Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/10/mystery-magic-spells-etched-o.html
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I love this kind of thing.
One thing is’t clear in the article; if they are written in Aramaic using a Greek alphabet, why will they never be understood?
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Because they are mumbo-jumbo made up magic spell words, maybe?
Like explain how to translate abracadabra.
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It does bring to mind the Copper Scroll, which did after all refer to a silver scroll and a gold scroll…
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maybe it’s a curse, and when deciphered it brings on the end times. i mean, why not? it sounds like the beginning of “The Exorcist” or something.
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It’s clearly A Canticle for Leibowitz.
[edited for spelling]
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Well, translating abracadabra into French, you get: Am, stram, gram, pic et pic et colégram, bour et bour et ratatam, am, stram, gram.
It’s possible that the Aramaic version is even longer.
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Just finishing Lev Grossman’s 'The Magician King, this relic is like something right out of that novel). Also brings to mind the Babylonian ‘Ens’ and ‘Me’ from Snowcrash, though I realize the geography is off.
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I fireball the Demogorgon.
It is a green fireball.
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Quick, let’s blow them up. Oh, or smash them - or, at the very least, sell them into private collections so they’re never seen again.
/s
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That would be easy enough to figure out with context. They should have said, “this is an opportunity to expand out Aramaic vocabulary.”
I bet that’s what’s in Beschizza’s safe!
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Reminds me of the Orphic tablets.
They were used in the death rites of initiates to give them instructions for the afterlife (greetings for Persephone, how to retain their knowledge, how to find the waters of Mnemosyne, etc. )
http://www.templestudy.com/2011/04/07/authentic-ancient-metal-plates/
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It’s just a recipe for Jambalaya.
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[quote=“davide405, post:7, topic:83139, full:true”]
http://xkcd.com/593/[/quote]
This.
Or you could also replace the last panel with something along the lines of:
“I’m bored. Let’s carve some random mumbo jumbo onto some scrolls and then bury them to f*** with future generations.”
“Be sure to throw some demons in there–it’ll really freak them out.”
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It’s a shopping list of evil.
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Good deli food was likely hard to find back then.
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Etched gold scrolls? Drag a needle across them and see what they say.
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