Baelo Claudia Curse Tablet

Made from real lead

This piece is a reproduction of a Roman defixio dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, found in Baelo Claudia (Cádiz).

Defixiones were lead tablets used in magical rituals to request the intervention of a deity in matters of justice, love, or revenge.

• Historical reproduction inspired by an authentic Roman curse tablet found in Baelo Claudia (Cádiz).
• The piece is dated between 100 and 200 AD.
• Based on a real petition addressed to the goddess Isis.
• Includes an explanatory and descriptive sheet.
• Approximate measurements: 13 × 5 cm.
• Collector's item made to order.

A petition for justice etched in lead

ISIS MVRIONIMA / TIBI CONMENDO / FURTV(M) MEV(M)...

Almost two thousand years ago, someone was the victim of a robbery in the Roman city of Baelo Claudia.

We don't know their name. Nor do we know who committed the theft. But we do know what disappeared: a white blanket, a new cover, and two personal bedspreads.

Unable to identify the culprit, that person turned to one of the most powerful deities of the Roman world: Isis Myrionima, "the one of a thousand names."

They inscribed their plea on a lead sheet and placed it near the goddess's sanctuary.

Their petition read:

"Isis Murionima, I entrust to you the theft of which I am a victim. Perform for me exemplary acts in accordance with your unassailable divinity and your majesty. See to it that you take the life, in the sight of all, of whoever did this, of whoever took from me a white bed blanket, a new cover, and two bedspreads for my own use. I beg you, oh my sovereign, to punish this theft."

Today, almost two thousand years later, those words are still preserved as one of the most fascinating testimonies of the beliefs, hopes, and fears of Roman Hispania.

Why Isis?

The cult of Isis came from Egypt and spread throughout the Roman Empire. In Baelo Claudia, it had an important sanctuary, where its followers came seeking protection, help, and justice.

This tablet allows us to glimpse an extraordinarily human moment: the instant when an ordinary person, desperate after suffering a robbery, placed their destiny in the hands of a goddess.

📌 Replica made by Marco Almansa Fernández, from the Cultural and Historical Reenactment Association Mos Religiosvs.