Sunday, August 23, 2026
A Curse
F.F. Bruce (1910-1990), The Books and the Parchments, 4th ed. (Basingstoke: Pickering & Inglis, 1984), p. 27 (footnote omitted):
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The inscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Gebal, for example, is written in a language almost identical with Hebrew. Its translation runs: 'Ittobaal (Ethbaal), son of Ahiram, king of Gebal, made this coffin for Ahiram his father as an abode for ever. And if any king among kings or governor among governors pitches a camp against Gebal and uncovers this coffin, let the sceptre of his authority be broken and the throne of his kingdom be overthrown, but let peace rule over Gebal. Whoso effaces this writing, let his seed perish'.The last sentence of this inscription would be an excellent curse to direct against those AI executives who direct their employees to buy rare books, rip the bindings off, scan and then destroy the pages. See, e.g., Brittany Allen, "Now Amazon is destroying rare books to train its AI," Literary Hub.
