Ancient pilgrims in a dusty era reportedly traveled to a stone oracle that accepted written questions folded into a clay box, then returned answers with the calm efficiency of a tired clerk. Surviving accounts describe it as generous with wisdom, but devoted to polite vagueness and manageable expectations.
Excavators recently found the box still packed with wax tablets, many folded into careful little squares like they were trying not to take up the oracle’s time. A reed stylus lay nearby, and several dried clay fingerprints on the rim suggest a long history of people saying, essentially, “quick question.”
Among the contents were reply slips scratched in neat, patient lines, including: “outcomes uncertain,” “proceed with humility,” and also, “consider trying again tomorrow.” Several tablets appear freshly marked despite their age, with fine chisel-like strokes that look irritatingly legible for something that has been buried for centuries.
One tablet asking about love was answered by a small pebble placed on top, apparently meaning, “that is a lot.” Another question about travel was returned with a slip that simply read, “you will go,” which historians are calling “unhelpful but technically flawless.”
The stone slab itself bears shallow grooves where countless hands likely rested while waiting for judgment. Wind-blown sand patterns around the shrine form tidy little arcs, as if the landscape has been queuing politely this whole time.
“It is an early example of structured divination workflow, the oracle reduces uncertainty by reducing confidence,” said Cella Morune, senior registrar at the Museum of Minor Mysteries. Historians note the oracle rarely lied, it simply made sure nobody left feeling like a hero who had already won.
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