Saturday, August 18, 2012

Hey, a real ancient inscribed lead tablet!

AT THE LINCOLNSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM: Unique Roman prayer tablet goes on display.

It's a "uterine phylactery," that is, a magical adjuration to protect a pregnant woman. It's made of lead; is tentatively dated to the fourth century C.E.; is inscribed, uniquely, in Latin; and it was excavated in 1994 at the Roman villa in West Deeping. It's not a codex, it's a tablet or scroll, and best of all it's not a fake.

Now you know what a real one looks like.

Cross-file under "Not a fake metal codex."