Archaeologists found two amulets made of lead. Researchers believe the inscriptions are incantations.

Archaeologists are trying to decipher magical incantations engraved on small gold and silver scrolls that were discovered with human skeletons buried more than 2,000 years ago.

“The alphabet is Greek, we know so far. The language is Aramaic – it’s a Middle Eastern mystery to us,” the chief archaeologist at the site in eastern Serbia, Miomir Korac, told Reuters.

The skeletons were discovered at the foot of a large coal-fired power plant, where searches are being conducted before another unit of the plant is built on the site of an ancient Roman city.

Last week, after carefully cleaning the soil from the bones, Korac’s team found two amulets made of lead – silver and gold – covered with symbols and writing.

They believe the inscriptions are incantations, taken to the tombs to evoke pine powers regarding good or evil.

“We read the names of some demons linked to the territory in what is now Syria,” said archaeologist Ilija Dankovic.