Chamalières tablet

The Chamalières tablet () is a lead tablet, six by four centimeters, that was discovered in 1971 in Chamalières, France, at the Source des Roches excavation. The tablet is dated somewhere between 50 BC and 50 AD. The text is written in the Gaulish language, with cursive Latin letters. With 396 letters grouped in 47 words, it is the third-longest extant text in Gaulish (the curse tablet from L'Hospitalet-du-Larzac and the Coligny calendar being longer), giving it great importance in the study of this language.

The magical subject matter of the text suggests it should be considered a defixiones (curse) tablet. However, given that it was found at a spa, and that it was accompanied by carvings of bodies and body parts, Meid considers the text to be a prayer by old men for healing their various ailments.Meid, W. Gaulish Inscriptions Budapest: 2014, p. 43

Text andedion uediiumi dijiuion ri sun artiu mapon aruerriiatin lopites snieꟈꟈdic sos brixtia anderon clucion floron nigrinon adgarion aemili on paterin claudion legitumon caelion pelign claudío pelign marcion uictorin asiatI con aꟈꟈedilli etic secoui toncnaman toncsiiontío meion ponc sesit bue tid ollon reguccambion exsops pissiiumi tsoccaanti rissu ison son bissiet lugedessummiiis luge dessumíis lugedessumiis luxe

It seems to begin:

"I beseech (uediIumi) before the power (ri sunartiu) of the infernal gods (andedion...diIiuion) [the Celtic deity] Maponos (mapon probably with the epithet Arverriiatin perhaps "of the Averni [tribe]").

Then probably:

"Hurry (lopites) and bind (snI-eððdic?) those men [listed] below (sos ... anderon) with magic (brixtia)."Mees, B. "Chamalières sníeððic and ‘binding’ in Celtic" Journal of Indo-European Studies Volume 35, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2007. pp 9-30

But Colera interprets the sequence ri sun/artiu as an instrumental noun phrase: "by means of a magic script"; and brixtia anderon as "by the magic of the subterraneans." These interpretations would connect anderon with Latin inferus and Sanskrit adhara- “nether”, from Proto-Indo-European *ndheros.Cólera, Carlos Jordán (2007) "Celtiberian," e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies: Vol. 6, Article 17. p. 773 Available at: https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/vol6/iss1/17 But another hypothesis is that anderon is related to Irish ainder "(young) woman," so "the magic of women," recalling the passage in the Old Irish Lorica asking for protection “against the spells of women, smiths and druids”: fri brichta ban ocus gobann ocus druad.Meid, W. Gaulish Inscriptions Budapest: 2014, p. 46

The following three lines seem to comprise the list of names of those to be cursed (or healed). It concludes with the thrice repeated incantation luge-dessumíis "serving (the god) Lug", which is paralleled in an Old Irish inscription written in Ogam script, LUGU-DECCAS.Matasovic, Ranko (2006) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Brill: Leiden, p. 248Addenda et corrigenda to Ranko Matasović’s Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Brill, Leiden 2009)Zagreb, December 2011, page 7 Mees, however, interprets these as meaning, "I prepare them for being possessed (or committed)."Mees, B. "Chamalières sníeððic and ‘binding’ in Celtic" Journal of Indo-European Studies Volume 35, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2007. pp 9-30

Pierre-Yves Lambert, in his book La langue gauloise, offers an analysis.

Notes

The form uediiumi in the first line is probably "I pray, beseech" from Proto-Celtic *gwed-iū- < Proto-Indo-European *gwhedh-iō-.n Cólera, Carlos Jordán (2007) "Celtiberian," e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies: Vol. 6, Article 17. p. 760 Available at: https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/vol6/iss1/17 retrieved June 18, 2023

In line 4, ad-garion may refer to a "speaker" for the men listed, if related to Old Irish gairid "he calls," perhaps a calque here of Latin ad-vōcātus.Meid, W. Gaulish Inscriptions Budapest: 2014, p. 46: https://files.archaeolingua.hu/ARCHAEOLINGUA/Ebooks/SM0001_e.pdf

In line 8, toncsiiontío may refer to a group, "(those) who will swear," if related to Old Irish tongid "he swears" (< PIE: *teh2g- ‘touch’ > Lat. tango, Gr. te-tag-on ‘having seized’, Go. tekan ‘touch’, ToB cesam ‘touch’.Matasovic, R. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic Brill: Leiden, 2009. p. 383Meid, W. Gaulish Inscriptions Budapest: 2014, p. 46

This seems to be followed by a triple set of oppositions: meion, ponc sesit, buetid ollon “Small, when sowed, shall become big”Mees, B. "The Women of Larzac" in Keltische Forschungen 3 (2008): 169-188

regu ccambion “I make straight (what is) crooked”

exops pissíiumi “(though) deprived of eye-sight, I shall see”Meid, W. Gaulish Inscriptions Budapest: 2014, p. 47

In the tenth line, pissiiumi is probably from Proto-Celtic *kwis-o- "see", here perhaps a future "I will see." This from PIE *kweys- "perceive." Cognates in Celtic include Gaulish ap-pisetu (Thiaucourt) and Old Irish ad-cí "see"; and further afield: Av. cinahmi "determine", Lat. cura "anxiety, care."Matasovic, R. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic Brill, 2009, p. 180

Hollifield takes the sequence ison son bissiet to possibly mean "him who might violate it," connecting bissiet with Old Irish bidbu "culprit." He also takes the form bue/tid in lines 7-8 to mean "whatever may be."Hollifield, H. "A note on Gaulish bissiet and buetid " Études celtiques, Paris: 1983, volumes 20-1 pp. 95-99

In popular culture The Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie used the text for their song Dessumiis Luge, and the first two verses for Spirit.

Chamalières tablet

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