The most terrible tortures in the history of mankind (21 photos). Where are the Etruscans, and what does the Russian Etruscan cities of the dead have to do with it?

The Romans are called the teachers of Western Europe. Indeed, Western European civilization adopted a huge number of its achievements from Roman culture, from alphabetical writing to sewage systems. But the Romans themselves had their own teachers. For at the cradle of Roman civilization stands another, more ancient one, created by the Etruscans, a people who to this day remain mysterious. And it’s not for nothing that we called our book “The Etruscans - Mystery Number One.” In fact: shouldn’t the “first issue” of modern historical science, studying the origin of ancient civilizations, raise the question of the “teachers of teachers” of Western European culture, a culture that, after the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, spread to all parts of the world, including the current wintering stations in Antarctica?

There are many peoples on the globe whose origin, history, language, and culture seem mysterious. And yet the Etruscans are rightfully called the “most mysterious” people. After all, they lived not in distant exotic lands, but in the very heart of Europe, their study began in the Renaissance, when Europeans knew nothing about America, Australia and Oceania, and their information about Africa and Asia was very fantastic, but ours knowledge about “teachers of teachers” is less than about the pygmies of the Congo, the Indians of the Amazon, the Polynesians of Oceania and other peoples who are called “mysterious”. The Etruscan mystery is truly “mystery number one.”

This mystery cannot but worry our Soviet scientists who study the origins of the cultural heritage that we use along with other European peoples.

The symbol of Rome is the Capitoline wolf, which suckled Romulus and Remus. The legendary founder of the city is considered to be Romulus, from whose name the very name Rome, or rather Roma, is derived (we, the Slavs, call it Rome). Of course, this is just a widespread myth. The name of the “eternal city” is given by the river on which it stands. After all, the oldest name of the Tiber sounds like Ruma. This word most likely comes from the Etruscan language. But the Romans owe not only the name, but also the creation of the city itself to their mysterious predecessors. And the sculpture of the Capitoline She-Wolf, personifying Rome, was made by the hands of an Etruscan master; only later, by the Romans, were figurines of the infants Romulus and Remus attached to it. And for us, unlike the ancient inhabitants of Rome, it takes on a different meaning: the “eternal city” was founded by the Etruscans, and then the Romans took over the baton from them.

Not far from the outskirts of modern Bologna, archaeologists were lucky enough to find a small Etruscan city, more or less spared by time. From it one can judge the layout of Etruscan cities. They were built on hills, in steps. In the center, at the top, temples were erected; below, the residential part of the city was located geometrically correctly. Its obligatory accessory was a running water system... Isn’t it true, an exact copy of ancient Rome, standing on seven hills, each of which is crowned with temples, and equipped with a running water supply system (which, by the way, is still in operation today!)?

The oldest Etruscan houses were round; they were covered with a thatched roof. But very early, rectangular houses began to appear, with a fireplace burning in the central room. Smoke was coming out through a hole in the roof. The aristocrats and military nobility who dominated Etruscan cities lived in houses with an atrium, that is, with an open area inside the house on which the hearth was located. We find all this later in the “Roman” type of residential building. It would be more correct to call it “Etruscan”.

The Romans also adopted the design of temples from the Etruscans, whose roofs and entablature - the part of the structure between the roof and columns - were decorated with sculptures and clay reliefs. However, sometimes there was not even continuity or imitation here: many famous temples of Rome were erected by Etruscan masters.

The Capitoline wolf is a symbol of Rome; the symbol of his eternity and power is a grandiose temple on the crest of the Capitoline Hill, which was decorated with the famous she-wolf, as well as many other statues and reliefs. Their author was the Etruscan sculptor Vulca from the Etruscan city of Veii.

Capitol Hill Temple; dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, was made by order of the last king of Rome, Tarquinius the Proud, of Etruscan origin, and its architecture is typically Etruscan. The front part of the temple is a hall with a colonnade; rear - three halls located parallel to each other; rooms: a central one, dedicated to the supreme god Jupiter, and two side ones, dedicated to Juno and Minerva.

Not only the proportions, decorations, and designs were Etruscan, but also the material from which the Capitoline Temple was made. Along with stone, the Etruscans also used wood. To protect the wooden walls from rotting, they were lined with adobe slabs. These slabs were painted in different colors. This, of course, gave the temple a festive and cheerful look.

The Capitoline Temple was destroyed by fire several times, but each time it was rebuilt. Moreover, in the very original form in which the Etruscan architects built it, because, according to the soothsayers, “the gods are against changing the shape of the temple” - it was only allowed to change its size (although the first Capitol was not inferior in size to the largest temples of Ancient Greece).

Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote about the water supply system, “built by the slaves of Rome.” In fact, this is not entirely true: the construction was carried out by the Romans themselves on the orders of the Etruscan king Tarquinius Priscus, who ruled Rome.

“Cloaca maxima” - “great sewer” - this is what the ancient Romans called a huge stone pipe that collected excess moisture and rainwater and carried it to the Tiber. “Sometimes the Tiber drives the waters back, and the various streams inside collide, but despite this, the strong structure withstands the pressure,” reports Pliny the Elder, adding that it is “so spacious that a cart loaded with hay could pass through it.” But not only the load of hay, but also the huge weights that were transported on top of this covered canal could not do anything with it - “the vaulted building does not bend, fragments of buildings that themselves suddenly collapsed or were destroyed by fires fall on it, the ground shakes from earthquakes, but nevertheless it has withstood this for seven hundred years since the time of Tarquinius Priscus, being almost eternal,” writes Pliny the Elder.

About two thousand more years passed. But to this day, the “cloaca maxim” is part of the sewer system of the “eternal city”.

Actually, the creation of this building made Rome Rome. Until then, there were villages here, on seven hills, and between them there was a swampy place - a pasture for cattle. Thanks to the "cloaca maxim" it was drained and became the center of the city - a forum. First the central square, then the center of Rome, then the Roman Empire, which covered almost the entire civilized world of the ancient era, and, finally, it became a symbolic name...

Thus, the Etruscans created “true Rome,” even if we assume that not only they lived in the villages on the hills, but also other tribes about which Roman legends speak.

Back in the 18th century, the Italian architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi noted that the Etruscans had a strong influence on the “Romanesque style of architecture” - a style that dominated medieval art in Europe for several centuries, when, in the words of the chronicler Raoul Glabner, author of the Five Books of History, who lived in the 11th century, “Christian peoples seemed to compete with each other in splendor, trying to outdo each other with the elegance of their temples,” and “the whole world unanimously threw off the ancient rags to put on the snow-white robes of churches.”

It turns out that these “snow-white robes of churches” appeared after all under the influence of “ancient rags,” and not even “Romanesque,” ​​that is, Roman, but even more ancient—Etruscan!

The Romans adopted not only the art of urban planning, but also the management system from the Etruscans. Thus, Strabo reports that “triumphal and consular decorations and, in general, decorations of officials were transferred to Rome from Tarquinia, as well as fasces, axes, trumpets, sacred rites, the art of fortune telling and music, since the Romans used it in public life.” After all, the rulers of the Etruscan city of Tarquinia, as legends unanimously assert, were also the kings of Rome. And those attributes that we always associate with Roman rule are in fact Etruscan. For example, bundles of rods with axes stuck in them, a toga trimmed with purple, an ivory chair, etc...

Hundreds of articles and books have been written about the art of Roman sculptural portraiture. It owes its origin again to the Etruscans. “Having adopted funeral customs from the Etruscans, the Romans began to preserve the appearance of the deceased in the form of a wax mask. The masks conveyed the individual traits of a relative who was revered by his descendants. Subsequently, sculptural images made of solid metal (bronze, stone) followed this artistic realistic tradition,” writes Professor A. I. Nemirovsky in the book “Ariadne’s Thread,” dedicated to ancient archeology.

The Romans were also students of the Etruscans in the manufacture of bronze statues. As we have already said, the Capitoline Wolf was cast by Etruscan craftsmen. No less magnificent is the bronze figurine of a chimera, found in one of the Etruscan cities - the personification of anger and vengeance. Her hidden tension before the jump is conveyed with extraordinary skill and realism. Both the she-wolf and the chimera are examples of the traditional style of Etruscan cult art; their eyes were once made of... precious stones. Later, bronze statues were placed in Roman temples along with terracotta statues.

The Etruscans acted as teachers of the Romans not only in the field of fine arts. For example, according to Titus Livy, the performing arts of Rome owe their origin to them. In 364 BC. e., he reports, to save from the plague epidemic, stage games were organized in honor of the gods, for which “players” were invited from Etruria, who performed various dances. Having become interested in their playing, the Roman youth also began to dance, in imitation of the Etruscan “players,” and then accompany the dancing with singing. Later, the Romans learned about the Greek theater... “Although T. Livy’s presentation suffers from some confusion, the combination of three elements in Roman drama - Latin, Etruscan and Greek - remains indisputable,” states S. I. Radzig in his textbook “Classical Philology”.

The Etruscan influence on the Romans was felt not only in the field of urban planning, architecture, fine arts and art in general, but also in the field of science. Wealthy Romans sent their children to Etruria to study the “Etruscan discipline”—Etruscan sciences. True, the main achievement of this science was considered to be the ability to predict the future. More precisely, even one of the varieties of this ancient “futurology” is the so-called haruspicy, predictions from the entrails of sacrificial animals (however, sometimes another “science” was called haruspicy - predicting fate through the interpretation of signs in the form of lightning sent by the gods during a thunderstorm).

The main object of study of the haruspex predictors was the animal’s liver, and less often the heart and lungs. A bronze Etruscan mirror found in the city of Vulci is engraved with the process of divination. The haruspex is bending over the table on which the trachea and lungs lie, and in his left hand he holds the liver. The slightest changes in the color and shape of the liver received a “strictly scientific” interpretation. Moreover, at the suggestion of the Roman Emperor Claudius, an attempt was made to turn haruspicy into a “state doctrine.” Haruspices played a huge role in the life of Ancient Rome and the entire Roman Empire. At first they were all Etruscans, then the Romans adopted this “science”. Their college, whose center was traditionally located in Etruscan Tarquinia, was addressed not only on personal, but also on state issues. And although the political independence of the Etruscans was lost a long time ago, their “ideological” influence remained for many centuries.

In the 4th century. n. e. Emperor Constantine, the “benefactor” of Christians, issues a strict order that the haruspices stop making sacrifices at altars and in temples. But the activities of the Etruscan priests and their Roman students continue. When Constantine, under penalty of death, generally prohibits the activities of the haruspices. But this also cannot stop the priests - fortune telling on the liver and entrails of sacrificial animals does not disappear. Even in the 7th century. n. e., when in the memory of the peoples who populated the expanses of the former Roman Empire there were no traces of the ancient Etruscans, decrees continue to be issued that the haruspices should stop their prophecies!

...So, art and architecture, urban planning and plumbing, the creation of the “eternal city” and the “science of divination” - all this is the work of the Etruscans, and not the Romans, their heirs. As well as the creation of the “Roman” control system. The Romans themselves admitted that they learned a lot from the Etruscans in military affairs. The art of building and driving ships was completely adopted by the “land” Romans from the Etruscans - one of the best sailors in the Mediterranean, rivals of the Greeks and allies of the Carthaginians...

Who are they, the Etruscans? What kind of people are these? People became interested in these questions a long time ago, back in the era of antiquity. And even then the “Etruscan problem” was born, because the opinions of scientists of that time differed sharply. The dispute about the Etruscans began almost two and a half thousand years ago. A dispute that continues to this day!

Who and where from

Initially, in the X-IX centuries. BC e., the Etruscans lived in the northern part of what is now Italy, in Etruria (later it became known as Tuscany, because the Etruscans were also called “Tosks” or “Tusci”). Then their rule extended to all of Central Italy and part of the Mediterranean. Their colonies also appear in the south of the Apennine Peninsula, on Corsica and other islands, in the foothills of the Alps. The Etruscan state was not centralized: according to the Romans, it was a federation of 12 cities of Etruria (a number of them have already been excavated by archaeologists, and a number have yet to be discovered). In addition, there is information about the “12 cities of Campania,” south of Etruria, and about the “new twelve-city in the North,” in the Po Valley and the Central Alps. The famous enemy of Carthage, Senator Cato, even claimed that the Etruscans once belonged to almost all of Italy. The Etruscan kings ruled Rome.

But then the “eternal city” is freed from the rule of the Etruscan kings and becomes a city-republic... And after that, the slow but inevitable decline of Etruscan rule begins. Greek colonists in southern Italy close their ports and the Strait of Messina to Etruscan ships. They then, in alliance with the ruler of Syracuse, inflict a crushing defeat on the Etruscan navy. The maritime glory of the Etruscans is fading. The island of Elba is taken from them, then Corsica. The Etruscans are losing their colonies and cities in the most fertile Campania in the south and the “new twelve-city” in the north. The turn comes for the loss of lands in Etruria itself.

Rome's longtime rival was the Etruscan city of Veii, a neighbor and competitor in trade, art, and fame. Bloody skirmishes between the Romans and Etruscans ended with the fall of Veii. The inhabitants of the city were killed or sold into slavery, and its territory was transferred into the possession of the citizens of Rome. Then the slow penetration of the Romans into Etruria begins, which is replaced by a sudden invasion of the Gaul tribes.

The Gauls first capture Northern Italy, devastate Etruria, and then defeat the Roman troops. Rome was also captured by hordes of aliens, its buildings were destroyed and burned, only the temple on Capitol Hill, the famous Capitol, built by the Etruscans, survived (remember the legend about how “the geese saved Rome” by warning the defenders of the Capitol?).

The Gauls, having carried out devastation and received tribute, left the land of Rome and Etruria. Rome managed to recover from their invasion and began to gain strength again. Etruria, on the contrary, received a mortal blow from the Gallic invasion. The Romans set up their colonies on its territory. One after another, the Etruscan cities fell under the rule of Rome. And gradually Tuscany no longer becomes the “country of the Etruscans,” but a Roman province, where Latin, rather than Etruscan, speech is heard. True to the principle of divide and conquer, the Romans widely granted citizenship to their former rivals. With Roman citizenship comes Roman customs. The native language is forgotten, the former religion and culture are forgotten, and, perhaps, by the beginning of our era, only the art of divination remains Etruscan. In all other respects, the Etruscans are already Latins and Romans. Having fertilized the culture of Rome with its achievements, the Etruscan civilization disappears...

The end of the Etruscans, as well as the heyday of Etruria, are well known. The birth of the Etruscan civilization and the Etruscan people is unknown. “The Father of History,” Herodotus cites the most ancient evidence of the origin of the Etruscans, called Tyrrhenians by the Greeks. According to him, they come from Asia Minor, more precisely, from Lydia (by the way, the female name Lydia has brought down to this day the name of this ancient country, located in the center of the western tip of the Asia Minor peninsula).

Herodotus reports that “during the reign of Atys, son of Maneus, there was a great need for bread throughout Lydia. At first the Lydians patiently endured the famine; Then, when the hunger did not stop, they began to invent means against it, and each came up with his own special one. It was then, they say, that games of cubes, dice, ball and others, besides the game of chess, were invented; The Lydians do not take credit for the invention of chess. These inventions served as a remedy for them against hunger: one day they played continuously so as not to think about food, the next day they ate and left the game. They lived in this way for eighteen years. However, the hunger not only did not abate, but intensified; then the king divided the entire people into two parts and cast lots so that one of them would remain in their homeland, and the other would move out; He appointed himself king of the part that by lot remained in place, and over the part that evicted he placed his son, named Tyrrhena. Those of them who had the lot to move out went to Smyrna, built ships there, put the items they needed on them and sailed to find food and place of residence. Having passed through many nations, they finally arrived at the Ombrics, where they founded cities and live to this day. Instead of Lydians, they began to be called by the name of the son of the king who forced them to move out; they ascribed his name to themselves, and were called Tyrrhenians.”

Herodotus lived in the 5th century. BC e. Many of his stories have been confirmed in the light of modern discoveries, including some reports about the Etruscans. Thus, Herodotus says that the Etruscans, in honor of their victory over the Greeks, regularly organized gymnastic competitions, a kind of “Etruscan Olympics.” During excavations of the famous Etruscan city of Tarquinia, archaeologists discovered colorful frescoes depicting sports competitions: running, horse racing, discus throwing, etc. - like illustrations to the words of Herodotus!

The stone tombs of the Etruscans are similar to the stone graves discovered in Lydia and neighboring Phrygia. Etruscan sanctuaries, as a rule, are located near springs, as well as the sanctuaries of the ancient inhabitants of Asia Minor.

According to many experts, Etruscan art, if we discard the later Greek influence, has a close connection with the art of Asia Minor. They believe that the multicolored Etruscan painting originates from the East, similar to the custom of erecting the most ancient temples on high artificial platforms. In the figurative words of one of the researchers, “through the elegant Greek clothes thrown over Etruria, however, the eastern origin of this people shines through.”

This opinion of art historians is also joined by some historians of religion, who believe that although the main gods of the Etruscans bore Greek names, they were, in principle, closer to the deities of the East than the Greek Olympus. In Asia Minor the formidable god Tarhu or Tarku was revered. Among the Etruscans, one of the most common names came from this name, including the names of the Etruscan kings who ruled Rome, the Tarquin dynasty!

The list of similar arguments in favor of the testimony of the “father of history” could be continued. But all these arguments are indirect, by analogy. The similarity of customs, names, monuments of art may be accidental, and not due to deep ancient kinship. As for Herodotus’ story about the “starving Lydians” who, fleeing hunger, spent their time playing games for 18 years, you yourself probably noticed a lot of fabulous and legendary things in it. Moreover, he, like the “father of history,” lived in the 5th century. BC e. the Greek author Hellanicus of Lesbos told us a completely different story related to the origin of the Etruscans.

According to Hellanicus, the territory of Hellas was once inhabited by the ancient people of the Pelasgians - right up to the Peloponnese Peninsula. When the Greeks came here, the Pelasgians were forced to leave Hellas. First they moved to Thessaly, and then the Greeks drove them overseas. Under the leadership of their king Pelasgus, they sailed to Italy, where they began to take a new name, and gave rise to a country called Tyrsenia (i.e. Tyrrhenia-Etruria).

Other authors of antiquity say that the Pelasgians were forced to flee from Thessaly by the flood that occurred under King Deucalion, even before the Trojan War. They report that part of the Pelasgians settled on the islands of Lemnos and Imbros in the Aegean Sea; that the Pelasgians initially landed near the Spinet River on the coast of the Ionian Gulf, and then moved inland and only then came to their current homeland, Tyrrhenia or Etruria...

These versions are contradictory, but they all agree on one thing: the Etruscans are the descendants of the predecessors of the Hellenes in Greece, the Pelasgians. But in addition to this and Herodotus’ “theory of the origin of the Etruscans,” there are two more, also dating back to antiquity. In Rome at the end of the 1st century. BC e. lived a native of the Asia Minor city of Halicarnassus named Dionysius, an educated man and well acquainted with both the traditions of his homeland and the Roman-Etruscan legends and traditions.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote a treatise “Roman Antiquities”, where he strongly objects to Herodotus’s assertion that the Etruscans are descendants of the Lydians. He refers to the fact that a contemporary of the “father of history,” Xanthus, wrote a four-volume “History of the Lydians,” specifically dedicated to this people. And it doesn’t say a word about the fact that half of the Lydians moved to Italy and gave rise to the Etruscans. Moreover, according to Xanthus, the son of King Atys was not called Tyrrhenus, but Toreb. He separated from his father a part of Lydia, whose subjects began to be called Torebians, and not at all Tyrrhenians or Etruscans.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus believes that the Lydians and the Etruscans have nothing in common with each other: they speak different languages, pray to different gods, and observe different customs and laws. “Therefore, it seems to me that those who consider them to be the local population, and not aliens at all, are more likely to be right,” concludes Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a native of Asia Minor who lived in Rome, once founded by the Etruscans. And this point of view is shared not only by Dionysius himself, but also by many modern scientists.

“Newcomers from the East or Aborigines?” - this would seem to be how one can summarize the long-standing dispute about the origin of the Etruscans. But let's not rush. We have already quoted Titus Livy, an ancient Roman historian. Let us quote another interesting remark made by him: “And the Alpine tribes, undoubtedly, are also of Etruscan origin, especially the Raetians, who, however, under the influence of the surrounding nature, became wild to such an extent that they did not retain anything from the old customs except their language, but They even failed to preserve the language without distortion.”

The Raetii were the inhabitants of the region stretching from Lake Constance to the Danube River (the territory of present-day Tyrol and part of Switzerland). The Etruscans, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, called themselves Rasenna, which is close to the name Rhetia. That's why back in the middle of the 17th century! V. French scientist N. Frere, citing the words of Titus Livy, as well as a number of other evidence, put forward the theory that the homeland of the Etruscans should be sought in the north - in the Central Alps. This theory was supported by Niebuhr and Mommsen, two of the greatest historians of Rome of the last century, and in our century it has many supporters.

For a long time, Herodotus's message about the Etruscans was considered the most ancient. But then the inscriptions carved on the walls of the ancient Egyptian temple in Medinet Habu were deciphered, which spoke of the attack on Egypt by the “peoples of the sea” in the 13th-12th centuries. BC e. “Not a single country could resist the right hand,” say the hieroglyphs. - They advanced on Egypt... The allies were united among them prst, chkr, shkrsh, dyn And wshsh. They laid hands on countries to the ends of the earth, their hearts were full of hope and they said: “Our plans will succeed.” Another text talks about tribes shrdn, shkrsh and finally trsh.

As you know, the Egyptians did not express vowels in writing (we will refer the reader to our book “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” published by the publishing house “Znanie” in the series “Read, Comrade!” in 1972, which tells about Egyptian hieroglyphics). Therefore, the names of peoples could not be deciphered for a long time. Then the people prst managed to identify with the Philistines, who are spoken of in the Bible and from whom the name of the country of Palestine comes. People day, Most likely, these are the Danaans or Achaean Greeks, those who crushed Troy. People shrdn- these are sards, people shkrsh- Sikuls, and the people trsh- Tyrsenians or Tyrrhenians, i.e. Etruscans!

This message about the Etruscans in the Medinet Habu texts is many centuries older than the testimony of Herodotus. And this is not a tradition or a legend, but a genuine historical document, compiled immediately after the Egyptians managed to defeat the advancing armadas of the “Sea Peoples”, acting in alliance with the Libyans. But what does this message say?

Supporters of the “Asia Minor address” of the Etruscan homeland saw in the indication of Egyptian inscriptions a written confirmation of their rightness. After all, the “peoples of the sea,” in their opinion, were moving towards Egypt from the east, from Asia Minor, through Syria and Palestine. However, the texts nowhere say that the “peoples of the sea” attacked Egypt specifically from the east, it only says that they crushed the countries lying east of the country of the pyramids.

On the contrary, many facts indicate that the Sea Peoples attacked Egypt from the west. For example, biblical tradition indicates that the Philistines came to Palestine from Caphtor, that is, the island of Crete. The headdresses of the “Sea Peoples” depicted on the Egyptian frescoes accompanying the inscriptions are remarkably similar to the headdress depicted on the head of a pictorial sign of a hieroglyphic inscription, also found on the island of Crete. The Danaan-Achaeans lived in Greece almost a thousand years before the appearance of the “Sea Peoples,” and Greece also lies to the west of Egypt. The name of the island of Sardinia comes from the name of the Sardinian tribe; the Siculi were the name given to the ancient inhabitants of Sicily...

Where then did the Tyrsenes, allies of all these peoples, come from? From Greece, the homeland of the Pelasgians? And then Hellanicus of Lesbos is right? Or maybe from Italy, along with the Sardis and Siculi? That is, they were natives of the Apennine Peninsula, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus believed, who made a raid to the east? But, on the other hand, if this is so, then maybe the Alpine theory of the origin of law? At first, the Etruscans lived in the Central Alps, the Rhets remained in their ancestral home, and the Tyrrhenians founded Etruria and even, having entered into an alliance with other tribes living nearby in Sicily and Sardinia, moved far to the west, all the way to Egypt and Asia Minor...

As you can see, deciphering the Medinet Habu inscriptions did not bring clarity to the long-standing dispute about the Etruscans. Moreover, it gave birth to another “address”. They began to look for the homeland of the mysterious people not to the north or east of Etruria, but to the west of it - at the bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea and even the Atlantic Ocean! For in the “peoples of the sea” some researchers are inclined to see the last wave of the legendary Atlanteans, the inhabitants of the sunken continent, which Plato told humanity about in his “Dialogues”. The Etruscans, therefore, were considered the descendants of the Atlanteans, and the riddle of Atlantis, if it can be solved, should become the key to solving the Etruscan riddle!

True, other researchers believed that we should not be talking about searching at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, but much closer, at the bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea. There, according to a number of researchers, there is a sunken land - the Tyrrhenides. Its death occurred already in the historical period (and not millions of years ago, as most geologists believe), and that was the homeland of the Etruscans. After all, ruins of Etruscan buildings and cities are found at the bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea!

And the latest finds by archaeologists and “excavations” by linguists force us to add another address to the list of candidates for the Etruscan ancestral home – and what one! The legendary Troy, glorified by Homer and destroyed by the Achaean Greeks!

The Romans considered themselves the descendants of Aeneas, a fugitive from the burning Troy. Legends about this have long been considered a “propaganda trick.” Indeed, the Romans have nothing in common with the inhabitants of ancient Troy. But, as you yourself have clearly seen, a lot of “Roman” actually turns out to be Etruscan. And, as archaeological excavations of the last twenty years show, the cult of Aeneas was also borrowed by the Romans from the Etruscans! In February 1972, Italian archaeologists discovered an Etruscan tomb, or rather a cenotaph, a “false tomb” or tomb-monument dedicated to the legendary Aeneas. Why did the Etruscans worship a hero who came from distant Troy? Perhaps because they themselves come from those places?

About a hundred years ago, the outstanding Etruscologist Karl Pauli compared the name of the inhabitants of ancient Troy, the Trojans, with the name of the Etruscans (among the Romans) and Tyrsenians (among the Greeks). The name of the Etruscans is divided into three parts: e-trus-ki. The initial “e” does not mean anything; it is an “auxiliary vowel” that made it easier for the Romans to pronounce the borrowed word. "Ki" is a Latin suffix. But the root “coward” is similar to the root underlying the name of the Trojans and Troy.

True, for a long time this comparison of Pauli was considered incorrect and was cited as a curiosity. But now linguists are penetrating the secret languages ​​of the inhabitants of Asia Minor, neighbors of the Trojans. And they contain the same root “tru” or “tro” - and it is included in proper names, names of cities and even nationalities. It is quite possible that the Trojans also spoke a language related to other ancient languages ​​of Asia Minor - Lydian, Lycian, Carian, Hittite.

If this is so, then the Etruscan language should be related to the Trojan! And again, if not so, then perhaps Herodotus is right, and the Lydian language, well studied by scientists, is the language of the Etruscans? Or are the relatives of the Etruscans the Alpine Raetii, speaking the “spoiled” Etruscan language? And if Dionysius of Halicarnassus is right, then the Etruscan language should have no relatives at all, at least in Asia Minor, in the Alps and generally nowhere except Italy...

As you can see, the key to riddle number one, the riddle of the origin of the Etruscans, lies in the comparison of the Etruscan and other languages. But the fact of the matter is that the Etruscan language itself is a mystery! Moreover, he is even more mysterious than everything else associated with the mysterious people. If the Etruscans themselves and the civilization they created are the “number one riddle” of modern historical science, then the Etruscan language is the “riddle of a riddle,” or rather, “riddle number one of riddle number one.”

But, what is most surprising, you can learn to read Etruscan texts in a few hours. To read without understanding the words of a foreign language, or rather, even knowing the meaning of individual words... And yet, for about five centuries now, scientists have been trying in vain to penetrate V the secret of the Etruscan language.

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How many Etruscan letters do you know? If you can read English, French, German - in short, any language that uses the Latin alphabet, then you can easily read about half of all Etruscan letters. And even if you only know “Russian literacy”, you will also be able to read a few letters. Our “a” is both written and read like the letter A in Etruscan texts. Our “t” is also the Etruscan T. The letter K was written by the Etruscans in the same way as our “k”, only it was turned in the other direction. The same goes for the letter E.

The letter I of the Latin alphabet also conveyed the vowel “i” in the Etruscan writing. The Latin and Etruscan letters “M”, “N”, “L”, “Q” are identical (uppercase letters, the so-called majuscules; lowercase letters - minuscules - appeared only in the Middle Ages). Several more Etruscan letters have the same shape and the same reading as the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet. It is not surprising that they learned to read Etruscan inscriptions a long time ago, back in the Renaissance. True, some letters could not be read immediately. And the entire Etruscan alphabet was deciphered only in 1880, when it was established what phonetic reading all the letters of this alphabet have. That is, its decipherment lasted for several centuries, despite the fact that the reading of most Etruscan letters was known from the very beginning, as soon as the first texts written by the Etruscans were found, or rather, as soon as Renaissance scientists became interested in them (inscriptions made by the Etruscans on various objects, vases, mirrors, etc., had been found before, but they did not arouse anyone’s interest).

Of course, the styles of Etruscan letters have different variants: depending on the time of writing (they cover approximately six to seven centuries, from the 7th to the 1st century BC) and the place where this or that inscription was found. Just as a language has different dialects, writing can have its own variations, depending on the “schools of writing” in a particular province or region.

The Etruscan inscriptions were made on a wide variety of objects and, of course, differ from the typographic font we are used to. The Etruscan texts that have come down to us were written by both experienced scribes and people who were not very successful in literacy. Therefore, again, we are faced with different handwritings and, what makes reading especially difficult, with different spellings of the same word. The Etruscans, however, like many other peoples of the ancient world, did not have strict spelling rules. And here's the same name ARNT we find in the writings: A, AT, AR, ARNT(and in two versions, because for the sound T, in addition to the usual T, there was another letter, in the form of a circle crossed out in the middle with a cross, and in later texts it turned into a circle with a dot in the middle). Another common name among the Etruscans VEL written as VE, VL And VEL.

We know these names. But what about words whose meaning we don’t know? Here it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to figure out what is in front of us: either the same word in different spellings, or different words. At the same time, in many texts the Etruscans did not put signs separating words (usually they separated one word from another not with a space, like we do, but with a special word separator icon - a colon or a dash).

Try to understand a text written in a language unknown to you, where all the words are written together, where many vowels and sometimes consonants are missing, and the text itself is inscribed on some stone or vessel and many of its parts are so damaged that it is difficult to distinguish one letter from another - and then you will understand the difficulties that confront the researcher when he takes only the first step in the study of Etruscan texts - tries to read them. But the most important thing, as you know, is not reading, but translating texts, a much more difficult task!

We began the chapter by showing that you know the reading of a whole series of Etruscan letters, although you have never specifically studied etruscology. Now let’s say more: you also know the meaning of several Etruscan words, despite the fact that the Etruscan language is perhaps the most mysterious in the world.

From the Etruscan language come the familiar words “cistern”, “tavern”, “ceremony”, “persona”, “litera” (and, therefore, “literature”). Don’t be surprised, there is no miracle here: these words came into our language (and into most cultural languages ​​of the world) from Latin. The Romans borrowed all these concepts - “cisterns” and “letters”, “ceremonies” and “taverns” - from the Etruscans, as well as the words denoting them. For example, the central part of a Roman house, as is known, was called the atrium. It was borrowed from Etruscan architecture, along with the Etruscan word ATRIUS.

Many words, on the contrary, came into the Etruscan language from the Romans. Thus, wine in Etruscan was called VINUM. This is a borrowing from Latin. There were even more borrowings in the Etruscan language from ancient Greek, for this mysterious people was associated with the great civilization of Hellas for many centuries. And since many words from Greek came into our Russian language, many words of the Etruscan and Russian languages ​​are similar in sound and meaning. For example, in Etruscan OLEIVA means “oil, oil, ointment” and is related to our “oil”, a Greek word.

The kilik, a drinking vessel used by the ancient Greeks, Romans and Etruscans, is called KULIKHNA in Etruscan inscriptions. The Etruscans adopted the Greek name along with the vessel itself. As well as the ask, the vessel and its name (among the Etruscans it is called ASKA). The names kylik and aska may be familiar to you from books on the history of ancient culture. But the ancient Greeks also had several dozen special names for vessels of various capacities and shapes (after all, we also have goblets, glasses, shot glasses, glasses, jugs, bottles, damasks, quarters, half-liters, mugs, etc., etc. P.). The names of these vessels are known to specialists in the Greek language and the history of ancient culture. And it turned out that there are about forty names in Etruscan texts. Greek culture undoubtedly influenced the culture of the Etruscans. The Etruscans borrowed vessels from the Greeks along with their Greek names, slightly changing them, as almost always happens when borrowing words from one language into another, unrelated to it.

But it was not only in material culture that the Greeks influenced the Etruscans. Perhaps they had an even greater influence in the “ideological”, spiritual sphere. The Etruscans worshiped many of the gods of Olympus and the heroes of Ancient Hellas, just like the Romans. The pantheon of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans was similar in many ways. Sometimes each of these peoples called the same god with their own “national” name. For example, the Greeks called the god of trade, the patron saint of travelers, merchants and shepherds Hermes, the Romans called Mercury, and the Etruscans called him TURMS. But often the name of the Etruscan god coincides with its Greek or Roman name. The Greek Poseidon and Roman Neptune are known to the Etruscans under the name NETUNS. The Roman Diana and the Greek Artemis are called by the Etruscans ARTUME or ARITIMI. And the god Apollo, called the same by both the Greeks and Romans, is called by the Etruscans the same way, only in the Etruscan manner: APULU or APLU.

The names of all these gods (and there is also Minerva, called in Etruscan MENRVA, Juno, called by the Etruscans UNI, Vulcan - among the Etruscans VELKANS, Thetis-Tethis, known to the Etruscans under the same name - THETHIS, the ruler of the underground kingdom Hades - in Etruscan AITA and his wife Persephone-Proserpina, called PERSEPUAI in Etruscan) are probably well known to you. And even more so, they were familiar to experts in antiquity who studied Etruscan texts. And, having encountered in them the names Apulu or Tethys, Netuns or Menrva, they easily determined which gods they were talking about. Moreover, very often the Etruscan text was accompanied by images of these gods with their characteristic attributes, in situations familiar from ancient myths.

The same is with the names of the heroes of these myths. Hercules was called by the Etruscans HERCLE, Castor - KASTUR, Agamemnon - AHMEMRUNE, Ulysses-Odysseus - UTUSE, Clytemnestra - KLUTUMUSTA or KLUTMSTA, etc. Thus, you, without specifically studying the Etruscan language, and in general, perhaps, reading the book for the first time about the Etruscans, being a cultured and inquisitive person, you can understand a fair number of words in the Etruscan texts, especially the names of the proper gods and heroes.

However, not only them, but also mere mortals. After all, the names of many Etruscans are well known from the history of Ancient Rome. Kings from the Tarquin dynasty sat on the Roman throne. The last king was expelled by the Roman people, says the legendary history of the “eternal city,” and settled in the Etruscan city of Caere. Archaeologists have found the ruins of this city near modern Cerverteri. During excavations of the burial ground in Tsera, a burial was discovered with the inscription “TARKNA”. Obviously, this is the tomb of the Tarquin family, who once ruled Rome.

An equally amazing “meeting” occurred during the excavation of a grave near the Etruscan city of Vulci, discovered by a resident of Tuscany, Francois, and given the name “Francois’s Tomb” in honor of the discoverer. There were frescoes depicting the battle of the Romans and Etruscans. They were accompanied by short inscriptions, or rather, the names of the characters. Among them was this: “KNEVE TARKHUNIES RUMAKh.” It is not difficult to guess that “Rumakh” means “Roman”, “Tarkhunies” means “Tarquinius”, “Kneve” means “Gnaeus”. Gnaeus Tarquinius of Rome, Lord of Rome! - this is how this text is translated.

According to legends about the early history of Rome, the kings from the Tarquin family who ruled the city, more precisely, Tarquinius Priscus (i.e. Tarquinius the Elder), fought with the rulers of the Etruscan city of Vulci - the brothers Gaius and Aulus Vibenna. Episodes of this war are depicted in the frescoes of the “Tomb of Francois”. The burial dates back to a later time than the reign of the last Roman kings (6th century BC), and the frescoes apparently recorded the legendary history of Rome and the Etruscans.

But the famous Italian archaeologist Massimo Pallotio is excavating the sanctuary of the Etruscan city of Veii. And then he finds a vase - obviously a sacrifice on the altar - on which the name of the donor is inscribed. This name is AVILE VIPIENAS, i.e. Aulus Vibenna in Etruscan transcription (the Etruscans did not have letters in the alphabet to convey the sound B and it was written through P). The vase dates from the mid-6th century. BC e., the era of the reign of the Etruscan kings in Rome. Most likely, the Vibenna brothers, like the kings of Tarquinia, are historical personalities - Pallotino concluded, and a large number of Etruscologists agree with him.

Be that as it may, these names, known to us from Roman sources, are also inscribed on the monuments of Etruscan writing. We know many Etruscan names, not legendary, but quite real. For example, the Etruscan was the famous politician and patron of the arts Maecenas, whose name became a household name. An Etruscan was someone who lived in the 1st century. n. e. the satirist-fabulist Aulus Persius Flaccus and Cicero’s friend Aulus Cetina, who initiated him into the “science of prediction”, haruspicy... It is not difficult to guess when you encounter in Etruscan texts the spellings AULE, AU, AUL, AULES, ALVE, AB, etc., inscribed on funeral inscriptions urns or crypts, that we are talking about a person bearing the name Aulus, common among the Etruscans.

Thus, when starting to study Etruscan texts, researchers knew the reading of most of the letters of the alphabet in which they were written, and had at their disposal a certain supply of Etruscan words and proper names, as we could see for ourselves (after all, you know them too!).

However, this list does not exhaust the list of Etruscan words whose meaning is known. In the works of ancient authors one can find references to the Etruscan language. True, none of them compiled a dictionary or grammar of this language. Simply, in connection with one case or another, some Roman historians or writers cite the meaning of individual Etruscan words.

For example, explaining the origin of the name of the city of Capua, one ancient author writes: “It is known, however, that it was founded by the Etruscans, and the sign was the appearance of a falcon, which in Etruscan is called KAPUS, hence Capua got its name.” From other sources we learn that the monkey in the Etruscan language was called AVIMUS, from others - the names of the months in Etruscan: AKLUS - June, AMPILES - May, etc. (however, the names of the months came to us in a dictionary in Latin compiled in the 8th century and, of course, underwent “deformation” no less strong than that to which the Etruscans subjected the names of gods and Greek words).

Suetonius, the author of the Life of Caesar Augustus, says that before the death of the emperor, lightning struck his statue and knocked off the initial letter C in the word “CAESAR” (“Caesar”). Interpreters of omens (haruspices who read lightning) said that Augustus had one hundred days left to live, for “C” in Roman writing also denoted the number “100,” but after death he would be “counted among the gods, since AESAR, the rest of the name Caesar, in Etruscan language means god." Another author, Cassius Dio, writes that the word AISAR among the Tyrrhenians, i.e., the Etruscans, means god, and the compiler of the dictionary Hesychius also writes that the word AISOI among the Tyrrhenians means “gods.”

All Etruscan words, the meaning of which is given by ancient authors, were collected together at the beginning of the 17th century. Thomas Dempster, a Scottish baron and professor at the Universities of Pisa and Bologna (although his work “Seven Books on the Kingdom of Etruria,” which contained a list of these words, was published only a hundred years later). And they, of course, could ease the meaning of the Etruscan texts if... If these texts contained words explained by ancient authors. But, alas, except for the word “god”, the remaining words, all these “falcons” and “monkeys”, are known to us only from the works of scientists of antiquity, and not from the texts of the Etruscans. The only exception is the word “aiser”, i.e. “god”. And even here there is no agreement among scientists about what it means - singular or plural, i.e. “god” or “gods.”

What's the matter? Why can't we understand Etruscan texts that are easy to read and include words whose meanings we know? This question should be formulated somewhat differently. After all, you can also read not only individual words, but also entire texts, without being an Etruscologist and without specially engaging in decipherment. Moreover, there will be a huge number of such texts.

Here in front of you is a funeral urn with one word inscribed on it: “VEL” or “AULE”. It is clear that you can easily read and translate such a text: it says that a man named Vel or Aulus is buried here. And there are a great many such texts. Even more often, inscriptions of this kind consist not of one, but of two or even words. For example, “AULE PETRONI” or “VEL PETRUNI”. Here it is also not difficult to guess that the name of the deceased and his “surname” are given, or rather the family from which he comes (real surnames appeared in Europe only in the Middle Ages).

The Etruscans created wonderful frescoes. Many of them depict gods or mythological scenes. Here, for example, is a fresco from “Tomb of Monsters.” You see a picture of the underworld, with its lord Hades and his wife Proserpine seated on the throne. They are accompanied by the signatures: “AITA” and “PERSEPUAI”. It is not difficult to translate them: “Hades” and “Proserpina”. Another fresco from the same crypt depicts a terrible demon with wings. Above it is the signature: “TUKHULKA.”

This name is not familiar to you, but you can easily guess that it is a proper name: after all, their names are also inscribed above Hades and Proserpina. The meaning of this monster, located among mourning people, is also clear: it is the demon of death. This means that the signature “TUKHULKA” conveys his name... You have translated another Etruscan text!

True, it consists of just one word... But here is a longer inscription. The Leningrad Hermitage contains a bronze mirror, on the back of which are depicted five figures, and above them are five words inscribed in Etruscan. Here they are - “PRIUMNE”, “EKAPA”, “TETHIS”, “TSIUMITE”, “KASTRA”. The word “Tethys” is well known to you: it was the name of Thetis, the mother of Achilles. The elder “Priumne” is Priam. Obviously, the other characters are also connected with the Trojan War. "Ekapa" is Hekabe, the wife of Priam - on the mirror she is depicted standing next to the old man. "Castra" is the prophetess Cassandra. That leaves Tsiumite. Instead of “b”, as you already know, the Etruscans wrote “p”; They also deafened other voiced vowels. “D” was written by them through “t” and even through “ts”. “Tsiumite” should be transcribed “Diumide”. The Etruscans did not have the letter O, they usually transmitted it through U. So: “Diomede” is the hero of the Trojan War, second in courage only to Achilles, Diomedes. So, the entire text is translated as follows: “Priam, Hekabe, Thetis, Diomedes, Cassandra.”

As you can see, the task is not too difficult - to read an Etruscan text of one, two, three, five words... But these are proper names, you don’t need to know any grammar or vocabulary. Well, what do you say, for example, about this passage: “KHALKH APER TULE AFES ILUKU VAKIL TSUKHN ELFA RITNAL TUL TRA ISVANEK KALUS...”, etc., etc.? In an inscription where there are no drawings or anything at all that could be a “fulcrum”?

The first thing that comes to mind when we start reading a text in a language unknown to us is to look for similar consonances with our own language. Or with some other, foreign, but known to us. This is exactly what the first researchers of Etruscan texts began to do.

This is not the first time this technique has been used in deciphering ancient writings and languages. And it very often brings success to the researcher. For example, scientists were able to read mysterious texts found in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and dating back to the times of the legendary Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. The written characters of the "South Arabian" scripts were generally read in the same way as the well-known characters of the Ethiopic script. The language of the South Arabian written language was close to classical Arabic, and even closer to Ethiopian and the “living” languages ​​of South Arabia and Ethiopia: Soqotri, Mehri, Amharic, etc.

Excellent knowledge of the language of Egyptian Christians or Copts, which was used only in worship, but was a descendant of the language of the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, allowed the brilliant Francois Champollion to penetrate the secret of the hieroglyphs of the country of the pyramids (the book “The Riddle of the Sphinx” tells more about this).

...In a word, the method of comparing a known language with a related unknown one has proven itself in the decipherment of many scripts and languages.

But where he led the Etruscologists, you will understand for yourself after reading the next chapter.

Worldwide wanted

In 1444, in the city of Gubbio, located in the ancient Italian province of Umbria and once the ancient city of Iguvium, nine large copper plaques covered with inscriptions were discovered in an underground crypt. Two boards were taken to Venice, and since then no one has heard of them. The rest were placed in storage at the city hall. Two of the seven remaining boards turned out to be written in Latin using letters of the Latin alphabet. The five boards were written in an unknown language and in letters that were similar to Latin, but in many ways different from them.

A dispute broke out: whose writings are these, whose language do they hide? The letters were called “Egyptian”, “Punic” (Carthaginian), “Cadmus’ letter”, i.e. the oldest type of Greek letter, according to legend, brought to Hellas by the Phoenician Cadmus. Finally, they decided that the writings were Etruscan, and their language was “lost forever.” And only after long discussions and painstaking research it became clear that these writings were still not Etruscan, although their letters were related to the letters of the Etruscan alphabet. And the language of these texts, called the Iguvien Tables, has nothing in common with the Etruscan language.

In Italy in the 1st millennium BC. e., in addition to the Latin-Romans, there were several other peoples related to them in culture and language: Samnites, Sabels, Osci, Umbrians. The Iguvien tables are written in the Umbrian language. This was proven about a hundred and fifty years ago by the German researcher Richard Lepsius, who later became famous for his valuable contribution to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Well, what about the Etruscan writings? In the same 15th century, when the Iguvien tables were found, only not in the middle, but at the very end, in 1498, the work of the Dominican monk Annio de Viterbo, “Seventeen volumes on various antiquities with comments by br. Joanna Annio de Viterbo." Here are excerpts from the works of various ancient authors, which are commented on by de Viterbo. In addition, he publishes Etruscan texts. And he even deciphers them using the language of the biblical Old Testament - Hebrew...

A little time passes - and it turns out that de Viterbo owns not only the comments, but also... some texts. He composed them himself! Confidence in the “Seventeen Volumes on Various Antiquities” has been lost. But here is the key with which he tried to penetrate the secret of the Etruscan language - the Hebrew language - for a long time was considered correct. The logic here was simple: the Etruscans are the most ancient people of Italy; Hebrew is the most ancient language in the world (after all, the hieroglyphs of Egypt were not read at that time, the “clay books” of Mesopotamia were not discovered at all, and the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world).

In the middle of the 16th century. Vincenzo Tranquilli and Justa Lipsia publish the first collections of Etruscan inscriptions. At the same time, Pietro Francesco Giambullari, one of the founders of the Florentine Academy, translated some of them, of course, using the Hebrew language.

But Thomas Dempster, already mentioned by us, publishes an extensive collection of Etruscan inscriptions. And after him, in 1737-1743. In Florence, a three-volume work, “The Etruscan Museum,” written by A. F. Gori, is published, which also contains many texts written in Etruscan. And it becomes clear that the language of the Bible cannot serve as a key to the language of the ancient people of Italy.

Maybe this key will be given by other ancient languages ​​of Italy, called Italic - Oscan, Umbrian, Latin? Many researchers of the 18th-19th centuries. They believed that the Etruscan language was related to Italic. This is exactly what was proven by the best Etruscologist of the 18th century, the Italian Luigi Lanzi, who published a three-volume study on the Etruscan language in Rome in 1789, republished in 1824-1825.

And three years after the republication of Lanzi’s work, a voluminous two-volume work by the German scientist K. O. Muller was published (which has not lost much of its value to this day), which shows that Lanzi, considering the Etruscan language to be related to Latin, was on the right path.

At the time of Luigi Lanzi, comparative historical linguistics had not yet been created. Müller published his work at a time when its foundations had already been laid and it was shown that there is a huge family of related languages, called Indo-European, which includes Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Greek, Indian, Iranian, Romance (Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and many other) languages, that between these languages ​​there are certain sound correspondences that obey strict laws. And if you seriously prove that the Etruscan language is Italic, you need to show “correspondence formulas” of Etruscan words to Latin and other Italic languages. But the fact that some Etruscan words and names of gods are related to Latin ones does not prove anything. They could have been borrowed by the Romans from the Etruscans or the Etruscans from the Romans, because they were closest neighbors and were in close contact for many centuries (for example, the Romanian language has a lot of Slavic words, but this language is Romance, a descendant of the language spoken by the Romans legionnaires; and not the language of the Slavs, with whom there were only close and prolonged contacts).

Müller called for a “comprehensive comparison of languages” before drawing a conclusion about which language the Etruscans, whose relative it is, is most closely related to. The researcher himself believes that the Etruscans were Pelasgo-Tyrrhenians, distant relatives of the Greeks. Other researchers believed that the Etruscan language is a direct relative of the Hellenic language. Still others, mainly Italian researchers, remained faithful to Lanzi’s views, but only began to prove his correctness using the methods of comparative historical linguistics: identifying the laws of correspondence between the sounds of the Etruscan and Italic languages, the laws of changes in the sounds of the Etruscan language itself over time, etc.

In 1874-1875 the famous expert on the Latin language, German professor W. Corssen, publishes a two-volume book entitled “On the Etruscan Language.” In it, he seems to convincingly prove that this language is related to the Italic dialects, although many of the words in it are Greek. For example, the word TAURA in the Etruscan language means “bull” (Greek “taurus” - remember the Minotaur, the bull of the Cretan king Mi-nos), the word LUPU or LUPUKE means “sculpted” (Greek “glipe” - “carve, sculpt”; hence our "glyptic") We have already said that the name Aulus (or Aule) was very widespread among the Etruscans. Corssen found that there was another similar-sounding name - AVILS. And it was also used very often. Moreover, on sarcophagi and burials scattered throughout Etruria, moreover, in combination with the word “lupu” or “lupuke”, i.e. “to sculpture”, “to carve”.

Corssen concluded that Avile is the family name of a dynasty of sculptors and sculptors whose talents served Etruria and whose names, like a “factory mark” or a “quality mark”, were placed on the work of their hands - funeral urns and sarcophagi, which contained representatives of the most noble Etruscan families were buried...

But as soon as the second volume of the venerable scientist’s monograph was published, in the same year a small, 39-page pamphlet by his compatriot Wilhelm Deecke leaves no stone unturned about Corsin’s constructions with his Avils, Greek words in Etruscan and the latter’s kinship with the Italic languages.

Deecke convincingly shows that TAURA, which Corssen believes to be the Greek word for "bull" borrowed from the Etruscans, actually means "grave." The word LUPU or LUPUKE is not “to sculpture” or “to carve”, but the verb “died”; the word AVILS means "year", not a proper name. “Lupu” and “avil” very often form a stable combination, and the number of years is indicated between them in Latin numerals. So much for the “dynasty of sculptors” discovered by Corssen as a result of many years of painstaking study of Etruscan texts!

Deecke himself believed, like K. O. Müller, that the Etruscan people “belong to the family of Greek peoples, although they were, without a doubt, a distant member of it.” However, not everyone agreed with this. Back in the 18th century. it was hypothesized that the Etruscans were the first wave of Celtic tribes to invade Italy (followed by another Celtic tribe, the Gauls, who dealt the Etruscans a fatal blow). In 1842, a book (in two volumes) entitled “Celtic Etruria” was published in the capital of Ireland, Dublin. Its author, V. Betham, argued that the Etruscan language is related to extinct Celtic languages, such as the language of the Gauls, and also to modern ones - Irish, Breton, Welsh.

In the same XVIII century. it has been suggested that the Etruscans were the first wave not of the Celts, but of the ancient Germans who, many centuries later, invaded the Roman Empire, reached Italy and crushed Rome. In the 19th century The kinship of the Etruscan language with the Germanic languages ​​was proved by many scientists: the German von Schmitz, the Englishman Lindsay, the Dutchman Maack, the Dane Niebuhr.

In 1825, the scientist Ciampi returned to his homeland from Warsaw, where he was a professor for several years. He immediately urged his colleagues to abandon their search for the key to the Etruscan language using Greek and Latin words. In his opinion, it is necessary to turn “to other ancient languages ​​that descended from the original one, namely, to Slavic.” Following this, Kollar’s ​​book “Slavic Ancient Italy” (1853) and A.D. Chertkov’s “On the language of the Pelasgians who inhabited Italy, and its comparison with ancient Slovene” were published. According to Chertkov, the Slavs “descend, in a direct line, from the Pelasgians,” and therefore it is the Slavic languages ​​that can provide the key to reading the Etruscan inscriptions. Later, the Estonian G. Trusman clarified the work of Kollar and Chertkov. Not the Slavs, but the Balto-Slavs are relatives of the Etruscans. That is, not only Slavic languages ​​(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Polish, Serbian), but also Baltic languages ​​(Lithuanian, Latvian and Prussian, which disappeared as a result of German colonization) can provide the key to the Etruscan language. Publishing his work in Reval (present-day Tallinn), Trusman noted that he was “denied publication of the work in an academic publication, so the author publishes it himself.”

Why are academic publications in the 20th century? (Trusman’s book was published in 1911) were they refused to publish works devoted to the Etruscan language, and the authors had to publish them themselves? Yes, because by this time the search for the key to Etruscan writings had greatly undermined the credibility of any attempts to find it, especially if they were undertaken by non-specialists. “All these failures, which often occurred due to insufficient linguistic training of amateurs and due to naive claims to the appearance of success in “translation,” states Etruscologist Raymon Block in this regard, “brought upon Etruscology the unfair mistrust of some sensible minds.” For it was not so easy to draw a line between work in the field of Etruscology, trying to find the key among the known languages ​​of the world, and the writing of an “Etruscoman”, who at all costs wants to “translate” Etruscan texts, without having sufficient knowledge.

“I visited the secretary of a Parisian weekly,” says one of the enthusiastic Etruscologists. “He was a serious young man with excellent manners. And then I told him point blank that I was working on deciphering the Etruscan text. He staggered as if I had struck him in the jaw. For a split second the ground shook under his feet, and he had to lean against the fireplace. I looked at him calmly. Finally, raising his head like a diver emerging from under water, he said with a wide smile: “Ah!” You are studying the Etruscan language!“. You should have heard this “Ah!” It was a whole symphony of sympathy and pity. He did not, of course, place me on straight AB, where point A is occupied by the seeker of the philosopher's stone, and point B is occupied by the counterfeiter. To seriously talk about deciphering the Etruscan language, he needed the author of Ancient History in three volumes, or at least the head of the department. But to hear an ordinary person talking about this, and even wanting to publish a small article in his magazine, was a blow for him! I understood this and was not offended. After all, we were really talking about a dangerous enterprise.”

Remember Corssen's mistakes. The venerable scientist composed a whole story about the “family of sculptors” Avils, drawing thoughtful conclusions, although all this was based on a completely incorrect understanding of the word “Avils”. One can imagine where mistakes and misinterpretations led people who did not have the academic training and caution that Corsin certainly had.

Here's a short list. One researcher finds similarities between the Etruscan language and the language of an Indian tribe living in the Orinoco jungle. Hence the conclusion: America was discovered not by Columbus, but by the Etruscans! Another discovers, by “reading” Etruscan texts, evidence of the destruction of Atlantis. They are trying to decipher the Etruscan language using Ethiopian, Japanese, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, extinct Urartian, and finally Chinese!

This list is far from complete. Here, for example, is how they tried to connect the Etruscans living in Italy with the inhabitants of distant India. In 1860, Bertani’s book entitled “An Experience in the Decipherment of Several Etruscan Inscriptions” was published in Leipzig - the decipherment was carried out on the basis of the sacred priestly language of India, Sanskrit.

Sanskrit is an Indo-European language, it is related to Slavic and other languages. And if the Etruscan language is truly related to Sanskrit, then it would be reasonable to expect that between Italy and Hindustan there would be other Indo-European languages ​​that would be even closer to Etruscan. For example, S. Bugge published a book in 1909 in which he proves that the Etruscan language is a special branch in the family of Indo-European languages ​​and the Greek, Armenian and Balto-Slavic languages ​​are closest to it.

However, many scientists resolutely rebelled against the inclusion of the Etruscan language in the great Indo-European family. In addition to Indo-European (ancient Sanskrit, modern Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and many others), languages ​​of another family are spoken in Hindustan - Dravidian, mainly in the south of the peninsula (Tamil, Malayali, etc.). In 1904, the Norwegian philologist Sten Konov published a work in such a reputable publication as the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, entitled “Etruscans and Dravidians.” It compares individual Etruscan and Dravidian words that have similar meanings and sounds.

Following this, another researcher, J. Iadzini, compares Etruscan letters with icons on clay products discovered in Central India and dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. e.

True, it is unknown whether these icons are letters or written signs in general.

In the 20-30s. of our century, a great civilization is discovered in the Indus Valley, contemporary with Ancient Egypt, Sumer, and Crete. Hieroglyphic inscriptions have been discovered. In 1933, the Italian etruscologist G. Piccoli published a table. In it he compares the hieroglyphs of Hindustan and the icons found on some Etruscan inscriptions - at the very beginning, as well as on some funeral urns. Piccoli finds that about fifty of these icons are similar to the hieroglyphs of Hindustan... So what? After all, the hieroglyphs of Hindustan have not been deciphered, and, according to the author of the comparison, practically nothing is known about Etruscan icons. One unknown thing is already known! - cannot be solved through another unknown.

The prominent Italian scholar and polyglot Alfredo Trombetti decided to abandon the comparison of the Etruscan language with a single language or family. He believed that the languages ​​of our planet are related to each other; it is possible to identify a certain common layer in them, words that have the same meaning and very close sound. And if any Etruscan word sounds similar to those that belong to the universal human layer, therefore, it must have the same meaning.

For example, in Etruscan there is the word TAKLTI. Trombetti believes that this is some kind of case of the word “taka”. Then he finds the “universal” meaning of “roof”, which in ancient Persian is expressed by the word “teg” (house), in Sanskrit - “sthagati” (to close), in Chechen - “chauv” (roof), in Arabic - “dag” (to close), in Latin “tego” (I close), hence “toga”, in Greek - “stege” (roof), in the African language Bari - “lo-dek” (roof). And Trombetti concludes: the word “taka” in the Etruscan language means “roof” (i.e., “covering”).

But firstly, it is unclear whether the word “taklti” is really a case form of the word “taka”. Secondly, the possibility of error with the “Trombetti method” is even greater than with the usual comparison of “language with language”. And thirdly, no one has yet been able to prove or even provide any serious arguments in favor of the fact that in fact all the languages ​​of the world have a certain layer (and if they come from the same universal human root, then the separation of languages ​​and peoples began many years ago). thousands of years before a roof and a word for it appeared over people’s heads!).

With the help of universal laws and linguistic universals, academician N. Ya. Marr also tried to penetrate the mystery of the Etruscan language. He used a method he called “paleontological analysis.”

According to Marr, any word in any language consists of only four elements. Using these elements, he “quartered” words from a variety of languages, from Abkhazian to Basque. Etruscan words were also subjected to Marrian “quartering”. But etruscology did not benefit from this.

In 1935, summing up the results of centuries-long searches by etruscologists, F. Messerschmidt wrote: “The problem is now in an even more confused state than before.” In 1952, the monumental monograph “Languages ​​of the World” was published, summarizing the results of the work of linguists in studying the kinship of languages. And it was written in it: “Until now, the Etruscan language has not been attributed to any linguistic group.”

In 1966, Soviet readers became acquainted with the translation of Z. Mayani’s book “The Etruscans Begin to Speak,” published by the Nauka publishing house. And in it they read that finally “the Etruscan Bastille has been taken... Yes, the key exists, and I just found it. It is very effective, and I place it in the hands of all Etruscologists... I think that if the decipherment of the Etruscan language takes a wider and wind-swept path, Etruscologists will feel stronger and better protected from their true and imaginary sorrows. And then they will be able to finally break out of the vicious circle in which they are now. It is for this purpose that I am making my contribution.”

So, has the key really been found?

Alexander Kondratov

From the book "Etruscans. Riddle number one", 1977

Before becoming a world power, Rome fought wars for its own survival with its closest neighbors in Italy for five centuries. On these “home” fronts, the Romans were repeatedly defeated. However, while they lost battles from time to time, they never lost the war. Ultimately, all of Italy submitted to Roman arms. The Etruscans were the first to feel the heavy hand of Rome.

Etruria and its inhabitants

The area of ​​settlement of the Etruscans was in northern Italy, between the right bank of the Tiber and the Apennine Mountains, roughly corresponding to the territory of modern Tuscany. The origin and language of this people still remain a mystery to scientists.

Their closest neighbors and competitors were the Greeks. Some of them, like Herodotus, considered the Etruscans to come from the east, from Asia Minor. Others, like Thucydides or Diodorus, pointed to their kinship with the Pelasgians - the oldest pre-Greek population of the Balkan Peninsula and the islands of the Aegean Sea. Still others, like Dionysius of Halicarnassus, leaned towards their autochthonous Italic origin. The Romans generally followed the same hypotheses, most often considering the Etruscans to be the original inhabitants of the places they occupied or deducing their origin from the lands beyond the Alps and pointing out their kinship with the Rhets. Among modern archaeologists, the hypothesis of the origin of the Etruscans from the Neolithic population of central Europe is most widely shared. The emergence and development of Etruscan society and civilization are associated with the archaeological culture of the early Iron Age Villanova, which itself, in turn, has its roots in the Terramar culture of the late Bronze Age.

Throughout the 8th–7th centuries BC. Numerous city-states arose on the territory of Etruria, each of which was the center of an independent region. The twelve largest cities - Caere, Tarquinia, Vulci, Vetulonia in the coastal part of the country, Veii, Volsinia, Clusium, Perusia in the territories adjacent to the Tiber Valley, Volaterra, Arretium, Cortona, Fezula in the Arno Valley in the northern part of Etruria - created a political union, the so-called Etruscan twelve-city, which was a form of political organization of the country.

At the head of the union was an elected ruler, a Zilate, whom the Romans called a praetor. Representatives of all cities gathered in the sanctuary of Voltumna, somewhere near Volsinia (the modern city of Orvieto). The sanctuary was erected in honor of Tinia, the Etruscan counterpart of Jupiter, and solemn religious ceremonies and sports games took place here every year. This union remained more of a religious than a military-political association. Despite its existence, connections between individual Etruscan cities remained fragile. For the most part, the Etruscans acted as separate city-states in international politics.

In ancient times, Etruscan cities were ruled by the Lukomon kings, whose power was eventually replaced by elected government. The Etruscan names of a number of elected positions have been preserved to this day, but the nature of their power and the principles of its implementation still remain unknown. The Romans inherited such attributes of power as a scepter, an embroidered toga, an ivory curule chair, and fasces with axes stuck into a bunch of rods from the Etruscans.

Etruscan society itself had a pronounced aristocratic character. The nobility, the Etera, owned great wealth acquired through wars and long-distance trade, and led a luxurious lifestyle. Its elements included feasts, sports games and other entertainment. Aristocrats were buried in underground family crypts, accompanied by luxurious offerings, including weapons, jewelry, bronze and ceramic vessels, often of imported origin. The common people were in land and personal dependence on the nobility, from among whom a large clientele of wealthy aristocrats were recruited. In Etruscan society, slavery was known, which was patriarchal in nature.

Etruscan burial crypt 5th century. BC, modern reconstruction

Etruscan expansion in Italy

In the minds of the Greeks and Romans, the Etruscans were a people of warriors, traders and sea robbers who carried out large-scale expansion in all directions. It reached its peak in the middle - second half of the 6th century BC. At this time, the Etruscans colonized the Po Valley in northern Italy. Here their new twelve-city arose, the center of which was founded around 525 BC. Bononia.

Two ports, Spina and Adria, also founded by the Etruscans, provided them with access to the Adriatic Sea and allowed them to establish trade relations with Western Greek cities and their colonies in Italy. The results of excavations show that at the turn of the 6th–5th centuries BC. The volume of Greek imports into Etruria increased sharply. Through the Alpine passes, Etruscan traders penetrated into the territory of southern Germany and the eastern part of France, where they established strong and mutually beneficial contacts with the ancestors of the Celts who lived here. In exchange for wine, bronze and ceramic painted vessels, jewelry and weapons, the Etruscans received from them gold and silver, as well as tin and, of course, slaves.

6th century BC fresco depicting two officials. Both are dressed in purple togas and red shoes, both sit on curule chairs. National Etruscan Museum Tarquinii

Another direction of Etruscan expansion was the route south, which led them first to Latium and then to Campania. Around 616 BC Lucius Tarquin the Ancient (616–579 BC) opened the gallery of the Etruscan kings who ruled Rome for three generations. At this time, Rome, from a group of villages that grew up on the tops of the hills bordering the Tiber valley, turned into a real city with a single political center at the Forum, the sanctuary of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, the correct layout of streets, a wall surrounding the city, etc. Under the rule of the Etruscan rulers, the Roman social order was formed. King Servius Tullius (578–535 BC) divided the people into property classes and distributed rights and responsibilities among them. He also reformed military affairs, introducing hoplite weaponry and phalanx formation.

The last king, Tarquin the Proud (535–509 BC), pursued an active policy of conquest. He subjugated most of Latium and established the Latin Union, which included 30 urban communities. The Allies pledged to implement a common policy and send their soldiers to participate in campaigns. Rome, as the most powerful and largest city of Latium, became the hegemon of the union.

Rome around 500 BC

Etruscans and Greeks

The main opponents of the Etruscans in Italy were the Greeks. Their colonies appeared not only on the eastern and southern, but also on the western coast of the Apennine Peninsula. Even around 750 BC. The Chalcidians founded their trading colony of Cumae on the shores of the Gulf of Naples. This city was the most important conductor of their economic and cultural influence in the region. Around 600 BC The Phocian Greeks founded Massalia on the southern coast of Gaul, from where they penetrated into the interior of the country upstream of the Rhone. At first, the Phocians lived peacefully with the Etruscans, but then their interests began to diverge.

After the conquest of Phocea by the Persians in 546 BC. a significant part of the Phocians chose to move out of their city to the west. They swelled the population of Massalia and attempted to establish a new colony at Alalia in Corsica. The activity of the Phocians in the region and their pirate attacks on ships and the coast of Etruria extremely angered the Etruscans, and they entered into a treaty with Carthage. The Carthaginians also suffered from attacks by the Phocians and feared for their colonies in Sardinia. In 535 BC. The combined fleet of the Etruscans and Carthaginians defeated the ships of the Phocians in a naval battle off Corsica and destroyed Alalia, which they founded here.

In 524 BC. The Etruscans living in Campania gathered a huge army and, together with their allies Osci and Davani, tried to attack Cumae from land. Against their army, which, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, numbered half a million people, the Greeks fielded only 4,500 infantry and 600 horsemen. The Etruscans were defeated in the battle on the Volturn River. Their infantry fled even before the clash began. Only the cavalry fought courageously, inflicting considerable damage on the Greeks. In this battle, for the first time, the star of Aristodemus of Qom rose, who accomplished glorious feats and gained widespread popular support.

Terracotta figurines depicting Etruscan warriors. Battle group on the temple frieze from Chiusi, 5th century BC. Glyptothek, Copenhagen

Twenty years later, in 504 BC, the inhabitants of the Latin city of Aricia, who were besieged by a large Etruscan army, turned to the Cumans for help. Aristodemus, at the head of 2,000 men, came to the aid of the Latins and, in a fierce battle near the walls of the city, again defeated the Etruscans. Their leader Arrunt fell in battle. Many of his warriors died, the rest fled. Together with a large number of captives and rich booty, Aristodemus returned to Cumae. But then, relying on the help of captured Etruscans, he carried out a coup d'etat and became a tyrant. For 15 years, Aristodemus brutally ruled over the Cumans. The Etruscans, fearing his harsh temperament, preferred to keep their distance all these years.

After the death of Aristodemus in 493 BC. Etruscan attacks on Cuma resumed. This time the Syracusan tyrants came to the aid of the Greeks. In 474 BC. Hiero I led his ships into the Gulf of Naples and defeated the Etruscan fleet in the naval battle of Cumae. An Etruscan helmet, taken as war booty, with a dedicatory inscription on behalf of Hiero, was found during excavations at Olympia in Greece and is now on display in the display cases of the British Museum. The ships of the Syracusans reliably blocked the Strait of Messa for the Etruscans, blocking their path to the shores of Sicily and southern Italy.

Etruscan helmet with the inscription of Hieron I, after the Battle of Cumae, as part of other military spoils, dedicated to him in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. British Museum, London.
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In 452 BC. The Syracusans again defeated the Etruscans at sea, expelled them from the island of Ephalia and ravaged the coast of Etruria. Finally, in 384 BC. The tyrant Dionysius I again brought ships into the Tyrrhenian Sea, captured and destroyed the Etruscan harbor of Pyrgi. These victories of the Syracusans put an end to the naval power of the Etruscans, who were forced to forever give up power over the sea to the Greeks.

Etruscans and Romans

The most serious consequences for the Etruscans were the events that led in 509 BC. to the expulsion of King Tarquin the Proud from Rome and the establishment of republican government in the city. Together with the king, his supporters went into exile, including the Etruscans living in the city. Tarquin turned to their fellow tribesmen for support. The inhabitants of Wei and Clusium provided him with assistance, and mercenaries were recruited in other cities. With these forces, Tarquin marched on Rome. An army marched towards him under the command of the consuls Lucius Junius Brutus and Publius Valerius Poplicola.

The two armies met on February 28, 509 BC. near the Arsian forest on the right bank of the Tiber. At the beginning of the battle, Tarquinius' son Arruntus challenged Brutus to a duel, in which they both died. The battle between the main forces of the opponents continued all day, and with the onset of darkness both troops returned to their original positions. The losses on both sides were enormous. And suddenly at night a voice louder than human was heard from the sacred grove, exclaiming: “The Etruscans have one more fallen. Victory is for the Romans!. The Etruscans retreated in fear. Valerius Poplicola entered the city in triumph, riding a chariot drawn by four white horses.

Duel of Eteocles and Polyneices. Battle scene on an Etruscan sarcophagus, 2nd century BC. Louvre, Paris

Having suffered defeat, Tarquin turned to the king of Clusium, Lars Porsenna, for help. In 507 BC. he besieged Rome, and the attack was so sudden that the townspeople, in their haste, did not even have time to destroy the pile bridge across the Tiber. Then Publius Horace Cocles with two companions stood on the bridge and single-handedly held back the Etruscans at its beginning, while the Romans at the other end were breaking the piles. When the bridge collapsed, Horace, still in armor and with weapons, rushed into the Tiber and got out alive to the other side. Two of his comrades died in the process. Another legend tells about the courage of the young man Gaius Mucius Scaevola, who alone made his way to the royal headquarters, where he tried to kill Porsenna, but mistakenly hit his clerk. When he was captured and brought to the king, Mucius honestly told who he was and why he made his way into the camp. In response to the threat of torture, he himself placed his right hand in the brazier and held it in the fire until his hand was charred. Amazed by his courage and self-control, Porsenna allegedly immediately stopped the siege and concluded a peace treaty with the Romans.

Contrary to the presentation of patriotic Livy and other Roman historians, traces of a tradition less favorable to Rome are found in the sources. Porsenna, apparently, still managed to capture the city and impose difficult terms of the peace agreement on its inhabitants. However, he, apparently, was in no hurry to bring Tarquinius into Rome, and soon circumstances changed unfavorably for the exiled king himself.

Lars Porsenna besieges Rome, reconstruction by Peter Connolly

Porsenna's son Arrunt wanted to create his own kingdom. In 504 BC. he took half of his army from his father and besieged the Latin Aricium. As we know, the Greeks from Qom came to the aid of the Latins, at whose hands the Etruscans were defeated, and Arrunt himself died. After this defeat, the Latin cities hastened to finally separate from the Etruscans and create their own hostile alliance led by Tusculum. Power in it belonged to the dictator of Tusculum, Octavius ​​Mamilius, who was the son-in-law of Tarquinius. Convinced that Porsenna was not going to regain power over Rome, Tarquinius left him for Tusculum. Here he was warmly received by a relative.

Fearing that Octavius ​​Mamilius would try to restore Tarquin to the royal throne, the Romans refused to join the rebel Latins and remained faithful to the agreement with Porsenna. They even hosted in their city the remnants of the Etruscan army retreating from Aricia. Contrary to their fears, a full eight years passed before Octavius ​​Mamilius decided to act. In 496 BC. Latin communities united against the Romans and gave them battle at Lake Regilla. On their side in the battle was a detachment of Roman exiles, commanded by the last son of Tarquinius, Titus. After a stubborn battle, the Romans won a costly victory. Octavius ​​Mamilius and Titus Tarquinius fell in battle. The elderly king, wounded, fled to Cumae to Aristodemus, who ruled there, and died a year later at his court. The Romans, in turn, allowed the victory to conclude a treaty of alliance with the Latins.

Literature:

1. Nemirovsky, A. I. Etruski. Introduction to etruscology / A. I. Nemirovsky, A. I. Kharsekin. - Voronezh: Voronezh University Publishing House, 1969.
2. Nemirovsky, A. I. Etruski. From myth to history / A. I. Nemirovsky. - M.: Nauka, 1983.
3. Burian Y. Mysterious Etruscans / Y. Buriyan, B. Moukhova. - M.: Nauka, 1970.
4. Nechai, F. M. Formation of the Roman state / F. Nechai. - Mn., 1972.
5. Zalessky, N.N. Etruscans in Northern Italy / N. Zalessky. - L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1959.
6. Zalessky, N. N. On the history of the Etruscan colonization of Italy in the 7th–4th centuries BC. / N. Zalessky. - L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1965.
7. Ridgway, D. Etruscans // Cambridge History of the Ancient World. - Vol. IV: Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean around 525–479. BC e. - M., 2011. - P. 754-808.
8. Ergon, J. Daily life of the Etruscans / Jacques Ergon; lane from French A. B. Ovezova. - M.: Young Guard, 2009.
9. Mayak, I. L. Rome of the first kings. Genesis of the Roman polis / I. L. Mayak. - M.: Moscow University, 1983.

From the very beginning of their existence, the Etruscan people appeared in the eyes of the Ancient World rich and powerful nation. The self-name of the Etruscans is “Rasena”, their name inspired great fear, constantly appearing in "Annals" which notes: "Even the Alpine tribes, especially the Rhaetians, are of the same origin as the Etruscans"; and Virgil, in his epic about the emergence of Rome, tells in detail about ancient Etruria.

The Etruscan civilization was primarily an urban civilization, in ancient times, which played an important role in the fate of Rome and the entire Western civilization. Etruria fell to the Roman legions by the middle of the 3rd century BC. e., but it has not lost its cultural role. Etruscan priests spoke the Etruscan language both in Tuscany and Rome until the fall of the Roman Empire, that is, until the end of the 5th century AD. e. Beginning, Greek sailors began to settle on the southern coasts of Italy and Sicily and traded with the inhabitants of Etruscan cities.

The inhabitants of Etruria were known to the Greeks as "Tyrrhenians" or "Tyrsenians", and the Romans called them Tusci, hence the current name of Tuscany. According to Tacitus(“Annals”, IV, 55), during the Roman Empire retained the memory of his distant Etruscan origin; The Lydians even then considered themselves brothers of the Etruscans.

"Tyrrhenians" is an adjective, most likely formed from the word "tirrha" or "tirra"in Lydia there is a place called Tyrrha - turris - “tower”, that is, “Tyrrhenians” are “people of the citadel”. Root very common in Etruscan. King Tarchon, brother or son of Tyrrhenus, founded Tarquinia and the dodecapolis -. Names with the root tarch were given to the gods or, the Black Sea region and Asia Minor.

The Etruscans are one of the peoples of ancient civilization, survivor of the Indo-European invasion from the north in the period from 2000 to 1000 BC. e., and the catastrophe of the destruction of almost all tribes. The relationship of the Etruscan language with some pre-Hellenic idioms of Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean Sea has been discovered - proves connection Etruscans and the Middle Eastern world. The entire history of the Etruscans unfolded in the Aegean Sea basin, which is where the Etruscans come from religious presentations and rituals, their unique art and crafts that were previously unknown on Tuscan soil.

On the island Lemnos in the 7th century BC. e. spoke a language similar to Etruscan. The Etruscans apparently originated from a mixture of ethnic elements of different origins. There is no doubt the diversity of the roots of the Etruscan people, born through the fusion of various ethnic elements.

The Etruscans have Indo-European roots and appeared on the land of the Apennine Peninsula in the first years of the 7th century BC. e. Etruscan haplogroup G2a3a and G2a3b discovered in Europe; haplogroup G2a3b went to Europe through Starchevo and further through the archaeological culture of Linear Band Pottery, was discovered by archaeologists in the center of Germany.

Etruscan culture had a significant influence on Roman culture : the inhabitants of Rome adopted their writing and the so-called Roman numerals that were originally Etruscan .The Romans adopted the skills of Etruscan city planning, ancient Etruscan customs and religious beliefs and the entire pantheon of Etruscan gods were adopted by the Romans.

Under the Etruscan king Tarquin the Ancient (VI century BC) in Rome drainage of the swampy areas of the city began through irrigation canals, a sewage system was built in Rome sewerage system and built Cloaca maxima, cloaca in Rome is still in effect today.

stood on a high foundation – podium and had only one entrance facing south. The Etruscans built the podium and foundations of temples from stone, and the buildings themselves, arches, vaults ceilings, complex rafter system they built made of wood. This speaks of an ancient Etruscan tradition masters of wooden architecture A. The Romans are still amazed that The Etruscans built their houses from wood (log houses), and did not build houses from marble.

Rome borrowed their foundations from the Etruscans, the monumental character of Roman architecture was inherited from the Etruscans and embodied in marble and stone. Architectural layout of interior spaces , atriums are the central rooms in Etruscan houses, borrowed by the Romans from the Etruscans. "Signor Piranesi states that,When the Romans first wanted to build massive buildings, the solidity of which amazes us, they were forced to turn to their neighbors for help- Etruscan architects." The Romans built the Capitoline Temple with a southern entrance in all the occupied lands - a copy of the legendary building Etruscan architects Tarquinii and observed the rituals of all Etruscan religious holidays.

The Etruscans were skilled in geodesy and measuring technology, and Roman surveyors learned from them. The division of Italian lands and the territories of all provinces into squares with a side 710 meters - this is the merit of the Etruscans.

In essence, the Etruscan civilization settled on the seven hills of Rome. By the end of the 4th century BC. e. Etruscan letters. Initially, there was a monarchy in Etruscan cities.

Etruscan kings The Tarquins in Rome wore a gold crown, a gold ring and a scepter. Their ceremonial the clothing was a red toga-palmata, and the royal procession was led lictors carried on shoulders Fascia is a sign of the unlimited power of the ruler. The fasces consisted of rods and a hatchet- a ceremonial weapon and symbol of the political and religious power of the Tarquins.

In the 6th century BC. e. the monarchy in Rome was replaced by a republic; the king was replaced, regularly re-elected, officials. The new state was essentially oligarchic, with constant and strong Senate and replaced annually magistrates. All power was in the hands oligarchies, consisting of principes - leading citizens. Aristocratic class– ordo principum – controlled the interests of the community.

Etruscan families had different names – nomen gentilicum, Etruscan “gens” - “gens” - family group and cognomen- family branches, and Each Etruscan had a personal name. The onomastic system of the Etruscans was exactly adopted by the Romans. Onomastics(from ancient Greek ὀνομαστική) - the art of giving names, was adopted by the Romans from the Etruscans.

The Etruscans influenced the history of Rome and the fate of the entire West. Latin peoples were part of the Etruscan confederation, created by religious grounds.

In the 6th century BC. e. The Etruscan League arose, which was a religious association of Etruscan lands. Political meeting Etruscan League was held during the general Etruscan annual religious holidays, a large fair was held, the supreme leader of the Etruscan League was elected, wearing title rex (king), later - sacerdos (high priest), and in Rome - was elected praetor or aedile of the fifteen nations of Etruria.

The symbol of sovereignty survived in Rome after the expulsion Etruscan dynasty Tarquini from Rome to 510 BC e., when the Roman Republic arose, which existed for 500 years.

The loss of Rome was a serious blow for Etruria; difficult battles lay ahead on land and sea with the Roman Republic and with the period 450-350. BC e.

Throughout Roman history, the Romans repeated all religious rituals, performed by the Etruscan kings. During the celebration of triumph, victory over the enemy, a solemn procession went to the Capitol, for a sacrifice to Jupiter, and the commander stood in his war chariot, at the head of a cortege of prisoners and soldiers, and was temporarily likened to the supreme deity.

The city of Rome was founded according to the plan and ritual of the Etruscans. The founding of the city was accompanied by Etruscans sacred rituals. The site of the future city was outlined in a circle by the city line, and along it plowed the ritual furrow with a plow, protecting the future city from the hostile outside world. The plowed circle around the city corresponded to the Etruscan ideas about the Heavenly World - Templum (lat. templum) - “Temple.” The sacred walls of the city were called in Etruscan TULAR Spular (lat. tular spular) became known to the Romans as pomerium.

In the Etruscan city, they necessarily built three main streets, three gates, three temples - dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva. The rituals of building Etruscan cities - Etrusco ritu - were adopted by the Romans.

Mundus, a hole in the ground where the souls of ancestors lived, was located on the Palatine Hill in Rome. Throwing a handful of earth brought from the homeland into a common pit (Mundus) is the most important rite when founding a city, since the Etruscans and Italics believed that The souls of ancestors are contained in the native land. That's why, a city founded according to such a ritual became their true homeland, where the souls of their ancestors moved.

Other Etruscan cities were founded and built in Etruria (on the Apennine Peninsula) in compliance with all Etruscan city planning rules and according to religious canons. This is how the Etruscan city was built Volterra, in Etruscan – Velatri, Lucumonius and others were surrounded by high city walls, and the city gate Velatri Porta del Arco, decorated with sculptures - the heads of deities have survived to this day. In Southern Italy, the Etruscans founded the cities of Nola, Acerra, Nocerra and the fortress city of Capua (Italian: Capua), the Etruscan city of Manthua, later Mantua.

The famous ancient Roman roads that still exist today, for example, Via Appia, were built with the participation of the Etruscans.

The Etruscans built the largest hippodrome Ancient Rome - Circus Maximus, or Great Circus. According to legend, the first chariot racing competitions were held at the hippodrome in the 6th century BC. Etruscan king of Rome Tarquinius Priscus, who was originally from the Etruscan city of Tarquinia.

The ancient tradition of gladiator fights originates from the Etruscan culture of sacrifice, when captured warriors were given a chance to survive, and if the prisoner happened to survive, they believed that it was the will of the gods.

In Etruria, tombs were located outside the city walls - this Etruscan rule was invariably observed throughout the ancient Mediterranean: the settlements of the dead must be separated from the settlements of the living.

The Romans took as a model the design of Etruscan tombs, the interior decoration of tombs, sarcophagi, urns with ashes, as well as the funeral rituals of the Etruscans, who believed in an afterlife similar to earthly life.

The Romans believed in the power of ancient Etruscan oaths that had magical powers, if they are addressed to the Etruscan deities of the Earth. The Etruscans built their houses from wood, a short-lived material, but The Etruscans built their tombs for centuries for eternal life, stone tombs were carved out of rocks, hidden in mounds, decorated with wall with images of feasts, dances and games, and filling the tombs with jewelry, weapons, vases and other valuable items. “Life is a moment, death is forever”

Roman temples were built of stone and marble, but decorated according to the Etruscan style wooden temples that existed in ancient times Kose, Veii, Tarquinia, Volsinia, capital of the Etruscan Confederation.

Found in the Etruscan city of Veii temple (of Apollo), with many life-size terracotta statues of gods, executed with amazing skill, the work of an Etruscan sculptor Vulka.

The Romans introduced almost all the Etruscan gods into their pantheon. The Etruscan gods became Hades, (Aritimi) - Artemis, - Earth, (Etrus. Cel) — Geo (earth). In Etruscan “Cels clan” - Celsclan - “son of the Earth”, “tribe of the Earth”. (Satre) — Saturn; (Turnu), Turan, Turanshna (Etrus.Turansna) - epithet of the goddess Turan - Swan, Swan; - Menerva. Etruscan god of vegetation and fertility, death and rebirth (Etruscan. Pupluna or Fufluna) originated in the city of Populonia. Etruscan Fufluns reigns at symposiums and funeral meals - corresponds to the Roman Bacchus, or Bacchus, the Greek Dionysus.

The supreme gods of the Etruscans were a trinity, which was worshiped in the triple temples - this . The Greek goddess Hecate became the visible embodiment of the triune Etruscan deity. Trinity cult which was worshiped in Etruscan sanctuaries with three walls - each dedicated to one of the three gods - is also present in Cretan-Mycenaean civilization.

Just like the Etruscans, the Romans showed great interest in divination, fortune-telling, and haruspices. Etruscan tombs are often surrounded egg-shaped Etruscan columns cippi – low stone pillars (like the Scythians’ stone women) with decorations that are a symbol of the divine presence.

In Etruria, games and dances had a ritual origin and character. Etruscan warriors since ancient times learned military dances in gymnasiums, dancing was not just a variety military training, but also for conquest disposition of the gods of war.

On the frescoes of Etruria we see armed men in helmets, dancing and banging their spears on their shields to the beat - , dedicated god Pyrrhus

The Roman salii - warrior priests - performed a pyrrhic dance in honor of Mars, brutal gladiator fights (lat. Munera gladiatoria) the Romans also borrowed from Etruscan Tuscany in 264 BC. e.

The Etruscans were great lovers of music - to the sounds of a double flute, they fought, went hunting, cooked, and even punished slaves, as the Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle writes with some indignation.

Rome invited Etruscan dancers and mimes to its celebrations, whom the Romans called "histriones" - "histriones" – the Romans used this term too taken from the Etruscans. According to Titus Livy, Etruscan dancers and mimes, with the rhythm of their movements, pacified the evil gods who sent a terrible scourge to the city of Rome - the plague in 364 BC. e.

The Etruscans owned specific methods of processing gold and silver. Found in 1836 in the Cerveteri mound gold jewelry and the finest engraving of silver and bronze mirrors represent the pinnacle of craftsmanship of the 7th century BC. — at this time Roman jewelry did not exist!

The treasures from the tomb of Regolini-Galassi amaze with the perfection and technical ingenuity of amber and bronze jewelry, products chryselephantine, boxes for cosmetics, brooches, combs, necklaces, tiaras, rings, bracelets and archaic earrings testify to the high skill of Etruscan jewelers.

D achievements lead the Etruscans to 7th century BC to a leading position among artists of the Western Mediterranean. In the visual arts one can feel the connection with the Phoenician, Cretan-Mycenaean and , the same ones are depicted fantastic beasts– chimeras, sphinxes and winged horses. Fantastic Etruscan chimera actually represents animal image of the triune deity -, commanding Birth - this is the image of the Goat-nurse, commanding Life - the image of Leo, commanding Death - the image of the Snake.

In the middle of the 3rd century BC. e. Rome subjugated Etruria (Tascana), the military and political role of Etruria was eliminated, but Etruria did not lose its originality. Religious traditions and crafts flourished in Etruria before the Christian era, and Romanization proceeded very slowly. The Romans sent delegates to universal annual religious meeting twelve tribes Etruscans of 12 Etruscan cities in the main Sanctuary of Voltumna – Fanum Voltumnae; it was called "concilium Etruriae".

The cities of southern Etruria near Rome soon fell into decay, and northern Etruria was a mining region- Chiusi, Perugia, Cortona, have preserved the famous production workshops that produced objects made of malleable steel and bronze, Volterra and Arezzo - a large industrial center, Populonia - a metallurgical center ore mining and metal smelting, even under the rule of Rome retained its industrial and commercial power.

Italy in Modern Times (1559-1814)

Modern history

Military history of Italy

Economic history of Italy

Electoral history

History of fashion in Italy

History of money in Italy

History of music in Italy

Portal "Italy"

Until the middle of the 20th century. The “Lydian version” was subject to serious criticism, especially after the decipherment of the Lydian inscriptions - their language had nothing in common with Etruscan. However, according to modern ideas, the Etruscans should be identified not with the Lydians, but with the more ancient, pre-Indo-European population of the west of Asia Minor, known as the “Proto-Luvians” or “Sea Peoples”.

Story

The formation, development and collapse of the Etruscan state took place against the backdrop of three periods of Ancient Greece - Orientalizing, or geometric, classical, Hellenistic, as well as the rise of the Roman Republic. The earlier stages are given in accordance with the autochthonic theory of the origin of the Etruscans.

Proto-Villanovian period

Funeral urn in the form of a hut. 9th century BC e.

The most important of the Etruscan sources that marked the beginning of Etruscan civilization is the Etruscan chronology saecula (centuries). According to it, the first century of the ancient state, saeculum, began around the 11th or 10th century BC. e. This time belongs to the so-called Proto-Villanovian period (XII-X centuries BC). There is extremely little data on the Proto-Villanovians. The only important evidence of the beginning of a new civilization is a change in the funeral rite, which began to be performed by cremating the body on a funeral pyre, followed by burying the ashes in the fields of urns.

Villanova I and Villanova II periods

After the loss of independence, Etruria retained its identity for some time. In the II-I centuries BC. e. local art continued to exist; this period is also called Etruscan-Roman. But gradually the Etruscans adopted the way of life of the Romans. In 89 BC. e. The Etruscans were granted Roman citizenship. By this time, the process of assimilation of Etruscan cities was almost completed. And yet in the 2nd century AD. e. some Etruscans spoke their own language. The haruspices, the Etruscan soothsayers, lasted much longer. However, Etruscan history was completed.

Art

The first monuments of Etruscan culture date back to the end of the 9th - beginning of the 8th centuries. BC e. The development cycle of Etruscan civilization ends in the 2nd century. BC e. Rome was under its influence until the 1st century. BC e.

The Etruscans long preserved the archaic cults of the first Italian settlers and showed a special interest in death and the afterlife. Therefore, Etruscan art was significantly associated with the decoration of tombs, based on the concept that the objects in them should maintain a connection with real life. The most notable surviving monuments are the sculpture and sarcophagi.

The science

We know very little about Etruscan science, with the exception of medicine, which was admired by the Romans. Etruscan doctors knew anatomy well, and it was no coincidence that the ancient historian wrote about “Etruria, famous for the discovery of medicines.” They achieved some success in dentistry: in some burials, for example, even dentures were found.

Very little information has also reached us about the literature, scientific and historical works created by the Etruscans.

Cities and necropolises

Each of the Etruscan cities influenced the territory it controlled. The exact number of inhabitants of the Etruscan city-states is unknown; according to rough estimates, the population of Cerveteri in its heyday was 25 thousand people.

Cerveteri was the southernmost city of Etruria; it controlled deposits of metal-bearing ore, which ensured the well-being of the city. The settlement was located near the coast on a steep ledge. The necropolis was traditionally located outside the city. A road led to it along which funeral carts were transported. There were tombs on both sides of the road. The bodies rested on benches, in niches or terracotta sarcophagi. The personal belongings of the deceased were placed with them.

Foundations of houses in the Etruscan city of Marzabotto

From the name of this city (etr. - Caere) the Roman word “ceremony” was subsequently derived - this is how the Romans called some funeral rites.

The neighboring city of Veii had excellent defenses. The city and its acropolis were surrounded by ditches, making Veii almost impregnable. An altar, a temple foundation and water tanks were discovered here. Vulka is the only Etruscan sculptor whose name we know was a native of Wei. The area around the city is notable for the passages carved into the rock, which served to drain water.

The recognized center of Etruria was the city of Tarquinia. The name of the city comes from the son or brother of Tirren Tarkon, who founded twelve Etruscan policies. The necropolises of Tarquinia were concentrated near the hills of Colle de Civita and Monterozzi. The tombs, carved into the rock, were protected by mounds, the chambers were painted for two hundred years. It was here that magnificent sarcophagi were discovered, decorated with bas-reliefs with images of the deceased on the lid.

When laying the city, the Etruscans observed rituals similar to the Roman ones. An ideal place was chosen, a hole was dug into which the sacrifices were thrown. From this place, the founder of the city, using a plow drawn by a cow and an ox, drew a furrow that determined the position of the city walls. Where possible, the Etruscans used a lattice street layout, oriented to the cardinal points.

Life

The houses and tombs described above belonged to people who could afford to purchase luxury goods. Therefore, most of the household items found at the excavations tell about the life of the upper strata of Etruscan society.

Ceramics

The Etruscans created their ceramic products, inspired by the works of Greek masters. The shapes of the vessels changed over the centuries, as did the manufacturing technique and style. The Villanovians made pottery from a material often called impasto, although this is not exactly the correct term to describe Italic vessels made of impasto clay fired to a brown or black color.

Around the middle of the 7th century BC. e. In Etruria, real bucchero vessels appeared - black ceramics characteristic of the Etruscans. Early bucchero vessels were thin-walled and decorated with incisions and ornaments. Later, a procession of animals and people became a favorite motif. Gradually, the bucchero vessels became pretentious, overloaded with decorations. This type of pottery had already disappeared by the 5th century BC. e.

In the 6th century, black-figure ceramics became widespread. The Etruscans mainly copied products from Corinth and Ionia, adding something of their own. The Etruscans continued to produce black-figure vessels when the Greeks switched to the red-figure technique. True red-figure pottery appeared in Etruria in the second half of the 5th century BC. e. Favorite subjects were mythological episodes and scenes of farewell to the dead. The center of production was Vulci. Painted pottery continued to be produced in the 3rd and even 2nd century BC. e. But gradually the style leaned towards black ceramics - the vessel was covered with paint, which imitated metal. There were silver-plated vessels of exquisite shape, decorated with high reliefs. The ceramics from Arezzo, which were used on Roman tables in subsequent centuries, became truly famous.

Bronze products

The Etruscans had no equal in working with bronze. Even the Greeks admitted this. They collected some Etruscan bronzes. Bronze vessels, especially for wine, often followed Greek forms. Scoops and sieves were made from bronze. Some products were decorated with bas-reliefs, the handles were shaped like bird or animal heads. Candelabra for candles were made from bronze. A large number of incense braziers have also been preserved. Other bronze utensils include meat hooks, basins and jugs, tripods for cauldrons, libation bowls, and stands for playing cottabos.

A special category were women's toiletries. One of the most famous products of Etruscan craftsmen were bronze hand mirrors. Some are equipped with folding drawers and decorated with high reliefs. One surface was carefully polished, the reverse was decorated with engraving or high relief. Strigils were made from bronze - spatulas for removing oil and dirt, cysts, nail files, and caskets.

Other household items

The best items in an Etruscan home were made of bronze. Others were lost because they were made of wood, leather, wicker, and fabric. We know about these objects thanks to various images. For several centuries, the Etruscans used chairs with a high rounded back, the prototype of which was the wicker chair. Products from Chiusi - chairs with backs and tables with four legs - indicate that in the 7th century BC. e. The Etruscans sat at the table while eating. In Etruria, it was common for spouses to eat together; they reclined together on a Greek wedge bed, which was covered with mattresses and pillows folded in half. Low tables were placed in front of the bed. In the 6th century BC. e. a lot of folding chairs appear. The Etruscans also borrowed high-backed chairs and high tables from the Greeks - kraters and oinochoes were placed on these.

By modern standards, Etruscan houses are rather sparsely furnished. As a rule, the Etruscans did not use shelves and cabinets; things and provisions were stored in caskets, baskets or hung on hooks.

Luxury goods and jewelry

For centuries, Etruscan aristocrats wore jewelry and acquired luxury goods made of glass, faience, amber, ivory, precious stones, gold and silver. Villanovians in the 7th century BC e. wore glass beads, jewelry made of precious metals and faience pendants from the Eastern Mediterranean. The most important local products were brooches, made of bronze, gold, silver and iron. The latter were considered rare. The exceptional prosperity of Etruria in the 7th century BC. e. caused a rapid development of jewelry and an influx of imported products. Silver bowls were imported from Phenicia, and the images on them were copied by Etruscan craftsmen. Boxes and cups were made from ivory imported from the East. Most jewelry was produced in Etruria. Goldsmiths used engraving, filigree and graining. In addition to brooches, pins, buckles, hair ribbons, earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and clothing plates were widespread. During the Archaic era, decorations became more elaborate. Earrings in the form of tiny bags and disc-shaped earrings have come into fashion. Semi-precious stones and colored glass were used. During this period, beautiful gems appeared. Hollow pendants often played the role of amulets; they were worn by children and adults. Etruscan women of the Hellenistic period preferred Greek-type jewelry. In the 2nd century BC. e. They wore a tiara on their heads, small earrings with pendants in their ears, disc-shaped clasps on their shoulders, and their hands were decorated with bracelets and rings.

Clothes and hairstyles

Clothing consisted mainly of a cape and a shirt. The head was covered with a high hat with a round top and curved brim. Women let their hair down over their shoulders or braided it and covered their head with a cap. Sandals served as footwear for men and women. The Etruscans all wore short hair, with the exception of the haruspex priests. The priests did not cut their hair, but removed it from their foreheads with a narrow headband, a gold or silver hoop. In more ancient times, the Etruscans kept their beards short, but later they began to shave them clean.

Military organization and economy

Military organization

Trade

Crafts and Agriculture

Religion

The Etruscans deified the forces of nature and worshiped many gods and goddesses. The main deities of this people were considered Tin (Tinia) - the supreme god of the sky, Uni and Menrva. Besides them there were many other gods. The sky was divided into 16 regions, each of which had its own deity. In the Etruscan worldview, there were also gods of the sea and the underworld, natural elements, rivers and streams, gods of plants, gates and doors; and deified ancestors; and simply various demons (for example, the Demon Tukhulka with a hawk's beak and a ball of snakes on his head instead of hair, who was the executor of the will of the gods of the underworld).

The Etruscans believed that the gods could punish people for mistakes and lack of attention to their persons, and therefore sacrifices must be made to appease them. The greatest sacrifice was human life. As a rule, these were criminals or prisoners who were forced to fight to the death during the funerals of noble people. However, at critical moments the Etruscans sacrificed their own lives to the gods.

Power and social structure of society

Leisure

The Etruscans loved to participate in fighting competitions and, perhaps, to help other people with housework. The Etruscans also had a theater, but it did not become as widespread as, for example, the Attic theater, and the manuscripts of plays found are not enough for a definitive analysis.

Toponymy

A number of geographical names are associated with the Etruscans. The Tyrrhenian Sea was so named by the ancient Greeks because it was controlled by the "Tyrrhenians" (the Greek name for the Etruscans). The Adriatic Sea was named after the Etruscan port city of Adria, which controlled the northern part of this sea. In Rome, the Etruscans were called "Tusci", which was later reflected in the name of the administrative region of Italy Tuscany.

Etruscan language and literature

The family ties of the Etruscan language are debatable. The compilation of a dictionary of the Etruscan language and the deciphering of texts are progressing slowly and are still far from complete.

Sources

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Roman antiquities: In 3 vols. M.: Frontiers XXI, 2005. Series “Historical Library”.
• Titus Livy. History of Rome from the founding of the city. In 3 vols. M.: Science 1989-1994. Series “Monuments of Historical Thought”.
• Plutarch. Comparative biographies: In 3 vols. M.: Nauka, 1961, 1963, 1964. Series “Literary Monuments”.
• Pavel Orozy. History against the pagans. Books I-VII: B B 3 vols. St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2001-2003. Series "Byzantine Library".

Literature

• Block Ramon. Etruscans. Predictors of the future. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004.
• Bor Matei, Tomazic Ivan. Veneti and Etruscans: at the origins of European civilization: Sat. Art. M.; St. Petersburg: Dr. Franze Preschern, Aletheia, 2008.
• Burian Jan, Moukhova Bogumila. Mysterious Etruscans / Answer. ed. A. A. Neihardt; lane from Czech P. N. Antonov. - M.: Science (GRVL, 1970. - 228 pp. - (In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East). - 60,000 copies.(region)
• Vasilenko R.P. Etruscans and Christian religion // Antique world and archeology. Saratov, 1983. Issue. 5. pp. 15-26.
• Vaughan A. Etruscans. M.: KRON-Press, 1998.
• Gottenrot F. The Kingdom of People. 1994. pp. 35-36.
• Elnitsky L.A. From the latest literature about the Etruscans // Bulletin of ancient history. 1940. No. 3-4. pp. 215-221.
• Zalessky N.N. Etruscans in Northern Italy. L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1959.
• Zalessky N.N. On the history of the Etruscan colonization of Italy in the 7th-4th centuries. BC e. L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House 1965.
• Kondratov A. A. Etruscans - mystery number one. M.: Knowledge, 1977.
• Mavleev E.V. Lukumony // Science and religion.
• Mavleev E.V. Master of “The Judgment of Paris” from Oberlin College in the Hermitage // Communications of the State Hermitage. 1982. Issue. 47. pp. 44-46.
• Mayani Zachary. The Etruscans begin to speak. M.: Nauka, 1966. (Reprint: Mayani Z. In the footsteps of the Etruscans. M.: Veche, 2003).
• McNamara Ellen. Etruscans: Life, religion, culture. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2006. Series “Life, Religion, Culture.”
• Lighthouse I. L. Rome of the first kings (Genesis of the Roman polis). M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1983.
• Nagovitsyn A.E. Etruscans: Mythology and Religion. M.: Refl-Book, 2000.
• Nemirovsky A.I. Archaeological museums of Tuscany // Bulletin of ancient history. 1992. No. 1. P. 237-244.
• Nemirovsky A.I., Kharsekin A.I. Etruscans. Introduction to Etruscology. Voronezh: Voronezh University Publishing House, 1969.
• Nemirovsky A.I. Etruscans. From myth to history. M.: Nauka, 1983.
• Penny J. Languages ​​of Italy // . T. IV: Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean c. 525–479 BC e. Ed. J. Boardman et al. Trans. from English A. V. Zaikova. M., 2011. pp. 852-874. – ISBN 978-5-86218-496-9
• Ridgway D. Etruscans // Cambridge History of the Ancient World. T. IV: Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean c. 525–479 BC e. M., 2011. pp. 754-808.
• Robert Jean-Noel. Etruscans. M.: Veche, 2007. (Series “Guides of Civilizations”).
• Sokolov G.I. Etruscan art. M.: Art, 1990.
• Thuillet J.-P. Etruscan Civilization / Trans. from fr. M.: AST, Astrel, 2012. - 254 p. - “Historical Library” series, 2,000 copies, ISBN 978-5-271-37795-2, ISBN 978-5-17-075620-3
• Ergon Jacques. Daily life of the Etruscans. M.: Young Guard, 2009. Series “Living History. Everyday life of humanity."
• Etruscans: Italian love of life. M.: TERRA, 1998. Encyclopedia series “Vanished Civilizations”.
• Macnamara E. Everyday life of the etruscans. M., 2006.

see also

Links

Etruscans
Story	Origin of the Etruscans · Founding of Rome · Tyrrhenian · Tyrrhenians · Tarchon · Capis · Lucius Tarquinius Priscus · Tanaquil · Tarquinius the Proud · Porsenna · Servius Tullius · Lars Tolumnius · Caelius Vibenna · Titus Vestricius Spurinna · Vicus Tuscus · Arunus · Rheti
Culture	Tages · Vulca · Persian · Titus Larcius Flavus · Art · Architecture · Etruscan Terracotta Warriors · Coins · Apollo of Veii · Chimera of Arezzo · Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum · Tomb of the Roaring Lions · Sarcophagus of the Couples · Jewelry · Society · Religion · Mythology · Mythological Characters · Etruscan Sibyls · Haruspices · Liver from Piacenza · Etruscan names of Greek heroes · Fanum Voltumnae · Mezentius · Loves · Extispicy
War	Roman-Etruscan Wars · First Siege of Rome · Second Siege of Rome · Battle of Alalia · Battle of Cumae · Capture of Fidenae · Battle of Veii · Battle of Populonia · First Battle of Vadimo · Second Battle of Vadimo · Battle of Cremer
Language	Tyrrhenian Languages ​​Alphabet Lemnos Stele Rhaetian Language Tablets from Pyrga Cippus perusinus Liber Linteus Corpus Inscriptionum Etruscarum Tablet from Capua Tablet from Cortona Tablet from Magliano
Archeology	National Museum Villa Giulia · Chariot of Monteleone · Tomb of Orcus · Vicus Tuscus ·

(1494-1559)

Argumentation of the migration version

The second theory is supported by the works of Herodotus, which appeared in the 5th century BC. e. As Herodotus argued, the Etruscans were natives of Lydia, a region in Asia Minor, the Tyrrhenians or Tyrsenians, who were forced to leave their homeland due to catastrophic crop failure and famine. According to Herodotus, this happened almost simultaneously with the Trojan War. Hellanicus from the island of Lesbos mentioned the legend of the Pelasgians, who arrived in Italy and became known as the Tyrrhenians. At that time, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed and the Hittite Empire fell, that is, the appearance of the Tyrrhenians should be dated to the 13th century BC. e. or a little later. Perhaps connected with this legend is the myth about the flight to the west of the Trojan hero Aeneas and the founding of the Roman state, which was of great importance for the Etruscans. Herodotus's hypothesis is supported by genetic analysis data that confirm the kinship of the Etruscans with the inhabitants of the lands currently belonging to Turkey.

Until the middle of the 20th century. The “Lydian version” was subject to serious criticism, especially after the decipherment of the Lydian inscriptions - their language had nothing in common with Etruscan. However, there is also a version that the Etruscans should not be identified with the Lydians, but with the more ancient, pre-Indo-European population of the west of Asia Minor, known as the “Proto-Luvians”. A. Erman identified the legendary Tursha tribe, which lived in the eastern Mediterranean and carried out predatory raids on Egypt (XIII-VII centuries BC), with the Etruscans of this early period.

Argumentation of the complex version

Based on the material of ancient sources and archaeological data, we can conclude that the most ancient elements of prehistoric Mediterranean unity took part in the ethnogenesis of the Etruscans during the period of the beginning of the movement from East to West in the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e.; also a wave of settlers from the area of ​​the Black and Caspian Seas in the 2nd millennium BC. e. In the process of forming the Etruscan community, traces of Aegean and Aegean-Anatolian emigrants were found. This is confirmed by the results of excavations on the island. Lemnos (Aegean Sea), where inscriptions similar to the grammatical structure of the Etruscan language were found.

Geographical position

It is not yet possible to determine the exact limits of Etruria. The history and culture of the Etruscans began in the Tyrrhenian Sea region and is limited to the basin of the Tiber and Arno rivers. The country's river network also included the rivers Aventia, Vesidia, Tsetsina, Alusa, Umbro, Oza, Albinia, Armenta, Marta, Minio, and Aro. A wide river network created conditions for developed agriculture, in some places complicated by wetlands. Southern Etruria, whose soils were often of volcanic origin, had extensive lakes: Tsiminskoe, Alsietiskoe, Statonenskoe, Volsinskoe, Sabatinskoe, Trasimenskoe. More than half of the country's territory was occupied by mountains and hills. The diversity of flora and fauna of the region can be judged from the paintings and reliefs. The Etruscans cultivated cypress, myrtle, and pomegranate trees, brought to Italy from Carthage (an image of a pomegranate is found on Etruscan objects in the 6th century BC).

Cities and necropolises

Each of the Etruscan cities influenced the territory it controlled. The exact number of inhabitants of the Etruscan city-states is unknown; according to rough estimates, the population of Cerveteri in its heyday was 25 thousand people.

Cerveteri was the southernmost city of Etruria; it controlled deposits of metal-bearing ore, which ensured the well-being of the city. The settlement was located near the coast on a steep ledge. The necropolis was traditionally located outside the city. A road led to it along which funeral carts were transported. There were tombs on both sides of the road. The bodies rested on benches, in niches or terracotta sarcophagi. The personal belongings of the deceased were placed with them.

From the name of this city (etr. - Caere) the Roman word “ceremony” was subsequently derived - this is how the Romans called some funeral rites.

The neighboring city of Veii had excellent defenses. The city and its acropolis were surrounded by ditches, making Veii almost impregnable. An altar, a temple foundation and water tanks were discovered here. Vulka is the only Etruscan sculptor whose name we know was a native of Wei. The area around the city is notable for the passages carved into the rock, which served to drain water.

The recognized center of Etruria was the city of Tarquinia. The name of the city comes from the son or brother of Tyrrhenus Tarkon, who founded twelve Etruscan policies. The necropolises of Tarquinia were concentrated near the hills of Colle de Civita and Monterozzi. The tombs, carved into the rock, were protected by mounds, the chambers were painted for two hundred years. It was here that magnificent sarcophagi were discovered, decorated with bas-reliefs with images of the deceased on the lid.

When laying the city, the Etruscans observed rituals similar to the Roman ones. An ideal place was chosen, a hole was dug into which the sacrifices were thrown. From this place, the founder of the city, using a plow drawn by a cow and an ox, drew a furrow that determined the position of the city walls. Where possible, the Etruscans used a lattice street layout, oriented to the cardinal points.

Story

The formation, development and collapse of the Etruscan state took place against the backdrop of three periods of Ancient Greece - Orientalizing or Geometric, Classical (Hellenistic), and the rise of Rome. The earlier stages are given in accordance with the autochthonic theory of the origin of the Etruscans.

Proto-Villanovian period

The most important of the historical sources that marked the beginning of the Etruscan civilization is the Etruscan chronology of saecula (centuries). According to him, the first century of the ancient state, saeculum, began around the 11th or 10th century BC. e. This time belongs to the so-called Proto-Villanovian period (XII-X centuries BC). There is extremely little data on the Proto-Villanovians. The only important evidence of the beginning of a new civilization is a change in the funeral rite, which began to be performed by cremating the body on a funeral pyre, followed by burying the ashes in urns.

Villanova I and Villanova II periods

After the loss of independence, Etruria retained its cultural identity for some time. In the II-I centuries BC. e. local art continued to exist; this period is also called Etruscan-Roman. But gradually the Etruscans adopted the way of life of the Romans. In 89 BC. e. the inhabitants of Etruria received Roman citizenship. By this time, the process of Romanization of Etruscan cities was almost completed, along with Etruscan history itself.

Arts and culture

The first monuments of Etruscan culture date back to the end of the 9th - beginning of the 8th centuries. BC e. The development cycle of Etruscan civilization ends in the 2nd century. BC e. Rome was under its influence until the 1st century. BC e.

The Etruscans long preserved the archaic cults of the first Italian settlers and showed a special interest in death and the afterlife. Therefore, Etruscan art was significantly associated with the decoration of tombs, based on the concept that the objects in them should maintain a connection with real life. The most notable surviving monuments are sculpture and sarcophagi.

Etruscan language and literature

A special category were women's toiletries. One of the most famous products of Etruscan craftsmen were bronze hand mirrors. Some are equipped with folding drawers and decorated with high reliefs. One surface was carefully polished, the reverse was decorated with engraving or high relief. Strigils were made from bronze - spatulas for removing oil and dirt, cysts, nail files, and caskets.

By modern standards, Etruscan houses are rather sparsely furnished. As a rule, the Etruscans did not use shelves and cabinets; things and provisions were stored in caskets, baskets or hung on hooks.

Luxury goods and jewelry

For centuries, Etruscan aristocrats wore jewelry and acquired luxury items made of glass, earthenware, amber, ivory, precious stones, gold and silver. Villanovians in the 7th century BC e. wore glass beads, precious metal jewelry, and faience pendants from the Eastern Mediterranean. The most important local products were brooches, made of bronze, gold, silver and iron. The latter were considered rare.

The exceptional prosperity of Etruria in the 7th century BC. e. caused a rapid development of jewelry and an influx of imported products. Silver bowls were imported from Phenicia, and the images on them were copied by Etruscan craftsmen. Boxes and cups were made from ivory imported from the East. Most jewelry was produced in Etruria. Goldsmiths used engraving, filigree and graining. In addition to brooches, pins, buckles, hair ribbons, earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and clothing plates were widespread.

During the Archaic era, decorations became more elaborate. Earrings in the form of tiny bags and disc-shaped earrings have come into fashion. Semi-precious stones and colored glass were used. During this period, beautiful gems appeared. Hollow pendants or bullas often played the role of amulets and were worn by children and adults. Etruscan women of the Hellenistic period preferred Greek-type jewelry. In the 2nd century BC. e. They wore a tiara on their heads, small earrings with pendants in their ears, disc-shaped clasps on their shoulders, and their hands were decorated with bracelets and rings.

• The Etruscans all wore short hair, with the exception of the haruspex priests [ ] . The priests did not cut their hair, but removed it from their foreheads with a narrow headband, a gold or silver hoop [ ] . In an earlier period, the Etruscans cut their beards short, but later they began to shave them clean [ ] . Women let their hair down over their shoulders or braided it and covered their head with a cap.

  Leisure

  The Etruscans loved to participate in fighting competitions and, perhaps, to help other people with housework [ ] . Also, the Etruscans had a theater, but it did not become as widespread as, for example, the Attic theater, and the manuscripts of plays found are not enough for a final analysis.

  Economy

  Crafts and agriculture

  The basis of Etruria's prosperity was agriculture, which made it possible to keep livestock and export surplus wheat to the largest cities in Italy. Spelled, oat and barley grains were found in the archaeological material. The high level of Etruscan agriculture made it possible to engage in selection - an Etruscan spelled variety was obtained, and for the first time they began to cultivate cultivated oats. Flax was used to sew tunics and raincoats, and ship sails. This material was used to record various texts (this achievement was later adopted by the Romans). There is evidence from antiquities about the strength of linen thread, from which Etruscan artisans made armor (6th century BC tomb, Tarquinia). The Etruscans quite widely used artificial irrigation, drainage, and regulation of river flows. The ancient canals known to archaeological science were located near the Etruscan cities of Spina, Veii, in the Coda region.

  In the depths of the Apennines lay copper, zinc, silver, iron, and on the island of Ilva (Elba) iron ore reserves - everything was developed by the Etruscans. The presence of numerous metal products in the tombs of the 8th century. BC e. in Etruria it is associated with an adequate level of mining and metallurgy. Remains of mining are widely found in ancient Populonia (Campiglia Marritima region). The analysis allows us to establish that the smelting of copper and bronze preceded iron processing. There are finds made of copper inlaid with miniature iron squares - a technique used when working with expensive materials. In the 7th century BC e. iron was still a rare metal for processing. Nevertheless, metalworking in cities and colonial centers has been identified: the production of metal utensils was developed in Capua and Nola, and an assortment of blacksmith items was found in Minturni, Venafre, and Suessa. Metalworking workshops are noted in Marzabotto. For that time, the mining and processing of copper and iron was significant in scale. In this area, the Etruscans succeeded in constructing mines for manual extraction of ore.