During the Middle Ages, the "true letter" or "holy letter" became popular with the literate classes. These letters all purported to have magical origins wtih circuitous provenances, and they read a bit like chain letters. So the phenomenon might be as old as writing. If Irving Finkel turns up a chain letter across the Oxus, Indus, and Mesopotamian valleys, I won't be surprised.
This 🖕
During the Middle Ages, the "true letter" or "holy letter" became popular with the literate classes. These letters all purported to have magical origins wtih circuitous provenances, and they read a bit like chain letters. So the phenomenon might be as old as writing. If Irving Finkel turns up a chain letter across the Oxus, Indus, and Mesopotamian valleys, I won't be surprised.
Everything old is new again.