The Petelia Tablet, Greek, c.300-200 BCE: this totenpäss (a "passport for the dead") was meant to be buried in a human grave; it bears an inscription that tells the dead person exactly where to go and what to say after crossing into the Greek Underworld
Made from a sheet of gold foil, this tablet measures just 4.5cm (a little over 1.5 inches) in length, and although it was found inside a pendant case in Petelia, Italy, it's believed to have originated in ancient Greece. It was meant to aid the dead in their journey through the Underworld -- providing them with specific instructions, conferring special privileges, and granting them access to the most coveted realms within the afterlife.
The Petelia tablet, displayed with the pendant case in which it was discovered
The tablet itself dates back to about 300-200 BCE, while the pendant case/chain that accompanies it was likely made about 400 years later, during the Roman era. It's believed that the tablet was originally buried with the dead, and that an unknown individual later removed it from the burial site and stuffed it into the pendant case. Unfortunately, in order to make it fit, they simply rolled it up and then snipped off the tip of the tablet. The final lines of the inscription were destroyed in the process.
The inverse side of the Petelia tablet
Tablets like this are referred to as lemellae or totenpässe ("passports for the dead"). They were used as roadmaps to help guide the dead through the Underworld, but they also served as indicators of the elite/divine status of certain individuals, ultimately providing them with the means to obtain an elevated position in the afterlife.
The Petelia tablet is incised with an inscription in ancient Greek, and the translated inscription reads:
You will find a spring on your left in Hades’ halls, and by it the cypress with its luminous sheen.
Do not go near this spring or drink its water. You will find another, cold water flowing from Memory’s lake; its guardians stand before it.
Say: "I am a child of Earth and starry Heaven, but descended from Heaven; you yourselves know this. I am parched with thirst and dying: quickly, give me the cool water flowing from Memory’s lake."
And they will give you water from the sacred spring, and then you will join the heroes at their rites.
This is [the ... of memory]: [on the point of death] ... write this ... the darkness folding [you] within it.
The final section was damaged when the lemella was shoved into the pendant case; sadly, that part of the inscription does not appear on any of the other lemellae that are known to exist, so the meaning of those lines remains a mystery (no pun intended).
Lemellae that are inscribed with this motif are very rare. They're known as "Orphic lemellae" or simply "Orphic tablets." As the name suggests, these inscriptions are traditionally attributed to an Orphic-Bacchic mystery cult.
The inscriptions vary, but they generally contain similar references to a cypress tree, one spring that must be avoided, another spring known as the "Lake of Memory," the sensation of thirst, and a conversation with a guardian (or another entity within the Underworld, such as the goddess Persephone) in which the dead must present themselves as initiates or divine individuals in order to be granted permission to drink from the Lake of Memory. They are thereby able to obtain privileges that are reserved only for the elite.
Though the specifics of this reward are often vague, it may have been viewed as a way to gain access to the Elysian Fields (the ancient Greek version of paradise) or as a way to participate in sacred rites; some lemellae suggest that it may have allowed the soul to break free from the eternal cycle of reincarnation. Regardless, the overall objective was likely the same: to obtain a special status and acquire privileges that were inaccessible to most of the souls in the Underworld.
Altlas Obscura: The Ancient Greeks Created Golden Passports to Paradise
The Museum of Cycladic Art: The Bacchic-Orphic Underworld
Bryn Mawr College: Festivals in the Afterlife: a new reading of the Petelia tablet
The Getty Museum: Underworld (imagining the afterlife)
The British Museum: Petelia tablet (with pendant case; chain)
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