Amathus Sexual Curse
On 12 July 2008, Agence France Presse reported the find of a 7th-century AD curse written on a lead tablet in the ancient city of Amathus, on the south coast of the island of Cyprus, near Limassol. Written in Greek, part of the text reads, “May your penis hurt when you make love,” according to Pierre Aubert, head of the Athens Archaeological School. The tablet also depicts a man standing and holding what looks like an hourglass. The report appeared in the English-language Cyprus Weekly and was reprinted in the Lebanese newspaper Daily Star, after which it was widely republished on the internet.