Expectations: Horror/Fantasy vs. Reality

[dragoness_e]

Imagine you were a character in a fantasy or horror novel or RPG and you found this mysterious stone:



..engraved with ancient script, strange monsters, altars, and mysterious symbols. You would suspect that the ancient text might be dark rituals to summon the monsters, or a cryptic warning against some demonic horror.

In actuality, the stone is a kudurru or boundary stone from ancient Mesopotamia. It's a real estate charter, detailing surveyed farm land granted to someone, with all the witnesses and officials involved. The monsters and altars? They represent the gods and demons who are invoked to curse anyone who moves or hides the boundary stone, tries to appropriate the land, or deny the rights of the legal owners.

1. Legal contracts in those days were a lot more interesting.
2. Most ancient writings are pretty mundane.

Comments

[lunatron.livejournal.com]

Some Greek pots, which were pretty cheap and mass-produced, will say things like 'a curse on he who steals me from my owner'.