archaeological Institute

Kerameikos excavations

The well had not been investigated before to this, despite more than a century of excavations at Kerameikos. The archaeologist Kurt Gebauer and architect Heinz Johannes had previously worked on the area, but World War II put a stop to their efforts. None of the excavators made it through the war; Gebauer perished in an aircraft accident over Vienna in 1942, and Johannes was deployed to the Russian front and died there in 1945. Only recently were the excavations at the bathhouse resumed.

The excavations conducted by the German Archaeological Institute in the Kerameikos since 1913 unearthed about 6,500 burials.

Kerameikos archaeological site
Kerameikos cemetery.

The curse tablets were accidentally found in 2020 while archaeologists were investigating the supply of water to a 1st century BC bathhouse that was close to the well.

Cover Photo: Oval led “coffin” with a spell against Pytheas et al., ordered by Pytheas’ opponent in an Athenian law court (reading: W. Peek). Dr. Jutta Stroszeck / German Archaeological Institute.

Related Articles

From Bronze Age to Buddhism: Xinjiang’s Archaeological Journey Through Time and Recent Discoveries

4 March 2025

4 March 2025

Recent archaeological investigations in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have significantly enhanced our understanding of the area’s historical context and...

Ancient Roman Soldier’s Wrist Purse: A Unique Find in Former Enemy Territory

24 June 2025

24 June 2025

Archaeologists in South Moravia have unearthed a remarkable and historically significant artifact: a bronze fragment of a Roman soldier’s wrist...

The Famous Cueva de Ardales cave in Spain was used by ancient humans for over 50,000 years

8 June 2022

8 June 2022

Cueva de Ardales cave in Málaga, Spain,  famed for the extensive prehistoric art on its walls was excavated for the...

Saudi shipwreck excavation reveals hundreds of 18th-century artifacts on sunken ship in the north Red Sea

25 February 2022

25 February 2022

Divers from Saudi Arabia’s Heritage Authority have discovered a shipwreck in the Red Sea from the 18th century filled with...

Crusade period grave field and a sword discovered in Finland

15 October 2023

15 October 2023

A large cemetery from the time of the Crusades was discovered near a medieval stone church in Salo Perttel, a...

Scientists have developed a new tool that enables them to identify prehistoric and historic individuals’ relatives up to the sixth-degree

24 December 2023

24 December 2023

A new method of genetic analysis makes it possible to determine family relationships of prehistoric and historical individuals up to...

A rare 3,300-year-old wooden yoke found in northern Italy

30 October 2023

30 October 2023

After eight years of complex excavation, recovery, and restoration, a rare 3,300-year-old wooden yoke discovered in a Late Bronze Age...

Archaeologists Unearthed a 1000-year-old Medieval Game Collection in a Castle in Southern Germany

4 June 2024

4 June 2024

Archaeologists found a collection of medieval game pieces at a forgotten castle in southern Germany. Among the discoveries are a...

5,000-Year-Old Fortress Discovered in Romania Using LiDAR Technology

22 March 2025

22 March 2025

Archaeologists have unveiled a 5,000-year-old fortress hidden deep within the forests of Neamț County, Romania. This remarkable find, made possible...

Seven Roman altars multicolored in the Great Northern Museum

12 November 2021

12 November 2021

We know that the ancient world is now very colorful. But these colors weren’t just limited to robes and other...

A rare Saint George seal was found during excavations near Suzdal

27 June 2023

27 June 2023

The archaeological survey of the Suzdal Opole, initiated by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences more...

4,000-Year-Old Flint Arrow Lodged in Human Rib Reveals Direct Evidence of Prehistoric Violence

18 July 2025

18 July 2025

In a discovery shedding light on prehistoric human conflict, archaeologists have found a flint arrowhead embedded in a human rib...

6,000 years old Underwater Ruins Discovered off Cuba: A Lost City Older Than the Pyramids — Or Be a Geological Oddity?

10 August 2025

10 August 2025

Recently, a mysterious discovery has resurfaced on social media, reigniting debates and curiosity worldwide: the so-called “lost city” said to...

Metal Detectorist Finds on 4,000-year-old Dagger in Poland Forests

24 February 2024

24 February 2024

A copper dagger more than 4,000 years old was found in a forest near the town of Jarosław on the...

Researchers Discovered Wreckage of a Schooner that Sank in Lake Michigan in Late 1800s

27 July 2024

27 July 2024

Maritime historians from the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association discovered the wreckage of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in...