# A curious parcel arrived last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309 "2007-10-19T16:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/201 "2007-10-24T18:27:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] assing out chocolate sounds a bit over the top for this thread. [/QUOTE] Great. Now you’ve found where I’ve hidden it. ☹ OK, everybody close your eyes. I’m going to hide it again. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/202 "2007-10-24T18:45:51Z")
_pretends to cover eyes_ ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/203 "2007-10-24T18:52:29Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] _pretends to cover eyes_ [/QUOTE] Good. Then you didn’t see me hide it behind the grandfather clock. This is going to drive you guys crazy! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/204 "2007-10-24T18:53:02Z")
If the “fangs” contained some sort of poison wouldn’t they have to have been hermetically sealed for the poison to not have decayed or evaporated after even only 100 years? I’m thinking, if it was poison, what it could have been. I suppose plenty of things could have been used if the box had been buried only 100 or so years ago but still, what could withstand burial and the ravages of time. How did it not affect the “fangs?” They too were made of wood, no? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/205 "2007-10-24T19:04:04Z")
[QUOTE=Canadiangirl] I brought Baileys and hot chocolate…can I join? I can’t knit but I can crochet! [/quote] Ohh yummy. Crochet is good too. 🙂 I do both actually, though I’m only learning to read crochet patterns (up until now, I only ever crocheted what Grandma showed me.. lots of Granny squares and dishclothes. ---
**Author:** ![jakeline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@jakeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakeline)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/206 "2007-10-24T20:36:04Z")
Ooh, ooh! I still have some tea from when I was in London, and I can teach the lefties how to crochet or knit. Anyone need me to knit them a pair of slippers? ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/207 "2007-10-24T20:46:38Z")
Seriously, why no pictures? I don’t care if the story is made up or not as it is facinating, but if it is real make with the pictures already! I want to see a wooden box shaped like a viper’s head! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/208 "2007-10-24T22:42:36Z")
I grow to suspect that the Fish In Question™ is named…_Dagon_. In which case, you may _keep_ the fish. I don’t want it. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/209 "2007-10-25T01:47:59Z")
Could I have some Bailey’s and coffee, please? ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/210 "2007-10-25T12:10:08Z")
mmmmm…Baileys & coffee, toasty warm afghans and a mystery…speaking of…where’s Balance and the rest of the story? ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/211 "2007-10-25T12:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] If the “fangs” contained some sort of poison wouldn’t they have to have been hermetically sealed for the poison to not have decayed or evaporated after even only 100 years? [/QUOTE] It could be MacGuffin poison. Stuff lasts just as long as it needs to, then breaks down quickly in the body after death. Truly diabolical stuff. Aramaic. Interesting. Seems to me, since it is an effectively dead language, it’s been recopied from documents from long long ago. So, I think, these papers may be fairly recent, but **Balance** is still dealing with an ancient mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/212 "2007-10-25T15:14:22Z")
I pored over the papers into the wee hours, studying my books and puzzling out bits of the stubbornly mysterious document. I have made more progress than I initially expected; online resources have proven to be quite useful. I now suspect that my initial guess about this being a religious text is wide of the mark. The layout of the document seems wrong–there doesn’t appear to be any narrative, as such, or anything I recognize as verse. The passages I’ve been working on seem to be relatively straightforward descriptions, with categorical headings. It almost resembles a scholarly treatise. A form of Aramaic is still spoken by a few people, but this isn’t it. The word I recognized is, as best I can render, “דחלה”. It’s a Palestinian Aramaic word that can mean either “deity” or “fear”, according to my references. In this context, I suspect it means the former. It’s difficult to be certain; either the author was using a slightly different dialect from the one my resources record, or the text is sprinkled with grammatical errors and loan words. I am, however, reasonably certain that the word most often associated with “deity” throughout the text is “serpent”. I must admit that I find this a trifle disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/213 "2007-10-25T15:49:27Z")
What’s that you were saying about Voldemort?? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/214 "2007-10-25T15:54:46Z")
**Balance,** Well, I’m sure you’re already on top of it, and it could be irrelevant to you as you seem much more educated in these arenas but your last post got me thinking and perhaps my approach is too linear but here are some links I found interesting. By the way, whether this is real or just a game, it’s made my week a hell of a lot of fun. 🙂 [Ophites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophites) [Sethians/Ophites](http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/gnosis/sethians.html) [Another link](http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/gnosis/sethians.html) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/215 "2007-10-25T18:49:43Z")
Just found the thread 30 minutes ago. Read all the posts. Much fun. - … better be a great ending … Or … 😉 \* ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/216 "2007-10-25T19:06:56Z")
[QUOTE=GusNSpot] Just found the thread 30 minutes ago. Read all the posts. Much fun. - … better be a great ending … Or … 😉 \* [/QUOTE] or what? Are you going to track down the OP and send him a cursed box from an ancient civilization? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/217 "2007-10-25T20:11:47Z")
This is like a penny dreadful. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger…written with skill, I might add. Ever seen the movie Cronos? Maybe you should let the serpent bite you. I also want to hear more about your mechanized insects from which you salvaged springs to use to open the box. Do you also have little mechanized friends who greet you at the door? Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/218 "2007-10-25T21:32:16Z")
Oooooh, a fear-inspiring snake god. Ophites. This is getting better and better. Reminds me of a poster I had some decades ago…a reproduction of some old pulp fiction cover. A swooning woman, clothes torn and dishelveled, held within the coils of a gigantic, extremely phallic snake. **Sean** – “MacGuffin poison” – very good. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/219 "2007-10-26T13:01:43Z")
**Balance**? Hello? Did you get bitten by your snake-box? Did you find out what the translation means yet? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/220 "2007-10-26T13:15:19Z")
Whether this is for real or not it’s heading towards SDMB Classics. ::Brews more coffee, opens large tin of Cadbury’s chocolate assortment:: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309.md?page=12)