Etruscan period. Where are the Etruscans, and where are the Russians
The Etruscans are rightfully considered one of the most amazing mysteries in history. Scientists do not know exactly where they came from and what language they spoke. The question of a possible connection between the Etruscans and Russians has not yet been clarified.
Under the veil of secrets
In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. on the territory of Italy between the rivers Tiber and Arno stretched the legendary state - Etruria, which became the cradle of Roman civilization. The Romans learned avidly from the Etruscans, borrowing from them the system of government and gods, engineering and mosaics, gladiator fights and chariot races, funeral rites and clothing.
Despite their fame, the Etruscans are one big mystery for us. A lot of evidence has been preserved about the Etruscans, but they do not give us a convincing and reliable picture of the life of this people. Scientists do not know for certain how the Etruscans appeared and where they disappeared. Until now, the exact boundaries of Etruria have not been established and the Etruscan language has not been deciphered.
The Roman emperor Claudius I, who ruled in the 1st century AD, left to his descendants a 20-volume History of the Etruscans, as well as a dictionary Etruscan. But fate would have it that these manuscripts were completely destroyed in the fire of the Library of Alexandria, depriving us of the opportunity to lift the veil of secrets. Etruscan civilization.
People from the East
Today there are three versions of the origin of the Etruscans. Titus Livius reports that the Etruscans entered the Apennine Peninsula from the north, along with the Alpine Rets, with whom they were related. According to the hypothesis of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the Etruscans were natives of Italy, who adopted the achievements of the previous culture of Villanova.
However, the "Alpine version" does not find any material evidence, and modern scientists increasingly associate the Villanova culture not with the Etruscans, but with the Italics.
Historians have long noticed how the Etruscans stood out from their less developed neighbors. This served as a prerequisite for the third version, according to which the Etruscans settled the Apennines from Asia Minor. This view was held by Herodotus, who claimed that the ancestors of the Etruscans came from Lydia in the 8th century BC.
There is a lot of evidence of the Asia Minor origin of the Etruscans. For example, a way to create sculptures. The Etruscans, unlike the Greeks, preferred not to carve the image from stone, but to sculpt it from clay, which was typical of the art of the peoples of Asia Minor.
There is more important evidence of the eastern origin of the Etruscans. IN late XIX century on the island of Lemnos, located near the coast of Asia Minor, archaeologists discovered a tombstone.
The inscription on it was made in Greek letters, but in a completely unusual combination. What was the surprise of scientists when, after comparing this inscription with Etruscan texts, they discovered a striking similarity!
The Bulgarian historian Vladimir Georgiev offers a curious development of the "Eastern version". In his opinion, the Etruscans are none other than the legendary Trojans. The scientist bases his assumptions on the legend, according to which the Trojans led by Aeneas from the war-torn Troy fled to the Apennine Peninsula.
Georgiev also supports his theory with linguistic considerations, finding a relationship between the words "Etruria" and "Troy". One could be skeptical of this version if, in 1972, Italian archaeologists had not unearthed an Etruscan monument tomb dedicated to Aeneas.
genetic map
Not so long ago, scientists from the University of Turin, using genetic analysis, decided to test Herodotus' hypothesis about the Asia Minor origin of the Etruscans. The study compared Y-chromosomes (passed on the male line) of the population of Tuscany and residents of other regions of Italy, as well as the island of Lemnos, the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey.
It turned out that the genetic patterns of the inhabitants of the Tuscan cities of Volterra and Murlo are more similar to those of the inhabitants of the Eastern Mediterranean than the neighboring Italian regions.
Moreover, some genetic characteristics of the inhabitants of Murlo absolutely coincide with the genetic data of the inhabitants of Turkey.
Researchers from Stanford University decided to use computer simulation to reconstruct the demographic processes that have affected the population of Tuscany over the past 2,500 years. This method initially involved the data of anthropological and genetic expertise.
The results were unexpected. Scientists managed to exclude a genetic link between the Etruscans, the ancient inhabitants of central Italy and the modern inhabitants of Tuscany. The data obtained suggest that the Etruscans were wiped off the face of the earth by some kind of catastrophe, or that they were a social elite that had little in common with the ancestors of modern Italians.
Anthropologist Joanna Mountain, leader of the Stanford project, notes that "the Etruscans differed in every respect from the Italians and even spoke a language of a non-Indo-European group." "Cultural and language features made the Etruscans a real mystery to numerous researchers,” Mountain sums up.
"Etruscan is Russian"
The phonetic proximity of the two ethnonyms - "Etruscans" and "Russians" - gives rise to hypotheses among researchers about the direct connection of the two peoples. Philosopher Alexander Dugin understands this connection literally: "Etruscan is Russian." The plausibility of this version is also given by the self-name of the Etruscans - Rasenna or Raśna.
However, if the word "Etruscan" is compared with the Roman name of this people - "tusci", and the self-name "Rasen" is associated with the Greek name of the Etruscans - "Tyrsene", then the proximity of the Etruscans and Russians no longer looks so obvious.
There is enough evidence that the Etruscans could leave the territory of Italy.
One of the reasons for the exodus may have been climate change, accompanied by drought. It just coincided with the disappearance of this people in the 1st century BC.
Presumably, the Etruscan migration routes should have extended to a more favorable north for farming. Evidence of this, for example, are the urns found in Upper Germany for storing the ashes of the deceased, which are similar to Etruscan artifacts.
It is likely that part of the Etruscans reached the territory of the current Baltic states, where they could assimilate with the Slavic peoples. However, the version that the Etruscans laid the foundations of the Russian ethnos is not confirmed by anything.
The main snag in the absence of the sounds "b", "d" and "g" in the Etruscan language - the structure of the larynx did not allow the Etruscans to pronounce them. This feature of the vocal apparatus is more reminiscent of not Russians, but Finns or Estonians.
One of the recognized apologists of Etruscology, the French scientist Zachary Mayani, turns the vector of Etruscan settlement immediately to the east. In his opinion, the descendants of the Etruscans are modern Albanians. Among the justifications for his hypothesis, the scientist cites the fact that the capital of Albania, Tirana, carries one of the names of the Etruscans - "Tyrrhens".
The vast majority of scientists believe that the Etruscans simply disappeared into the ethnic group of the peoples who inhabited the Roman Empire. The speed of assimilation of the Etruscans may well be a consequence of their small number. According to archaeologists, the population of Etruria, even at the time of its heyday, did not exceed 25 thousand people.
Difficulties in translation
The study of Etruscan writing is carried out with XVI century. What languages were not taken as a basis to decipher the Etruscan inscriptions: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Celtic, Finnish, even the languages of the American Indians. But all attempts have not been successful. “Etruscan is not readable,” skeptic linguists said.
However, scientists still achieved certain results.
They found that the Etruscan alphabet originates from the Greek and consists of 26 letters.
Moreover, the alphabet borrowed from the Greeks did not correspond much to the peculiarities of the phonetics of the Etruscan language - some sounds, depending on the context, had to be denoted by different letters. Moreover, the late Etruscan texts sinned with the omission of vowel sounds, which created an almost insoluble problem in their decipherment.
And yet, some linguists, in their words, managed to read some of the Etruscan inscriptions. Three scientists of the 19th century at once - the Pole Tadeusz Volansky, the Italian Sebastiano Ciampi and the Russian Alexander Chertkov - stated that the key to deciphering Etruscan texts lies in the Slavic languages.
In the footsteps of Volansky, the Russian linguist Valery Chudinov followed, who proposes that the Etruscan language be considered the successor of the “Slavic runic writing”. Official science is skeptical about Chudinov's attempts to "ancientize" Slavic writing, and his ability to read inscriptions where an inexperienced person sees the "play of nature."
Modern researcher Vladimir Shcherbakov tries to simplify the problem of translating Etruscan inscriptions by explaining that the Etruscans wrote as they heard. With this method of deciphering, many Etruscan words from Shcherbakov sound completely “Russian”: “ita” - “this”, “ama” - “pit”, “tes” - “forest”.
The linguist Petr Zolin notes on this occasion that any attempt to read texts of such antiquity with the help of modern words is absurd.
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrey Zaliznik adds: “An amateur linguist willingly plunges into a discussion of written monuments of the past, completely forgetting (or simply not knowing anything) that in the past the language he knew looked completely different from what it is now.”
Today, most historians are convinced that the Etruscan inscriptions will never be deciphered.
Scientists-historians still really know almost nothing about when and where exactly the birth of the main ancestors of the Russian people - the Slavs - took place. The Slavs are one of the youngest peoples, historically reliable information about which appeared only in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. However, at that time the Slavs were already one of the most numerous nations Europe. Where and who were the Slavs before they were called that?
Currently, there are many hypotheses and versions about the origin of the Russian people. Which of them is true, it is impossible to say for sure. But Russian history is much more ancient than Norman historians thought. Researchers in Lately began to quite often draw a parallel between the Russians and the disappeared Etruscans. Moreover, some researchers began to call the Etruscans Proto-Slavs. Is this really so?
archaeological discoveries made over the past century in the Balkans and the Apennine Peninsula have become revolutionary for European historiography. They affected not only the early Roman and ancient times and led to the emergence of Etruscology, a new field of historiography. The information obtained by archaeologists provided exhaustive material that made it possible to fully study the culture of the Etruscans - their way of life, rituals, traditions, religion and language. All this made it possible to trace the entire history of the development of the Etruscan civilization. They shed light on many "dark spots" in history and gave answers to the most important questions that concerned the prehistory of the Slavs. Researchers who comprehensively and deeply worked on ancient sources immediately drew attention to the ethnogenetic and ethnocultural ties between the Etruscans and Rus'.
According to the ideas of the Etruscans, which are completely identical to the Slavic ones, in the center of the world was located sacred mountain where earth and sky meet. The Etruscans believed that there was a Vedic temple on this ancient mountain. For this reason, in every city, the so-called "model" of such a mountain was considered a temple - a meeting place for earth, sky and the underworld. The question of the origin of the Etruscan ideas about the world is still open. The original works of the Etruscans have not been preserved to this day - only in Roman adaptations. Therefore, modern researchers in the study of the Etruscan worldview rely mainly on sculptural images, reliefs and drawings. Thousands of Etruscan inscriptions on the walls of tombs, sarcophagi, figurines, grave steles, mirrors and vessels have survived to this day.
The evidence found during the excavation of ancient Etruria made it possible to speak of the similarity of the ancient Slavic culture with the Etruscan. The calendar, the nature of the burials, the names of the Etruscans, their traditions have the same roots with the culture of the Slavs. Particularly impressive are the data that for the first time made it possible to identify the writing and language of the Etruscans - the vocabulary and grammar of the Etruscan language has many coincidences with the Old Slavic. For example, the word "est" in the Etruscan language also meant: "to eat" and "to eat." Against the background of such discoveries, no one was shocked by the assertion that over 2000 years the alphabet used by the Etruscans has undergone the most minor changes - only two letters have been added to it. By the 10th century AD, it became known under the name "Cyrillic".
The general conclusion that archaeologists made, based on this information, is that the Etruscans are Proto-Slavs. A huge amount of material data show the identity of the cultures of the ancient Slavs and Etruscans. There is not a single fact that would contradict this. All the fundamental features of the cultures of the ancient Slavs and Etruscans coincide. Moreover, all the features that unite the cultures of the Etruscans and Slavs are unique and different from other cultures. No other nation possesses any of these attributes. In other words, the culture of the Etruscans is unlike anyone other than the Slavs. You can also say about the Slavs, who in the past are not like anyone except the Etruscans. Many historians believe that the main reason that the Etruscans are persistently trying to "bury" is that they had no other descendants than the Slavs.
In academic science, it is believed that the Etruscans lived from the 8th to the 2nd century BC, and the Slavs appeared only in the 5th-6th centuries AD, so the Etruscans could not know the Russian language and could not be Russian. But how, in this case, to explain that Moscow and Rus' are mentioned on the Etruscan mirrors? In addition, the Etruscans knew the Arabs well, Dakar in Africa, Egypt. It seems that they were simply “pushed back” a millennium ago. It is interesting that two inscriptions are made on one mirror on the head of Atlant - Rome is written on the beard, and Rus' is written on the hair. Rus' is higher than Rome, and this can be explained by the fact that Rome was founded by Russia. In Rome, everyone wrote in Russian, Russian voices sounded, and only then the Latins gradually began to come there. They slowly accumulated and eventually ousted the Slavs.
It is believed that the Etruscans lived on its territory even before the founding of Rome. It was they who cast the statue of the Capitoline Wolf, which testifies to the excellent ability to process metal. But oddly enough, leaving behind a huge amount of beautiful products, written monuments and even fortified cities such as Florence, Capue, Bologna - the Etruscans suddenly disappeared into obscurity. Entire generations of researchers worked on the texts that they left behind and could not master them in any way. It is surprising that in Russia in the 19th century they learned to read the texts of the Etruscans. This happened thanks to F. Volansky, who suggested that the Etruscan language is very close to the Slavic language. He even compiled the Etruscan alphabet. If you learn to use such an alphabet, then the inscriptions can be easily read. This may indicate that the Etruscan language is one of the variants Slavic language, which arose and spread even before the founding of Rome.
All this leads to a revision of the whole history, and a revision of the traditional views on the Slavs. After all, it was generally accepted that the Slavs did not play any special role in world history and lived modestly in the backyards of Europe during the heyday of the greatest European civilizations. World historiography is unable to admit even the idea that the Slavs are not only the inhabitants of the swamps of the Middle Ages, but also the direct descendants of ancient tribe the Etruscans, who lived in Italy as early as the 2nd century BC, and whose culture formed the basis ancient rome. It must be said that many domestic researchers also act within the framework of the model of European historiography, not trying to get to the bottom of the truth.
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The history of mankind of the last millennia knows numerous evidence of the Great Migration of Peoples from one region of the Earth to another due to a sharp deterioration in natural and climatic conditions. As a result, many peoples left the territories of beautiful lands, where their ancestors settled down for many centuries and millennia. On these lands they had to leave (in the power of natural elements) their cities and villages, palaces, majestic religious buildings, cultural monuments, ground and underground structures, necropolises, etc. The peoples moved, taking with them only the most necessary things, suddenly turning out to be nomadic refugees. The resettlement went to the free lands of good neighbors, at the same time, a search was carried out for freer territories in the far reaches of the Earth.
It is known that many peoples who migrated were the heirs of great civilizations. The question involuntarily begs, what did they leave from the material creations on the abandoned lands? I would like to know where and what their cities and culture were like. Characteristically, large nations moved from place to place at the head of their administrative and spiritual leaders (kings, princes, priests, heroes). This order has been preserved for almost all millennia. Such a reliable system of self-organization with concern for the unity of society has passed the test of strength through many millennia, allowing to preserve the long historical existence of peoples as an ethnic group. Not many peoples of our time can be proud of the preserved spiritual and administrative self-government.
Great migrations of peoples occur almost every millennium. Their occurrence is relevant and possible in the coming decades. If earlier learned priests predicted the signs of an imminent imminent migration from inhabited places, now this can be done on the basis of the richest factual scientific and historical material.
It is known from history that many peoples came to Europe from the East: Etruscans, Celts, Scythians, Aryans, Huns, Hungarians ... They brought their original culture, traditions, creating new cities, states, civilization.
The most global reasons that forced people to leave their inhabited lands were: firstly, the sinking of islands and coastal land in some places (with their complete loss) and the rise of new islands and land in other places with the formation of free territories. It is known that the waters of the seas and oceans absorbed large and small islands of the legendary lands: Atlantis, Lemuria, Arctida, Hyperborea ... The process of lowering and raising the lands in different places is observed in our time. The second reason for resettlement in our Northern Hemisphere (as well as in the Southern) is the constant movement of the geographic North Pole (NGP) around the globe, and with it the "permafrost" and glaciation. It is known from history that permafrost and glaciation were where it is now warm (Africa, Europe ...), and today it is cold in those places where it was warm (Greenland, the north of our country and its northern islands ...). The location of the North Geographic Pole is to some extent connected with the location of the glaciation and permafrost zones. About 11.6 thousand years ago, the SGP was located in the north-west of Canada near the border with Alaska with a small area of "permafrost" and glaciation. But after the death and sinking of the island of Atlantis, the SGP began to move towards its current position, either approaching Alaska and Chukotka, or moving away, making zigzags to the sides (see map-scheme).
The process of migration of peoples can be traced on the example of the distant ancestors of the Krivichi (Prakrivichi), who in the 10th millennium BC. occupied the territory north of Pevek (Chukotka) for many hundreds of kilometers. But the gradual withdrawal of coastal lands under water forced them to move south to the level of Wrangel Island and the Bear Islands, and then even further south. In the 7th millennium BC they were located around the Anadyr Plateau (from the coast of the Chukchi Sea to the Kolyma Highlands).
In the IV millennium BC. near the northwest of Alaska, a powerful focus (center) of spreading permafrost and glaciation began to operate, spreading its influence to Chukotka. This forced the prakrivichs 6 thousand years ago to leave their lands and go westward to the banks of the Lena River, and then to the Yenisei and the Urals. The formation of new centers of cold formation on Wrangel Island, the New Siberian Islands, etc. allowed the spread of permafrost and partially glaciation from Chukotka to Yamal, and in a southerly direction - to Aldan, Vilyui, Podkamennaya Tunguska ... All this forced many people who lived there to move away in western and southern directions. Northern Europe and Scandinavia, recently freed from ice and "permafrost", had free, uninhabited territories.
Prakrivichi in the middle of the III millennium BC, being in the Polar Urals, were divided into two groups. One group went to the Mezen River, and then through the Pskov lands, to the Baltic on the Rhine, the coast of the North Sea. This group arrived here about three thousand years ago. The second group went south, west of the Urals to the area of the source of the Kama, and then along the Kama, Oka, through the Zhytomyr region, Thuringia came out about 4 thousand years ago (the first) to the Rhine region - the coast of the North Sea. About 2.5 thousand years ago, after the unification of this people with the formation of statehood (principalities), a significant part northern group people went back to eastbound through Dresden, the area of Warsaw, Vilnius, Smolensk, Bryansk, Muscovy in Vyatka lands. Here in the middle of the II millennium AD. their independence was interrupted (but their priests went to the East). Grozny, the church, and others put their efforts into oblivion.
The migration routes of the ancestors of the legendary Etruscans, which they traveled over many millennia, are interesting. Let's call them "Proto-Etruscans". 12-13.5 thousand years ago they lived in the northeast of Greenland. At that time it was warm there.
But by the X millennium BC. the boundaries of permafrost formation and ice around the pole began to expand significantly with the appearance of new cold centers, and the SGP itself began to actively move towards Greenland. Under the onslaught of cold in the X millennium BC. the Proto-Etruscans were forced to move to the region of Svalbard and Scandinavia. At that time, this territory was part of one of the 15 confederations of the empire of Atlantis with its capital in the north of Scandinavia, the remains of which are now on the shelf of Norway. In search of more free lands, the Proto-Etruscans, by the time of the death of the island of Atlantis, moved beyond the Urals to the North Sosvenskaya Upland. Coming after the death of Fr. Atlantis, the glaciation of Scandinavia and Northern Europe caused waves of migrations of peoples from these places in eastern and southern directions (this period of migration still remains a white spot in human history). About 8 thousand years ago, the Proto-Etruscans moved beyond the Yenisei at Podkamennaya Tunguska, later they were in the Baikal region (near Bodaibo, Nerchinsk), in the north of the Greater Khingan (Manchuria). By the 4th millennium BC they reached the lands between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Aldan River. Relative to Greenland, these lands are located on the other side of the existing position of the North Pole. At Aldan, the people lived quietly for about six hundred years. The "permafrost" and glaciation that engulfed Chukotka reached Aldan 5.4 thousand years ago. This forced the Proto-Etruscans (and a number of other peoples) to leave in a westerly direction. Driven by the spreading zones of cold, the Proto-Etruscans about 5 thousand years ago found themselves on Southern Urals. Here the people were divided (like the Prakrivichi) into two groups. One group went south, rounding the Caspian from the east, reached the southern coast of the Black Sea and the west of the Middle East (Turkey) by the end of the 2nd millennium BC. The second group passed in a western direction near the large bends of the Volga and Don, through the Zaporizhzhya steppes, the Carpathians, to the region of Etruria (Italy). In the Dnieper region, part of the people separated from the second group and left the northwestern coast of the Black Sea to the territory of Bulgaria, Greece to the Sea of Marmara with the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. Practically the Proto-Etruscans were on the southern and northern shores of the Sea of Marmara. From the region of Etruria, a mobile expedition left to the west to search for new lands, which, having passed Spain, crossed to the northern coast of Africa and passed along it to the places of Carthage and Tripoli (the capital of modern Libya). There they set up strongholds. Somewhere in the first centuries of the new era and later, a significant part of the Etruscans moved from the Apennine Peninsula to the Balkans, the northern Black Sea region and the Dnieper, as well as to the region of Hungary and the Baltic states (to Lithuania).
In the process of resettlement, the ancestors of the Krivichi, Etruscans and other peoples partially settled on the lands of other peoples for one reason or another. Some groups of Krivichi settled: near the Ob (along the Nadym and Pur rivers), on the Mezen River, south of Lake Pskov, on the border of Belarus - Poland - Lithuania, in the Carpathian region. The ancestors of the Etruscans remained to live: in the Southern Urals, west of the Dnieper, in the east of the Balkans and in Asia Minor (in western Turkey). For the most part, the descendants of these glorious peoples now live in the European part of the continent.
The process of moving the North Geographical Pole across the globe continues at a slow pace, but away from it, new cold centers are forming. The pattern of movement of the SGP indicates its zigzag orientation towards the cold pole (towards the Verkhoyansk region). After how many decades or centuries this will happen, further research and real manifestations of the climate will show. The change in the position of the North Pole is synchronously connected with the change in the position of the South Pole. New lands may appear in the glaciation zone and at the same time vast areas in other places may be freed from ice.
The study of this process in nature must be given due attention so as not to be taken by surprise. This issue concerns many countries of the world, and it must be resolved jointly, including within the framework of the UN.
"Unannounced Visit", No. 4(18), 1996
Since the Roman conquest plunged the mysterious Etruscans into oblivion, their language has become an impregnable fortress for linguists. However, in recent decades, "the people who refuse to speak" reluctantly began to reveal their secrets ...
VITALY SMIRNOV
CRADLE OF IMPERIAL ROME
“... I saw a young warrior in full armor - in a helmet, with a spear, shield and leggings. Not a skeleton, but the warrior himself! It seemed that death had not touched him. He lay stretched out, and one might think that he had just been laid in the grave. This vision lasted for a fraction of a second. Then it disappeared, as if dispelled by the bright light of torches. The helmet rolled off the ancients noted the modesty, simplicity and masculinity of the Etruscan men, but accused them of cruelty and deceit during the wars. But the behavior of Etruscan women seemed to foreigners, to put it mildly, strange. In contrast to the subordinate position of the Greeks and Romans, they enjoyed great freedom and even engaged in public affairs. Aristotle himself descended to gossip, accusing Etruscan women of dissolute behavior, which, according to the philosopher, was the norm in the Tyrrhenian right; a round shield was pressed into the armor that covered the chest; the leggings, having lost their support, were on the ground. From contact with the air, the body, which had lain undisturbed for centuries, suddenly turned to dust, and only dust particles, which seemed golden in the light of torches, still danced in the air.
So the Roman antiquarian Augusto Yandolo tells about the opening of an ancient Etruscan tomb, which he attended as a child. The scene he described can serve as a symbol - greatness, almost instantly turning to dust ...
The people, which the Romans called the Etruscans or Tusci, and the Greeks the Tyrrhenians or Tersenes, called themselves Rasnas or Rassenes. It is believed that he appeared in Italy in the XI century BC. e.
This is followed by a break of several centuries, when nothing was heard of the Etruscans. And suddenly by the VIII century BC. e. it turns out: the Etruscans are a people with developed agriculture and crafts, their cities conduct extensive overseas trade, exporting grain, metal, wine, ceramics, dressed leather. The Etruscan nobility - lukumon - builds fortified cities, seeks fame and fortune in continuous campaigns, raids and battles.
Two peoples are fighting at this time for dominance of the sea - the Greeks and the Carthaginians. The Etruscans take the side of the Carthaginians, their pirates dominate the Mediterranean - and the Greeks are afraid to go even into the Tyrrhenian Sea.
In the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. cities arise in Etruria: Veii, Caere, Tarquinius, Clusius, Arretius, Populonia. Etruscan influence extends from the Alps to Campagna. In the north they found Mantua and Felzina (now Bologna), in Campania twelve other cities. The Etruscan city of Adria in the northeast of the Apennine Peninsula gave its name to the Adriatic Sea. By the VI century BC. e. The Etruscans control an area of 70 thousand square kilometers, their number is two million people. They dominate the ancient world.
Much of what we consider primordially Roman was born not on the hills of Latium, but on the plains of Etruria. Rome itself was created according to the Etruscan rite. The ancient temple on the Capitol and a number of other sanctuaries in Rome were built by Etruscan craftsmen. The ancient Roman kings from the Tarquinian family were of Etruscan origin; many latin names of Etruscan origin, and some historians believe that it was through the Etruscans that the Romans borrowed the Greek alphabet.
The oldest state institutions, laws, positions, circus games, theatrical performances, gladiator fights, the art of divination, and even many gods - all this came to the Romans from the Etruscans. Symbols of power - fasciae (bundles of rods with axes embedded in them), which were carried in front of the king, a senatorial toga trimmed with a purple border, the custom of triumph after defeating the enemy - and this is the legacy of the Etruscans. The Romans themselves admitted that triumphal and consular decorations were transferred to Rome from Tarquinia. Even the word "Rome" itself is of Etruscan origin, as well as other words considered purely Latin - tavern, cistern, ceremony, persona, letter.
How did it happen that the more developed Etruria was defeated by the almost barbarian Italic tribes?
The reason is that the Etruscans, like the Greeks of the Camedon era, were unable to create a single state. Only a federation of self-governing cities emerged. The heads of cities, who gathered in the sanctuary of the goddess Voltkumna, alternately chose from their midst the chief, who could only conditionally be considered a king, and the priest-high priest. For the Etruscan, the concept of homeland was limited to the city walls, beyond which his patriotism did not extend.
The power and influence of the Etruscans reached their zenith in 535 BC. e. Then, in the battle of Alalia in Corsica, the combined Carthaginian-Etruscan fleet inflicted a crushing defeat on the Greeks, and Corsica passed into the possession of the Etruscans. But just a few years later, the Etruscans began to suffer defeats from the Greeks and the previously conquered Italian tribes. Around this time, Rome was also freed from Etruscan domination. In the 5th century BC e. the territory of Etruria is greatly reduced, the connection between the cities, already fragile, is collapsing. Cities don't come to each other's aid. Experienced farmers and builders, skillful metallurgists, cunning inventors of anchors and sea rams, fearless and ferocious warriors were powerless before young Rome and its close-knit allies. Having subjugated the whole of Etruria, the Romans continued to remain under the spell of the Etruscan culture, which slowly withered as the Roman civilization flourished. By the middle of the 1st century BC. e. the Etruscans in the culture of Rome lost all meaning. Soon, only a few amateurs remembered the Etruscan language, one of whom was the emperor Claudius I (10 BC-54 AD). He wrote an Etruscan history in Greek in twenty volumes, and ordered that every year, on fixed days, readers read it publicly from beginning to end in a building specially built for this purpose. Alas, the work of Claudius has not come down to us. However, some researchers believe that it is unlikely that the emperor knew more about the Etruscans than the learned men who preceded him.
What was known about the origin of the Etruscans by ancient scientists?
Herodotus claimed that they arrived in Italy by sea from Asia Minor under the leadership of King Tyrrhenus. The famous geographer Strabo agreed with him. Another historian of antiquity, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, considered the Etruscans to be the original inhabitants of the Apennines, autochthons. Neither in antiquity, nor at the present time, he wrote, not a single people had and does not have a language and customs similar to the Etruscan ones. The third historian, Titus Livy, saw the similarity of the Etruscans with the Alpine tribe of Retes and therefore believed that the Etruscans once descended from the Alps.
Despite the past millennia, official science cannot offer anything new, except for these three versions or their combinations. And yet, even without mastering the language of the Etruscans, modern archaeologists and historians know not so little about the Etruscans. Their way of life, way of life, religion, partly laws and state institutions are known.
Historians of antiquity noted the modesty, simplicity and masculinity of Etruscan men, but accused them of cruelty and deceit during wars. But the behavior of Etruscan women seemed to foreigners, to put it mildly, strange. In contrast to the subordinate position of the Greeks and Romans, they enjoyed great freedom and even engaged in public affairs. Aristotle himself descended to gossip, accusing Etruscan women of dissolute behavior, which, according to the philosopher, was the norm in Tyrrhenian society.
At the same time, they were a more religious people than the Greeks and Romans. But unlike the rational, state religion of the Romans and the major religion of the Greeks, almost inseparable from myths, the Etruscan faith was gloomy, harsh and saturated with the idea of sacrifice. The most influential were: Tinia - the supreme god of the sky, Uni and Menrva. Among the Romans, they turned into Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. But there were many gods themselves. The sky was divided into sixteen regions, each of which had its own deity. And there were also the gods of the sea and the underworld, the gods of natural elements, rivers and streams, the gods of plants, gates and doors; and deified ancestors; and just various demons. The gods of the Etruscans demanded propitiation, cruelly punishing people for mistakes and lack of attention to their persons.
In an effort to comprehend the will of the gods and predict the future, the Etruscans developed a complex system of observing natural phenomena, divination by the flight of birds, the entrails of animals, and lightning strikes. Later, the Romans adopted the art of divination from the entrails of animals from the Etruscan soothsayers haruspices.
The Etruscans constantly made sacrifices to the gods, and the greatest was human life. As a rule, these were criminals or captives. Apparently, this is how the custom arose to force prisoners to fight to the death during the funeral of a noble person. The rationalist Romans turned this religious, albeit bloody, ritual into a spectacle for the mob. However, at critical moments for the homeland, the Etruscans, without hesitation, sacrificed their own lives to the gods.
It was religion and language that most of all distinguished the Etruscans from neighboring tribes; they were an absolutely alien element among the peoples surrounding them.
Much less is known about Etruscan science, with the exception of medicine, which was admired by the Romans. It is no coincidence that the ancient Roman historian wrote about "Etruria, famous for the discovery of medicines." Etruscan doctors were well aware of human anatomy. They achieved great success as dentists: in some burials even dentures are found.
About the secular literature, scientific and historical works of the Etruscans, only vague hints from antiquity have been preserved, and the probability of finding such texts is zero. The Etruscans did not carve them on stone or metal, and a papyrus scroll cannot physically survive for thousands of years. Most of the Etruscan texts that scientists have are funerary and dedicatory inscriptions. That is why many researchers believe that even if the Etruscan language is deciphered, this will not greatly increase the knowledge of modern scientists about the ancient civilization. However, work on deciphering the Etruscan language continues ...
GERMAN MALINICHEV
ETRUSIAN IS ANCIENT RUSSIAN!
Almost five hundred years have passed since the first attempt was made, if not to decipher the Etruscan language, then at least to establish its origin. During this time, experts managed to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform writing, find the key to the writings of the Hittites, Lydians, Carians, ancient Persians, and Etruscology is still marking time. Moreover, about thirty years ago, Italian scientists said: this language is encrypted in some mystical way and is generally inaccessible to the understanding of modern man.
At the same time, the writing of the Etruscans is well known. After all, they used the Greek alphabet, perhaps slightly adapting it to convey sounds different from Greek in their own language. Scientists will read any Etruscan text without hesitation, but no one can understand what they read. Researchers cannot even complain about the absence of Etruscan texts. Over 10 thousand Etruscan inscriptions on sarcophagi, urns, grave steles, walls of tombs, figurines, vessels and mirrors have come down to our times. True, 90% of these inscriptions are of a funerary or dedicatory nature and are very short - they contain from one to four words. However, the longest Etruscan inscription, found on the shrouds of a Ptolemaic mummy, contains one and a half thousand words. But, despite this, the successes of Western European linguists over the past century have been very modest.
And what was the situation in Russia?
Our etruscology originates in the 18th century, when many Russian scientists visited Italy in order to study ancient antiquities. In 1854, a generalizing work by E. Klassen “New materials for ancient history Slavs and Slavo-Russians in general. Klassen became the first researcher in the history of Etruscology to propose using the Old Russian language for the translation of Etruscan inscriptions, more than a hundred years ahead of linguists who returned to this idea only by 1980. It was then that the Rasen Etruscans began to be called Proto-Slavs, and a little later several popular articles, which proved the actual identity of cultures, religion and language of the ancient inhabitants of the Apennines and the Slavs. Official science did not recognize this hypothesis, declaring it a dead end. At the same time, academic scientists referred to publications in the foreign press, which proved that Etruscan writings cannot be deciphered using Hungarian, Lithuanian, Phoenician, Finnish and other languages. A strange argument: after all, this list did not include the Old Slavic language, these articles did not refute the Slavic version.
In 2001, as an appendix to the magazine " Russian miracle» Candidate Brochure Released philological sciences, lexicologist Valery Osipov "The Sacred Old Russian Text from Pirga".
In 1964, forty kilometers northwest of Rome, in the ruins of the ancient port of Pirgi, which was part of the Etruscan state of Pere, three golden plates with inscriptions were found. One was in the Punic (Phoenician) language, the other two were in Etruscan. The temple, in the ruins of which the plates were located, was destroyed and plundered by the soldiers of the Syracusan tyrant Hieron. The plates are dated to the 6th-5th centuries BC. e.
At first, scientists were very happy, deciding that they had fallen into their hands bilingual - the same text in two languages, one of which is known. Alas, the Etruscan and Punic texts turned out to be different. Nevertheless, scientists have repeatedly tried to decipher the Etruscan text on the plates from Pyrgi, but failed each time. The meaning of the translation was different for all researchers.
Osipov, on the other hand, saw the key to deciphering in a language close to the famous "Vlesova book", that is, in ancient Slavic writings, recently completely deciphered. In principle, Osipov approached reading the text in the same way as his predecessors, he also read it from right to left, and voiced most of the characters in the same way. But there were differences in his work.
The Etruscans often composed their texts from phrases, words, signs merged into one line, which always interfered with linguists. Word division is the main problem of codebreakers, who first read the text and then tried to understand its meaning. Since the division of the text into words was different for everyone, the meaning also turned out to be different. There were as many “Old Etruscan languages” as there were codebreakers.
Osipov, on the other hand, rewrote the text in the usual letters of the modern Russian alphabet and in the usual direction - from left to right. The transition from reading to understanding the meaning was made already at the stage of word division.
And what?
The language of the golden plates turned out to be a “clattering” dialect, similar to the language of the Vlesovaya Book.
The author read: “itat” is this, “miaitsats” is a month. “dick” is a man, sir, “tleka” is only, “uniala” is calmed, “dream” is between, “bel” is henbane, “tslub” is a ball, “korb” is a jug, dishes, “mae” - has, “natsat” - start, “green” very much, “varne” - a brew, “lkvala” - rejoiced, and so on.
The text on the plates from Pirga turned out to be a description of an ancient ritual that the Etruscans transferred to the Italian lands from Asia Minor. Perhaps this is just a fragment. In any case, Valery Osipov believes that there is clearly no beginning in the text. Ancient priests tell how to hold summer games on the day of the solstice. The holiday was erotically unbridled, and the text contains advice on how to overcome female coldness with the help of stimulating decoctions of henbane and mistletoe, which remove shame and give sexual strength. According to Valery Osipov, the text from Pirga may bring to us the practical experience of the ancestors, who recommended to intensify sexual life during a certain period of the year, so as not to get out of the natural rhythm and not to violate the divine prescriptions. The life of the Etruscans in general was subject to many strict religious rules and formal rituals.
Moreover, erotic games among all peoples of antiquity also pursued a magical goal - with their sexual activity, a person sought to influence the fertility of sown fields and to increase the number of domestic animals. Here it is appropriate to recall the Slavic holiday of Ivan Kupala, named so not from the word "swim", as many believe, but from the word KUPA - a bunch. The same root in the words KUPNO, COPOM, TOGETHER, COMBINE, in French COUPLE - a couple, a couple.
The text from Pirga is extremely frank and even naturalistic, therefore, in the brochure, Osipov does not give its translation into modern Russian, but offers a variant of the text written from left to right in the letters of the modern Russian alphabet, divided into words.
Valery Osipov sent his translation of the text from Pirga to scientists in different countries peace, but no one answered him. Meanwhile, the Russian researcher translated dozens of Etruscan inscriptions with his own method, and in one epitaph on an Etruscan sarcophagus from Tuscany he found the name of the common Slavic god Veles, the god of pagan cattle breeders. The Russian researcher sent a message about this to many Etruscologists, but they did not believe him either.
The work of the French orientalist Z. Mayani "Etruscans begin to speak" echoes the work of V. D. Osipov. Mayani's book is quite popular in Western Europe and was published in Russia in 2003 by the Veche publishing house. The French scientist deciphered some Etruscan texts using the Old Albanian (Illyrian) language, making more than three hundred etymological comparisons between Etruscan and Illyrian words. Mayani seems to have needed the help of benevolent linguists to confirm his method, but linguists have rejected his method as subjective, complete picture. Academicians backed up their opinion with the authority of ... the ancient Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who believed that the Etruscan language is not like any other. But the Illyrian language, like Old Russian, belongs to the Indo-European language group. It has been proven that the Etruscan language belongs to the same group. The ancient Illyrian tribes on the way from Asia Minor to the Balkans could well intersect with the Proto-Etruscans.
Etruscans
ETRUSC-ov; pl. The ancient tribes that inhabited in the first millennium BC. northwest of the Apennine Peninsula, who created a developed civilization (ancient Etruria, modern Tuscany).
◁ Etruscan, -a; m. Etruscan, th, th. E. language. Uh vase.
Etruscansancient tribes that inhabited in the 1st millennium BC. e. northwest of the Apennine Peninsula (the region of ancient Etruria, modern Tuscany) and created a developed civilization that preceded the Roman one and had a great influence on it. The origin of the Etruscans is not clear. At the end of the 7th century united in a union of 12 city-states, about the middle of the VI century. took over the Campaign. In the V-III centuries. BC e. conquered by Rome.
ETRUSIANETRUSCIANS (lat. Etrusci, tusci, Greek tyrrhenoi, rsenoi, self-name - races), ancient people, inhabited in 1 thousand BC. e. region of Central Italy between the rivers Arno and Tiber and the Apennine mountains (ancient Etruria, modern Tuscany (cm. TUSCANY)).
The appearance of the Etruscans and the mystery of origin
In the 8th c. BC e. the archaeological culture of the Etruscans is taking shape. On the territory of Tuscany, numerous settlements arise, surrounded by walls of massive stone blocks. Rich burials in round burial grounds covered with false vaults are replaced by more modest burials of the Villanova culture. The grave goods testify to the high skill of the Etruscan blacksmiths and jewelers; Etruscan potters became the creators of "bucchero" ceramics, which are characterized by vessels with a black shiny surface, various in shape and often decorated with stucco figures of birds and animals.
Archeological data do not allow us to resolve the issue of the homeland of the Etruscans. Back in the 5th c. BC e. "father of history" Herodotus (cm. HERODOTUS) pointed to their eastern origin. According to the legend set forth by Herodotus, the Etruscans were the descendants of the Lydians. (cm. LYDIA), some of whom were forced to leave Asia Minor, where famine raged, and go overseas (Her., I, 94). A contemporary of Herodotus Hellanicus of Lesbos saw the pre-Greek population in the Etruscans (cm. PELASGI) Hellas; Augustan Greek rhetorician Dionysius of Halicarnassus (cm. Dionysius of Halicarnassus) considered them to be the original inhabitants of Italy (Dion. Hal. I, 28-30). Disputes about the origin of the Etruscans continued for centuries: the problem was complicated by the fact that the language of the Etruscan inscriptions is still not clear to researchers. In search of family ties, Etruscan inscriptions are compared with all Indo-European languages, including Slavic.
It is obvious that the Etruscan alphabet arose on the basis of the ancient Greek alphabet. More than 10 thousand Etruscan inscriptions of the 7th-1st centuries are known. BC e., but scientists were able to establish the meaning of only a few dozen words. Deciphering is hampered by the uniformity and brevity of the inscriptions, which are mostly funerary epitaphs and contain only names and traditional addresses to the gods. The largest Etruscan text (about 1500 words) was preserved on the shrouds in which the mummy from Alexandria was wrapped, now stored in the Zagreb Museum. Attempts to establish analogies for Etruscan words and grammatical forms in modern or ancient languages have not yet been successful.
In 194, during the excavations of the Etruscan city of Pyrgi (the harbor of Caere), three gold plates with inscriptions were found. Two of them contained Etruscan texts, the third - a dedication to the gods, written in the Phoenician language. The Phoenician text, unfortunately, was not a literal translation of the Etruscan, but was only a paraphrase of it. A comparative study of these texts opens up new perspectives for researchers of the Etruscan language.
In 1885, a burial stele of the 6th century BC was found on the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. BC e., the inscriptions of which are made in a language related to Etruscan. Supporters of the eastern origin of the Etruscans, noting the undoubted influence on their material culture of art and religious beliefs Asia Minor, consider this find as an important argument to prove their theory. At the same time, some researchers continue to see in the Etruscans part of the ancient population of the Mediterranean, who lived here even before the migration of the Indo-Europeans. Many scientific schools, however, refuse such extreme and definite points of view. The formation of the Etruscan ethnos is sought to be presented as the result of the interaction of cultures of different tribes. This allows not only to emphasize the external similarity of individual monuments material culture Etruscans with finds in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea, but also to explain the rapid rise of the Etruscan civilization and its rapid spread on the territory of the Apennine Peninsula.
Etruscan policies
By the 7th c. BC. Etruria was a confederation of 12 city-states, each of which was the center of the union of several smaller cities and settlements. At the head of each state were kings, then they were replaced by elected magistrates. The union of cities was headed in turn by one of the rulers, who also had the power of the high priest. largest cities were Tarquinia (cm. TARQUINIA (city)), Veii (cm. WEIY), Cere (cm. CERE), Wolsinii (cm. WOLSINI), Vetulonia, Clusius, Perusia, Fiesole, Populonia, Volterra.
ancient Etruscan cities located on the tops of high hills and were hard-to-reach fortifications, "eagles' nests" that dominated the agricultural district. The inhabitants of Etruria were actively engaged in the development of mining deposits, as evidenced by the mountains of slag that have survived around the Etruscan settlements. The products of Etruscan artisans were in great demand among neighboring peoples, which led to the development of trade and the foundation of trading posts on the western and eastern coasts of the Apennine Peninsula. Items made in Etruria have been found in Switzerland, Burgundy, Provence, Spain, North Africa, Asia Minor and Greece. The sea washing the western coast of Italy, the Greeks called the Tyrrhenian, recognizing the absolute dominance of the Etruscan sailors on it - merchants and pirates.
Expansion and defeat
At the end of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. The Etruscans captured the river valley. Po, where they founded a number of cities, penetrated into Latium (cm. LAZIO) and occupied the fertile lands of Campania (cm. CAMPAIGN (administrative area)). According to Titus Livy, from 616 to 510. BC e. in Rome, the dynasty of Etruscan kings ruled: Tarquinius the Ancient, Servius Tullius (cm. SERVIUS TULLIUS), Tarquinius the Proud (cm. Tarquinius the Proud). From the Etruscans, the Romans borrowed the symbols of royal power: the curule chair (throne) and fascia (cm. FASCIA)- bundles of rods with a double hatchet in the center.
Having spread its influence over most of the Apennine Peninsula, Etruria continued to be a politically unstable union of cities that could not resist an external enemy. In the 5th c. BC e. land along the river Po were captured by the Gauls (cm. CELT) and later received the name of Cisalpine Gaul. It is possible that part of the Etruscans moved to the Alpine valleys, where, according to the testimony of ancient authors, a tribe of Retians lived, whose language was related to Etruscan. In southern Italy, the Etruscans suffered a series of defeats from the Greeks. Titus Livy tells of the stubborn wars that Rome waged with the Etruscans. In 510 BC. e. The Romans expelled the last Etruscan king and established republican rule. This was followed by a war with Porsenna, king of the city of Clusium. besieging Rome. The courage of the legendary Roman heroes did not allow the Etruscans to establish themselves in Latium. In 396 BC. e. after 10 years of war, the Roman troops stormed and destroyed Veii. During the 3rd century BC e. Etruscan cities completely lost their political independence. At the end of the 1st c. BC e. the Etruscan language was supplanted by Latin and fell into disuse, although many representatives of the ancient Etruscan families continued to live in Rome and enjoyed great influence. It is known that Patron was an Etruscan by origin. (cm. MAECENAS), associate of Augustus and patron of poets.
Research History
Etruscan antiquities attracted the attention of scholars of Rome. Grammar Verrius Flaccus 1st c. BC e. was the author of a book about the deeds of the Etruscans; Emperor Claudius (cm. Claudius (emperor)(41-54 AD) compiled a grammar of the Etruscan language and wrote the "History of the Etruscans" in 20 books. However, none of these writings has survived to this day, just as the books of Etruscan writers, whose names are mentioned by ancient authors, have not survived.
The European world discovered the culture of the Etruscans back in the Renaissance, when lovers of antiquities began to excavate in Etruscan tombs and collect art monuments. Until the first half of the 19th century. Numerous works of ancient Greek masters, which were imported into Etruria during its heyday, continued to be considered Etruscan. Established in European art of the 18th century. so-called. "Etruscan style" combined the motifs of both Greek and Roman art.
The beginning of the study of Etruscan culture was laid by the publication in Florence in 1723-1724. T. Dempster's work "Seven books about royal Etruria". In 1726, the Etruscan Academy was founded in Cortona, and then a museum. In 1789 Abbot L. Lanzi, who was researching the collection of Etruscan antiquities in the Uffizi Museum in Florence, published the book Discourse on the Etruscan Language and Other Ancient Languages of Italy. In the 18-19 centuries. systematic excavations in the vicinity of Rome and in Tuscany have discovered many monuments of Etruscan art; their publication and study contributed to the formation of etruscology as a separate direction in the science of antiquity.
Etruscan roots of Roman culture
Roman scholar Vitruvius (cm. Vitruvius)(1st century BC) pointed out that thanks to the Etruscans, the Romans mastered the technique of monumental construction and learned to create cities with a regular layout of quarters and streets. Many modern Italian cities (Bologna, Perugia, Orvieto, Arezzo, etc.) stand on the site of the Etruscan cities. In Rome, the remains of the sewer system (Cloaca Maxima), created by the Etruscans, have been preserved. In Perugia and Volterra, fragments of walls made of large stone blocks and arched gates can be seen.
In the work of Vitruvius, one can find descriptions of Etruscan temples, which were built on platforms and were divided inside into three parallel naves. The facade of the temple was a portico with two rows of columns. In 1916, during excavations of the temple in Veii, fragments of a terracotta sculpture that adorned its facade were discovered. A statue of a deity (the so-called "Apollo from Vei") by the famous sculptor Vulka was also found here. (cm. VULKA from Vey).
The masters of Etruria were fluent in the technique of casting from bronze; the expressiveness and expressiveness of the Etruscan sculptural portrait ("Orator", the so-called "Brutus's head") had an undeniable influence on Roman art. Etruscan sculpture was closely associated with funerary cults. The lids of sarcophagi and urns were completed by the figures of men and women reclining at a funeral feast; their images, estranged from earthly fuss. full of harmony and tranquility. The material for the sculptures was clay or an easily workable soft stone, which made it possible to convey smooth movements and finely model faces.
Etruscan tombs in Tarquinia have preserved the rarest monuments of fresco painting in the ancient world. Only a small part of the frescoes has been transferred to museums. Most of the paintings are exposed to the harmful effects of humid air and gradually disappear, losing their picturesque perfection. The tombs are often named according to the plots of the compositions that adorn their walls: the tombs of augurs, jugglers, hunting and fishing, lions, bulls, monsters, etc. Dancers, musicians with flutes and lyres are depicted, reclining at the tables feasting, luxurious utensils, elegant clothes : according to the beliefs of the Etruscans, joy and beauty should have surrounded them even after death.
Religion
The frescoes also preserved images of the gods and inscriptions containing their names. Supreme gods Tin (cm. TIN), Uni and Mnerva were combined into a triad and subsequently revered in Rome as Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Tin was considered the god of the sky, who led a council of 12 gods, to whom a certain part of the sky was dedicated. The god Aplu was identified with the Greek Apollo, Turms - with Hermes, Seflans was the god of blacksmithing, Turan was often depicted on Etruscan mirrors as the goddess of love and beauty. Aita and Thersifae (Hades and Persephone of the ancient Greeks) reigned in the underworld. The gods proclaimed their will with the help of lightning, the appearance of which was observed by priests - fulgators.
Man's life path depended on many good and evil spirits. The signs they sent were interpreted by various priests: augurs (cm. AUGURS) predicted the future by the flight of birds, haruspices (cm. HARUSPICS)- according to the peculiarities of the structure of the liver of the sacrificial animal. A bronze model of the liver from Piacenza, intended for the training of priests, has been preserved. It is a reduced model of the universe, also divided into separate parts, subject to different gods. According to the Roman biographer Suetonius (cm. Suetonius Gaius Tranquill)(2nd century), it was the haruspex who predicted to Julius Caesar that the March Ides (March 15) would be fatal for him.
The images created by the Etruscan masters had a huge impact on European art. Symbol of Rome - bronze Capitoline she-wolf (cm. CAPITOLIAN WOLF)- was made in Etruria. Among Michelangelo's drawings (cm. Michelangelo Buonarroti) there is an image of the head of an Etruscan god in a wolf's skin - a copy of an ancient fresco that has not come down to us. Monuments of Etruscan architecture are depicted in the engravings of Piranesi. Etruscan bronze figurines inspired Benvenuto Cellini to create the famous statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa. Significant collections of Etruscan art collected in the Capitoline Museums of Rome, Vatican Museums, Archaeological Museum of Florence, british museum, Louvre, State Hermitage, testify to the outstanding contribution made by the Etruscan civilization to world culture.
encyclopedic Dictionary . 2009 .
See what "Etruscans" are in other dictionaries:
Rasna (Rasenna) confederation ... Wikipedia
Etruscans- Etruscans. Wanf demon of the underworld. Fragment of a fresco in the tomb of François at Vulci. II I centuries. BC e. Etruscans. Wanf demon of the underworld. Fragment of a fresco in the tomb of François at Vulci. II I centuries. BC e. Etruscans are ancient tribes that inhabited 1 m ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"
Etruscans- Etruscans. Head of Tin from Satricum. Beginning 5th c. BC. Villa Giulia Museum. Rome. Etruscans, tribes that inhabited in the 1st millennium BC. northwest of the Apennine Peninsula (region of Etruria, modern Tuscany) and created a developed civilization, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
