Essay on The Etruscan Religion - 1937 Words

The origin of the Etruscans is a mystery, still unsolved by modern man. Ancient peoples held an almost unanimous opinion on the subject, based on the account of the first great Greek historian, Herodotus, who wrote in about 800 B. C. as follows: In the reign of Atys, son of Manes, a great famine is said to have occurred in the whole of Lydia. For some time, the Lydians persisted in carrying on their usual life; then as the famine did not abate, they sought remedies and some thought of one thing and some thought of another. It is said that is was then that the game of dice, the game of knuckles, games of ball and other games were invented but not the game of draughts, the invention of which the Lydians do not claim. And this is how†¦show more content†¦The name Etruscan comes from the Romans, who called them Tusci or Etrusci, the Greeks called them Tyrrhenoi, and they called themselves Rasena. A Lydian or Oriental origin is probable because there is a locality in Lydia which is called Tyrra, which would help to explain the Greek name, Tyrrhenoi. At any rate, it is believed that during the Iron Age in the first millennium B. C. groups of people of the so-called â€Å"Villanovan† culture settled on various hilltops, which provided ideal defensive locations. Following the Villanovans came the Etruscans who invaded by ship and set up their first towns on the coast. They were exceptional metal-workers and were evidently attracted to this section of Italy by the vast supplies of copper near Populonia and Piombino and by the iron ore on the island of Elba. The date is estimated at 750 B. C. The Etruscan language is another mystery, still unsolved by modern man. A reason for this is a lack of sources. Although about ten thousand inscriptions have been found, about nine thousand are funerary and contain only the name of the deceased, his parentage and the age at which he died. There are only about ten texts which consist of more than one line; there are only two that consist of more than one hundred words. One is an engraved tile discovered at Capua, containing about three hundred words, the other is the Cippus Perusianus, containing about one hundred twenty words. A manuscript was also found.Show MoreRelatedEtruscan Culture, Architecture, Art, And Religion936 Words   |  4 Pages1. What were some key aspects of Etruscan culture, architecture, art, and religion? Little is known about Etruscan culture, but from what evidence that has been discovered we know that they were indigenous people of what we today call Italy and Turkey. Some other things we do know is that they inherited some aspects of their culture from the Greeks such as their art, literature, and religion. 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