A rare, potent object from special collections offers students a glimpse into ancient practices

  • Sheet of lead with ten inscribed lines of ancient Greek script
January 22, 2025

A rare object in Yale Library’s special collections—a thin, lead sheet inscribed with lines of Doric Greek script, known as a “curse tablet”—offers a glimpse into a dispute between four men in southern Sicily that took place circa 450 BCE.

Yale faculty member Jessica Lamont, assistant professor of Classics and History, brings the quarrel to life by featuring the object in her classical antiquity classes. 

Lamont is one of a growing number of faculty members who feature materials from Yale Library’s special collections in their curricula and classrooms to engage students in exploring material culture and history.

Read Lisa Prevost’s article  in “Yale News”—“Hex files: ‘Curse‘ tablet recalls an ancient mode of score-settling”—about Lamont and her work with the ancient tablet.

Read more about teaching with special collections and the Beinecke Education Program.

Faculty members who are interested in arranging a single class, a series of sessions, or a collection-intensive course in special collections can learn more in the Guide for Instructors.

Proposals for the Spring 2026 collections-intensive courses are due Feb. 4.

In 2024, all sessions of Marissa Bass’s History of Art graduate seminar “The Mind of the Book” met in Beinecke Library. Read students’ posts about their research.

Image: “Curse tablet,” Sicily, ca. 450 BCE. Photo by Deon Griffin

—Deborah Cannarella