thumb|300px|one of the tablets. the iguvine tablets are a series of seven bronze tablets discovered at iguvium (contemporary gubbio), italy, in the year 1444. currently housed in the civic museum of the palazzo dei consoli in gubbio, they are also known as the eugubian tablets or eugubine tables. the earliest tablets were probably written in the 3rd century bc in the native umbrian alphabet, the latest in the 1st century bc in the latin alphabet. the tablets contain religious inscriptions that memorialize the acts and rites of the atiedian brethren, a group of 12 priests of jupiter with important municipal functions at iguvium. they are written in the umbrian language, and are by far the longest and most important document of any of the osco-umbrian group of languages, closely related to latin. they shed light on the grammar of this ancient dead language, and also on the religious practices of the ancient peoples of italy, including the archaic religion of the romans. parts of tablets vi and vii appear to be written in an accentual metre, similar to the saturnian metre that is encountered in the earliest latin poetry. the complete text, together with a translation into latin, was published in london in 1863 by francis newman and 1931 in a book by albrecht von blumenthal. these are the only documents of the ancient religions of europe and the mediterranean which have come down to us in an almost complete state. moreover, their content deals with the rituals (sacrifices and prayers) addressed to the highest gods of the local community and to some extent may reflect the common religious beliefs and practices of the italic peoples. consequently, a great number of scholars have devoted their efforts to reading and deciphering them since their discovery. as historical linguist giacomo devoto once described it, it is necessary to go deep into asia to find anything of equal value. the religious structure present in the tablets resembles that of the early stage of roman religion, reflecting the roman archaic triad and the group of gods more strictly related to jupiter. although the general meaning of the tablets is clear, there are still many obscure and debated points and issues. the main difficulty in understanding the text is the insufficient knowledge of the umbrian vocabulary. == discovery == a farmer found the tablets in a field in 1441 and sold them to the city for two years' worth of farming rights. the content of the tablets concerns the religions and ceremonies that were celebrated at iguvium, the town's religious organization and its boundaries. ==epigraphic note== the tablets are engraved on bronze. analysis of the external appearance of the supporting material has led scholars to conclude that only tablets v, vi and vii were 
Ancient_Roman_religion Bronze Inscriptions Osco-Umbrian_languages