World History Timeline Civilization: Etruscans History Time Map of the Etruscans Overview Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy. Its homeland was in the area of central Italy, just north of Rome, which is today called Tuscany. In ancient times there was a strong tradition that the Etruscans had emigrated from Lydia, on the eastern coast of present-day Turkey. Modern historians have largely discounted this idea, and believe that the Etruscans were an indigenous population - a belief largely confirmed by modern DNA studies. The sudden flowering of Etrsucan civilization at a date earlier than other indigenous peoples of central and northern Italy probably points to the blossoming of strong trading relations between the peoples of the area - identified by modern scholars as belonging to the Iron-age Villanovan culture - and merchants (and possibly some colonists) from the eastern Mediterranean. Mining of metals, especially copper and iron, would have led to early enrichment for the Etruscans, and to a higher material culture than other Italic peoples. The Etruscan civilization lasted from the 8th century BC to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

In the 6th century the Etruscans expanded their influence over a wide area of Italy. They founded city-states in northern Italy, and to the south, their influence expanded down into Latium and beyond. Early Rome was deeply influenced by Etruscan culture (the word "Rome" is Etruscan). The Etruscans also gained control of Corsica. Location of Etruscan Civilization and the city states. Reproduced under License 3.0 Between the late 6th and early 4th centuries BC, Etruscan power declined. To the south, the rising power of the Greek city-states of Sicily and southern Italy weakened Etruscan political and military influence, and cities which they had either dominated or founded, such as Rome , threw out their overlords and became independent city-states. In the north, Gallic tribes moved into northern Italy and destroyed the Etruscan cities there. However, in their homeland the Etruscan cities remained powerful, and were formidable opponents of the rising power of Rome. It was only over a long period, in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, that they surrendered their independence to the Romans.

The Etruscans spoke a unique language, unrelated to those of their neighbours. Their culture was influenced by Greek traders, and by the Greek colonists of southern Italy. The Etruscan alphabet is Greek in its origins. They in turn passed on their alphabet to the Romans. Government The Etruscans adopted the city-state as their political unit from the Greeks, earlier than their neighbours in central Italy. The Etruscan homeland was originally divided into twelve city-states, but new cities sprang up as the Etruscans expanded their sphere of influence. Like the Greeks, most Etruscan cities moved from monarchy to oligarchy in the 6th century BC. Some seem to have retained their monarchies. The different city-states of Etruria were united by a common religion, and apparently too by a loose political confederacy. This did not stop the different states from going to war with one another from time to time. Religion The Etruscan system of belief was, like those of the Greeks and Romans, polytheistic, based on the worship of many gods and goddesses: Tin or Tinia, the sky, Uni his wife, and Cel, the earth goddess.

Later, Greek deities were taken into the Etruscan system: Aritimi (Artemis), Menrva (Minerva), Pacha (Dionysus). The Greek heroes taken from Homer also appear extensively in Etruscan art. These deities were active in the world of man and could be persuaded to influence human affairs. Legend had it that, to understand the will of the gods, and how to influence them, had been "revealed" to the Etruscans in the form of oracles which were written down in a series of mysterious sacred books. These books were secret, only to be consulted by the priests. Military Like other ancient cultures, warfare was a major aspect of their political life. Like many ancient societies, the Etruscans conducted campaigns during summer months, raiding neighbouring areas, attempting to gain territory, and engaging in - or combating - piracy. An Etruscan Helmut in the British Museum l Human sacrifice was a feature of their religion, and prisoners of war could end up on the altars of Etruscan gods. As a part of this sacrifice, prisoners were sometimes set to fight one another.

the Romans later took this practice over, and it grew into the gladiatorial entertainments of the Roman amphitheatres. Art and Architecture The surviving Etruscan art which has come down to us is figurative sculpture in terracotta (especially life-size tomb statues in temples) and cast bronze, wall-painting and metalworking (especially engraved bronze mirrors). As with all ancient peoples, Etruscan art was strongly connected to religion; the afterlife was of major importance in Etruscan art. The Etruscan musical instruments seen in frescoes and bas-reliefs are different types of pipes, such as Pan pipes and double pipes, percussion instruments, and stringed instruments like the lyre. 5th century BCE fresco of dancers and musicians, tomb of the leopards The only written records of Etruscan origin that remain are inscriptions, mainly funerary. Otherwise, Etruscan literature is evidenced only in references by later Roman authors. The Architecture of the ancient Etruscans was derived from that of the Greeks, and went on to influence that of early Rome. Etruscan Heritage Rome is located on the edge of what was the Etruscan homeland.

Certain institutions and customs came directly from the Etruscans to Rome. In fact, the name of Rome itself has of Etruscan origin, as are the names of its legendary founders, Romulus and Remus. There were strong Latin and Italic elements to Roman culture, and later Romans proudly celebrated these multiple origins. Before the Etruscan arrived (undoubtedly as a ruling group), however, Rome was probably a collection of small farming settlements. The Etrsucan elite provided it with its early political arrangements (monarchy, army) and urban infrastructure (walls, forum, drainage system); in short, it was probably they who turned Rome into a full-blown city-state. Few Etruscan words entered the Latin language, but those that did tended to be to do with state authority: the toga palmata (a magistrate's robe), the sella curulis (magistrate's chair), and the fasces - a bundle of whipping rods surrounding a double-bladed axe, carried by magistrate's attendants (lictors). The fasces symbolised magisterial power.

Also, the word populus is of Etruscan derivation, and originally referred to the people assembled for war, as an army, rather than the general populace. The early Romans were deeply influenced by their more civilized Etruscan rulers, whose imprint can be seen in the Romans' writing, art and architecture, religion, military matters, entertainment (as in the gladiatorial combat) and probably a host of other aspects of daily life. In thus helping to shape Roman civilization, the Etruscans had an enduring influence on later Western culture. Etruscan Civilization Etruscan Civilization Etruscan Civilization, culture created and developed on the Italian Peninsula by the ancient people of Etruria during the 1st millennium BC. At the time of its greatest power, between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, Etruria probably embraced all Italy from the Alps to the Tiber River. Its name is the Latin version of the Greek name Tyrrhenia or Tyrsenia; the ancient Romans called the people of the country Etrusci or Tusci, from which is derived the name of the modern Italian region of Tuscany.

Attempts to identify the origins of the Etruscans have been inconclusive, because the ancient traditions do not agree on this point. No lack of speculation exists on the subject, from antiquity to the present. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus maintained that the Etruscans came from Lydia, an ancient country in western Asia Minor. The Roman historian Livy and the Greek historian Polybius agreed with Herodotus, as did the Roman poets Publius Papinius Statius and Tiberius Catius Silius Italicus. A dissenting opinion was registered by another ancient Greek historian of the Augustan period, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who held that the Etruscans were an indigenous Italian race. Archaeological discoveries have shed much light on early Etruscan history. Authorities are now generally agreed that the earliest settlements of Etruria were along the low, marshy coastal land of Tuscany. The first permanent settlements, Vetulonia and Tarquinii (now Tarquinia), probably date to about the end of the 9th century BC.

At that level of the excavations, new types of sepulchers were found, differing greatly from earlier burial structures of the region and containing quantities of articles from other regions (amber, silver, gold, and Egyptian gemwork) not found in any of the older tombs. The character of their art and many distinctive features of their religion make it clear that the original Etruscans were an Oriental or Middle Eastern people. The conclusion of most archaeologists, therefore, is that the Etruscans did emigrate from a region in Asia Minor, if not precisely from Lydia, as Herodotus supposed. The original homeland of the Etruscans was probably somewhere between Syria and the Hellespont (Dardanelles). History From very early times Etruscan society was dominated by a firmly entrenched aristocracy that exercised strict control over the political, military, economic, and religious aspects of the peoples' lives. By the 6th century BC several city-states, including Tarquinii and Veii, dominated their respective geographic regions and dispatched colonists to adjacent areas.

Some of their leaders, including the semilegendary Etruscan kings of Rome such as the TarquinsLucius Priscus and Lucius Superbusmay have achieved their positions because they were accomplished warriors. They continually aligned their independent cities with one another for economic and political gain. Warrior-kings also forged economic ties through marriage. In response to the threat that these alliances posed to their own interests, the Romans, Greeks, and Carthaginians might also unite against the Etruscans. By the 5th century BC, Etruscan power was challenged and severely curtailed. The navy from the city of Syracuse soundly defeated an allied Etruscan fleet in a sea battle off the coast of Cumae in 474 BC. In an effort to regain the seas, an Etruscan federation aligned itself with Athens in the ill-fated assault on Syracuse in 413 BC. After a siege of some ten years, the city of Veii was defeated (396 BC) by Rome in its struggle to control the overland routes north.

This victory marked the beginning of Rome's gradual conquest of Etruria, which was not completed until 283 BC. The 3rd century BC was a particularly dark period for the Etruscans, as the Romans, having subdued most of the central and southern peninsula of Italy, turned their major attention northward. In turn, the Etruscan cities of Caere, Tarquinia, and Vulci were forced to pay tribute and to cede some of their territories to Rome. Dissension among the aristocracy and insurrections by the lower classes followed, resulting in the total collapse of the social structure of cities such as Volsinii. Realizing their plight, several Etruscan cities then entered into alliances with Rome. Such alliances linked many Etruscan cities with Rome in such a way that Roman laws often had an impact on the Etruscan people. Attempts to rebel against Roman rule, at one point in alliance with the Umbrians and the Gauls, were defeated. The ties between Rome and Etruria were strengthened in the 1st century BC, when the Etruscans accepted the offer of Roman citizenship.

Their newly gained status was soon eroded, however, when they supported the losing side in the Roman civil wars (88-86 BC; 83 BC). The victor, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, took extreme vengeance, razing cities, seizing land, and imposing restrictions on Etruscan civil rights. The brutality of Sulla so devastated the Etruscans that their subsequent attempts at revolt were inconsequential. Over a century later, Augustus sent new colonists to Etruria. These people worked with, not against, the Etruscans, and succeeded in accelerating the Romanization of the region. Political and Military Structure Because the origins of the Etruscans are moot, one can only suggest that the warrior heads of aristocratic families conquered those areas that were eventually to become independent Etruscan cities, each ruled over by its own king. As a result, the Etruscans never achieved a true national unity, although individual cities sent out colonies to neighboring regions and often entered into diplomatic alliances not only with each other but also with foreign states.

It is apparent from the course of the history of the region that each Etruscan city responded to crises in terms that were deemed beneficial for its own survival without regard for the interests of its neighbors. The characteristic form of governmental organization in Etruria was the confederacy of cities. At one time there appear to have been three separate Etruscan confederaciesthe northern, the southern, and the centraleach made up of 12 cities. The only confederacy of historical significance was the central confederacy, a loose political and religious organization that convened annually at the shrine of the deity Voltumna, overlooking Lacus Volsiniensis (now Lake Bolsena) in Latium. Its accomplishments were meager, however, as it was probably preoccupied with religious rather than political matters.

No authoritative list of the 12 member cities of the central confederacy exists; their names, as deduced from allusions by Livy, by Dionysius, and also by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, were: Arretium (Arezzo), Caere (Cerveteri), Clusium, Cortona, Perusia (Perugia), Populonia, Rusellae, Tarquinii (Tarquinia), Veii (Veio), Vetulonia, Volaterrae (Volterra), and Vulci. Annually elected magistrates chosen from the nobility and apparently called lucumones governed each Etruscan city. The Etruscans, at the height of their power, possessed imposing military strength, although it was probably not coordinated among the city-states. The infantry appears to have been the mainstay of the force. Principal weapons were the spear and the battle-ax, the latter being sometimes used for throwing as well as for striking. The bow and the javelin were also used; arrows and javelins are frequently found in excavated Etruscan tombs.

Helmets and shields of various designs were adapted from those of the Greeks and of the tribes inhabiting the Eastern Alps. Swords were apparently rare and highly prized. It is considered likely that the cavalry formed an important part of the Etruscan army; chariots have been discovered in every large sepulcher. The navy was remarkably powerful and virtually dominated the Mediterranean for almost two centuries. Economy The Etruscans were influenced by the many traders from the eastern Mediterranean who came to the Italian Peninsula. Evidence indicates that the Phoenicians were the first to arrive, probably in the 8th century BC. They were in search of raw materials, such as unworked metals and perhaps wood and leather, which they exchanged for the finished products of the Middle East. In time Greek merchants, established at Pithekoussai, began to challenge Phoenician mercantile supremacy. By 625 BC vases manufactured in Corinth filled the Etruscan markets. In the late 6th and 5th centuries BC Attic vases eclipsed Corinth ware, and these, including acknowledged masterpieces of Greek vase painting, were probably exchanged for Etruscan utensils in bronze, which the Athenians were thought to prize.

In the 6th century BC the Etruscan mercantile network included exchanges of early Iron Age goods with princes of Gaul (France) and the peoples of Tartessos and Ampurias, near Barcelona, in Spain. Many of the wars fought, and alliances forged, by the Etruscan cities after the 5th century BC were driven by economic forces. Religion The lack of documents renders the study of Etruscan religion extremely difficult. The religious laws of the land, according to Livy and Cicero, seem to have been codified in three sets of books that bore the generic title of Etrusca Disciplina. The first, Libri Haruspicini, dealt with divination from the entrails of a freshly sacrificed animal. (The Etruscans were known for their skill not only in discerning divine will by examining entrails but also for interpreting omens of all kinds, particularly those based on the flight of birds entering and leaving certain sectors of the sky.) The second set of books, Libri Fulgurales, expounded the art of divination by lightning.

The third set, Libri Rituales, was of wider scope; it concerned ritual practices as well as Etruscan standards of social and political life. A fourth set existed, according to the 4th-century Latin writer Servius, dealing with animal gods. The names of several deities have survived, but the precise functions of these gods are unknown. According to certain late Roman writers, the deities Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva are represented in the Etruscan religion by Tinis, Uni, and Menrva, respectively. Sethlans was the Etruscan counterpart of Vulcan; Fuflans, of Bacchus; and Turms, of Mercury. Catha was the sun god; Tiv, the god of the moon; and Thesan, the god of the dawn. Turan was Venus; and Aplu, Apollo. Above these deities presided a group of nameless powers, personifications of Fate, and probably the original chthonian (underworld divinities of the early Greeks).

Many elements of the Etruscan religion were embraced by Romans, including the concepts of the cyclic return of the golden age and the appropriation of the rite of human sacrifice, which may have given rise to the gladiatorial games. Language After the Roman conquest of Etruria the Etruscan language fell into disuse. Writing in the 1st century BC, the Greek historian Dionysius called the language unlike any other, thus noting a difficulty that has since hindered attempts to translate its surviving fragments. Although knowledge of the Etruscan language is still very limited, scholars have identified it as not related to the Indo-European family of languages. Linguists have made some progress in deciphering the inscriptions on tombs, which represent most of the extant examples of Etruscan writing. Taking clues from the subject matter of sculptures and paintings that decorate the tombs, they have identified many proper names of historical and religious figures. They also have derived the probable meaning of many other words by using the cryptographer's method of testing the appropriateness of a particular interpretation of a word in all the places in which it appears. The Etruscan language is often cited as the classic illustration of certain decoding problems.

The Etruscan alphabet contained 26 letters in its earliest known form and 20 in its latest form. It somewhat resembles the Greek alphabet, but the vocabulary and grammar of the two languages differ. The Roman alphabet, with modifications, is derived from the Etruscans. Three of the earliest Etruscan inscriptions extant are those on two statues and a black earthenware cup dating from before 700 BC. Thousands of sepulchral inscriptions remain, but they consist largely of names. The only extant manuscript, now in the museum of Zagreb, Croatia, is a liturgical text written on 12 linen strips, that were found among the wrappings of an Egyptian mummy of Greco-Roman times. No Etruscan literary works or references thereof survive. Art and Architecture Etruscan art reveals its relation to that of the Greeks, (in both Greece and southern Italy) and to that of Egypt and Asia Minor. It also exhibits Italian elements and reflects distinctively Etruscan religious beliefs. Etruscan art had great influence on subsequent Roman styles. Most present-day knowledge of it comes from Etruscan tombs.

Architecture Nothing remains of Etruscan palaces, public buildings, and early temples, all built of wood and brick. Votive ceramic models of temples, as well as traces of later stone structures, indicate that temples were built in enclosures and had tiled, gabled roofs supported on pillars, like their Greek counterparts. A Greek temple, however, was built on an east-west axis on a low terrace and could be entered from a colonnade on all four sides; an Etruscan temple, to meet religious requirements, was located on a north-south axis and stood on a high podium with a four-columned porch in front of three doors leading to three parallel rooms for the three chief Etruscan gods. The roof was decorated along the eaves and ridgepole and at the gable ends with brilliantly painted terra-cotta statuary, which also served the practical purpose of hiding tile joints and rafter ends. Plaques with low-relief figures adorned the entablature. Roman temples were patterned on the form developed by the Etruscans. Most Etruscan cities were laid out in the form of a quadrangle, with fortifications and with encompassing walls enforced by double gates and towers.

These building methods were also used outside Etruria. The wall surrounding the early city of Rome, reputedly built during the time of Servius Tullius, (reigned 578-534 BC), was of Etruscan construction. No remains of Etruscan homes have been found, but the interiors of tombs and house-shaped funerary urns, suggest that they had flat or gabled roofs of tile and one to three rooms. Later examples had an atrium, with an open roof over a pool for rainwater, and a loggiaan Italian plan continued by the Romans. The Etruscans also built aqueducts, bridges, and sewers. Outside the cities were cemeteries containing family tombs. They were built underground but had large vaults of overlapping stones covered by mounds of earth. Early tombs were simple structures, no more than a narrow passage partitioned into two rooms, with a small alcove on either side of the front room. Later tombs contained several rooms laid out to resemble a house. They held sarcophagi, funerary urns, and offerings.

Sculpture The Etruscans, like most ancient peoples, did not regard art for its own sake but created objects for either utilitarian or religious purposes. As a result, virtually no artists are known by name and few examples of strictly public, civic art, or sculpture of size in durable stone exist. Moreover, Etruscan art, while sharing general characteristics, is clearly differentiated from one city to the next, reflecting the political independence of each. The most famous Etruscan works are in terra-cotta, or baked clay, and these include not only sculptures on sarcophagi lids such as, for example, a reclining couple (late 6th century BC, Villa Giulia, Rome) from Caere, but also works from temples, such as revetments to protect the wood and both roof and pedimental sculptures. The artists from Vulci excelled in sculpting images from nenfro, a local limestone, of which the Sphinx and Winged Lion in Rome are representative. As expected, the Etruscans were exceptional bronze workers.

The She-Wolf (circa 500 BC, Museo Capitolino, Rome) and the Chimaera (5th-4th century BC, Museo Archeologico, Florence) from Arretium are remarkable examples of bronze animal sculpture; the life-size statue of Aulus Metellus as an orator, known as Arringatore (1st century BC, Museo Archeologico), ranks as one of the finest bronze statues of its era. Painting Surviving Etruscan painting consists chiefly of murals on the stone or plastered stone walls and ceilings of tombs, especially those at Tarquinii (now Tarquinia) and around Clusium (now Chiusi). A few painted plaques are also extant. In murals of the early period (6th-5th cent. BC) the drawing is strong, the colors bright and flat. Figures are stylized, heavy, and often outlined in black. Some murals have subjects from religion, as on four slabs from Caere (c.

550 BC, British Museum, London), or from Greek literature, such as scenes from the life of Achilles in the Tomb of the Bulls (530-520 BC) at Tarquinii. Most murals from Tarquinii are lively depictions of the games, dancing, music, and banqueting that accompanied Etruscan funerals, as those from the Tomb of the Augurs (520-510 BC) and the Tomb of the Triclinium (480-470 BC). Later tombs from the 4th century on, influenced by Hellenistic art and the decline of Etruscan power, were more realistic in style and strikingly gloomy in feeling. Prominent are bloody war scenes, as in the Franï¿½ois Tomb (late 4th cent. BC) at Vulci (near Tarquinii), and frightening demons of the land of the dead, as in the Tomb of the Ogre (2nd cent. BC) at Tarquinii. Decorative Arts The Etruscans at first imported or copied painted Greek pottery. They also developed a distinctive polished black bucchero ware with incised or relief decoration suggesting metalwork.

It was at its height in the late 7th and 6th centuries BC. Working in bronze, the Etruscans made chariots, bowls, candelabra, cylindrical coffers, and especially polished mirrors, all richly engraved with mythological motifs. They also crafted fine gold, silver, and ivory jewelry, using filigree and granulation. The influence of Etruscan art on the Romans was supreme from the 6th century BC until the ascendancy of Greek styles in the 3rd century BC. See also Greek Art and Architecture; Roman Art and Architecture. Etruscan Art | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Works of Art (14) Essay The Etruscans were an ancient Italic culture linguistically identifiable by about 700 B.C. Their culture developed from a prehistoric civilization known as Villanovan (ca. 900–500 B.C.).

By the beginning of the seventh century B.C., the Etruscans occupied the central region of Italy between the Arno and Tiber rivers, and eventually settled as far north as the Po River valley and as far south as Campania. They flourished until the end of the second century B.C., when they were fully subsumed into Roman culture. While some 13,000 Etruscan texts exist, most of these are very short. Consequently, much of what we know about the Etruscans comes not from historical evidence, but from their art and the archaeological record. Many Etruscan sites, primarily cemeteries and sanctuaries, have been excavated, notably at Veii, Cerveteri, Tarquinia, Vulci, and Vetulonia. Numerous Etruscan tomb paintings portray in vivid color many different scenes of life, death, and myth. From very early on, the Etruscans were in contact with the Greek colonies in southern Italy.

Greek potters and their works influenced the development of Etruscan fine painted wares ( 1975.363 ), and, consequently, new types of Etruscan pottery were created during the Orientalizing period (ca. 750–575 B.C.) and subsequent Archaic period (ca. 575–490 B.C.). The most successful of these pottery styles is known as Bucchero ( 24.97.21a,b ), characterized by its shiny black surface and preponderance of shapes that emulate metal prototypes ( 2009.316 ). An Etruscan dedication at the Greek sanctuary of Delphi attests to the close interaction between the Greeks and the Etruscans in the Archaic period . The Etruscans particularly prized finely painted Greek vases, which they collected in great numbers. Likewise, their interest in Greek art and culture is manifest in works by Etruscan artists. However, the adaptation of Greek iconography to Etruscan art is complex and difficult to interpret. Etruria, the region occupied by the Etruscans, was rich in metals, particularly copper and iron.

The Etruscans were master bronze smiths who exported their finished products all over the Mediterranean. Finely worked bronzes, such as thrones and chariots decorated with exquisite hammered reliefs ( 03.23.1 ), cast statues and statuettes ( 17.190.2066 ), as well as ornate vessels ( 2008.332 ), mirrors, and stands, attest to the high quality achieved by Etruscan artists, particularly in the Archaic and Classical (ca. 490–300 B.C.) periods. Opulent jewelry of gold and semi-precious stones ( 40.11.7-.18 ) exemplifies eastern Greek and Levantine forms adapted to Etruscan taste. Extensive trade in the Mediterranean during this period supplied artists with exotic materials such as ivory, amber ( 17.190.2067 ), ostrich eggs, and semi-precious stones, all of which fostered the development of Etruscan gem engraving and other arts. The Etruscans were also well known for their terracotta freestanding sculpture and architectural reliefs.

Etruscan funerary works, particularly sarcophagi and cinerary urns ( 96.9.225a,b ), often carved in high relief, comprise an especially rich source of evidence for artistic achievement during the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods. Colette Hemingway Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art October 2004 Citation Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “Etruscan Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (October 2004) Further Reading Haynes, Sybille. Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History. Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2000. Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3d ed., rev. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Kipfer, Barbara Ann, comp. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2000. Greece and Rome. Introduction by Joan Mertens.

New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. See on MetPublications Richter, Gisela M. A. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes. New York: Gilliss Press, 1915. Additional Essays by Seán Hemingway Origins of the Etruscans situated on a hill above Vroskopos bay in the island's southeast -- has been inhabited and developped during the entire third millennium BC. The finds are now shown at the museum of the capital Myrina in the west of the island and suggest that "the earliest European city" (so termed by Italian archaeologists) belonged to the Aegean culture area of the bronze age -- just like that better known city of Troy in Asia Minor. At what date exactly the speakers of the "Lemnian" language, coming from Asia Minor (today's Turkey), did immigrate, remains uncertain. That Asia Minor was their point of depart must, however, be taken for granted as long as the relationship of the Etruscan and Lemnian languages with the Anatolian languages is admitted ( see below ).

Concerning the history of the island: The settlement near Poliï¿½khni was abandoned after some natural catastrophe around 2000 BC and afterwards only sporadically inhabited. In the Mycenaean age, approx. 1200 BC, the island already carried the very name by which it is known in modern times: on clay tablets written in linear B script female inhabitants of the island were called ra-ma-ni-ya , term allowing to reconstruct the contemporary pronunciation of the island's name as /la:mnos/ and which is continued today as /limnos/. Perhaps for some time the island was ethnically split -- Greeks in the west and "Lemnians" in the east. Miltiades, made famous by the battle of Marathon, conquered Lemnos briefly before the end of the 6th century, organizing afterwards the Attic colonisation of the island. The end of political independence might have meant the end of the native language, too. A little north of Poliï¿½khni lies that village of Kaminia where, in 1885, as part of a church wall, the so-called Stele of Lemnos was discovered.

This stele is generally dated at an epoch (shortly) before the Attic conquest of the island, and is now on exhibition at the National Museum of Athens. Portraying a warrior holding a spear, its paramount scientific and historical meaning is constituted, however, by two inscriptions. They are written in a hitherto unknown variant of the Greek alphabet and a language equally unknown in 1885; which language, from obvious reasons, was called Lemnian. For the first time there was a testimony at hand that enables us to pursue the traces of the Etruscans back to their Aegean country of origin in Asia Minor by applying modern linguistic methodology. From the start -- as soon as those two inscriptions were published -- a convergence between Lemnian and Etruscan became clear: just like the Etruscan writing, the Lemnian writing has chosen only four vowel characters from its Greek mother alphabet: a, e, i, o (the Etruscans having selected a, e, i, u).

Over the years, a huge amount of books and essays analysing the Lemnian language has been published, which unfortunately have produced few substantial results and rather frequently involuntarily amusing translations of the text. Nevertheless, after more than a century of research, the linguistic relationship between Lemnian and Etruscan -- -- is nowadays established to a large extent as an undeniable fact. The phonemic systems can not be set to coincide completely, yet it is significant that apart from the already mentioned four vowel system parallels exist in the consonant inventory, too. There are two varieties of s (here written s and sh) and no indications of the voiced plosives b, d, g, while next to each other are to be found in both languages t and th (no aspirate sound like the Greek one, but rather pronounced like ty).

Evident conformities exist in the vocabulary between Etruscan (ET, Ta 1.169:) avils machs shealchlsc (literally: "at (= -s "(was) by Larth Melacina(s) given" und Lemnian holaie-si qokiashia-le...evisth-o "by Holaie kokiashia (?) x-ed " are so convincingly matched that they entitle linguists to postulate a common ancestral stage of both languages which may be termed Proto-Etrusco-Lemnian . Recently, Carlo de Simone, formerly professor at the university of Tuebingen, has again taken up the idea that Etruscans originating from Italy have settled on the island of Lemnos during the 9th or 8th century BC. But there are no archaeological proofs, and, in addition, the languages are too different to be considered as mere dialects.

Further which has been only briefly mentioned here with Luvian maua -- there exist enough similarities between the Etruscan and Lemnian languages and the so-called Anatolian languages (in Asia Minor) to show that the roots of the Etruscans in Italy must be sought in the northwest part of Asia Minor -- approximately in the region of Troy. And this might well form the historical core of that myth of Trojan origin, which the Romans have borrowed from their neighbouring nation, in order to claim it for themselves. Etruscan civilization facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Etruscan civilization The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright The Columbia University Press Etruscan civilization, highest civilization in Italy before the rise of Rome. The core of the territory of the Etruscans, known as Etruria to the Latins, was northwest of the Tiber River, now in modern Tuscany and part of Umbria . The Latins called the people Etrusci or Tusci, and the Greeks called them Tyrrhenoi [whence Tyrrhenian Sea]; they called themselves Rasenna. Origins There are three theories that seek to explain the obscure origin of the Etruscans.

Their language and culture differed markedly from that of other ancient peoples of the Italian peninsula at the time—Villanovans, Umbrians, and Picenes. As a result, many scholars long upheld the tradition of Herodotus that the Etruscans migrated to Italy from Lydia in the 12th cent. BC to escape a severe famine. Other scholars have argued that the Etruscans are an ancient people, indigenous to Italy, whose customs are merely distinct from other Italian peoples. The third theory—that the Etruscans came down from the north through the Alpine passes—has been largely discredited. Genetic studies in the early 21st cent. have shown similarities between the modern Tuscans and their cattle and people and cattle found in the Middle East. Rise and Fall Regardless of the obscurity of their origins, it is clear that a distinctive Etruscan culture evolved about the 8th cent. BC, developed rapidly during the 7th cent., achieved its peak of power and wealth during the 6th cent., and declined during the 5th and 4th cent. Etruria had no centralized government, but rather comprised a loose confederation of city-states.

Important centers were Clusium (modern Chiusi), Tarquinii (modern Tarquinia), Caere (modern Cerveteri), Veii (modern Veio), Volterra, Vetulonia, Perusia (modern Perugia), and Volsinii (modern Orvieto). The political domination of the Etruscans was at its height c.500 BC, a time in which they had consolidated the Umbrian cities and had occupied a large part of Latium. During this period the Etruscans were a great maritime power and established colonies on Corsica, Elba, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, and on the coast of Spain. In the late 6th cent. a mutual agreement between Etruria and Carthage, with whom Etruria had allied itself against the Greeks c.535 BC, restricted Etruscan trade, and by the late 5th cent. their sea power had come to an end. The Romans, whose culture had been greatly influenced by the Etruscans (the Tarquin rulers of Rome were Etruscans), were distrustful of Etruscan power.

The Etruscans had occuped Rome itself from c.616 BC, but in c.510 BC they were driven out by the Romans. In the early 4th cent., after Etruria had been weakened by Gallic invasions, the Romans attempted to beat the Etruscans back. Beginning with Veii (c.396 BC) one Etruscan city after another fell to the Romans, and civil war further weakened Etruscan power. In the wars of the 3d cent., in which Rome defeated Carthage, the Etruscans provided support against their former allies. During the Social War (90–88 BC) of Sulla and Marius the remaining Etruscan families allied themselves with Marius, and in 88 BC Sulla eradicated the last traces of Etruscan independence. Etruscan Culture Much of the actual work in Etruria was done by the native population, who were subject to, though probably not slaves of, their conquerors; the nobility of Etruscan birth formed an exclusive caste. Women had an unusually high status compared to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Etruscan wealth and power were in part based upon their knowledge of ironworking and their exploitation of iron deposits that were abundant in Etruria. Etruscan art , which largely consisted of sculpture in clay and metal, fresco tomb paintings, and fine pottery, had some of its origins in Greek and Eastern arts and was extremely influential on the art of the Romans. Fond of music, games, and racing, the Etruscans introduced the chariot into Italy. They were also highly religious. Seeking to impose order on nature, they established strict laws to govern the relations between people and gods. Lacking the scientific rationalism of the Greeks, they tried to prolong the lives of the dead by decorating their tombs like houses. While religion is perhaps the best-known aspect of Etruscan civilization, even it remains quite enigmatic. The Etruscan language also presents difficulties to the scholar. It can be easily read (the alphabet is of Greek extraction, and the sound value of the signs is known), but, with the exception of only a few words, the vocabulary is not understood.

Although the language seems to contain both Indo-European and non-Indo-European elements as well as traces of ancient Mediterranean tongues, it cannot be classified into any known group of languages. Etruscan is known from some 10,000 epigraphic records dating from the 7th cent. BC to the 1st cent. AD; most are brief and repetitious dedications. One of the mysteries of Etruscan civilization is why the written record is so sparse and why the Romans wrote almost nothing about the Etruscan language or its literature. Bibliography See M. Pallottino, The Etruscans (tr. 1955); O. W. von Vacano, The Etruscans in the Ancient World (tr. 1960, repr. 1965); E. Richardson, The Etruscans: Their Art and Civilization (1976); M. Grant, The Etruscans (1981); E. MacNamara, Everyday Life of the Etruscans (1987); S. Haynes, Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History (2000); M.

Torelli, Etruscans (2001). Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA World Encyclopedia © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. Etruscan Inhabitant of ancient Etruria (modern Tuscany and Umbria), central Italy. Etruscan civilization flourished in the first millennium bc. Influenced by Greece , they organized their sophisticated society into city-states. Etruscan civilization reached its peak in the 6th century bc – their wealth and power based primarily on skill at ironworking and control of the iron trade. The Etruscan ‘cult of the dead’ led them to produce elaborate tombs. From the 5th to the 3rd century bc, they were gradually overrun by neighbouring peoples, particularly the Romans. Cite this article Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes © Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes 2007, originally published by Oxford University Press 2007.

Etruscan •blacken, bracken, slacken •Sri Lankan •Alaskan, Gascon, Madagascan, Nebraskan • Aachen , darken, hearken, kraken, Marcan, Petrarchan •Interlaken •beckon, Deccan , pekan, reckon •Mencken •awaken, bacon, betaken, forsaken, Jamaican, mistaken, partaken, shaken, taken, waken •godforsaken •archdeacon, beacon, Costa Rican, deacon, Dominican, Mohican, Mozambican, Puerto Rican, weaken •quicken, sicken, stricken, thicken, Wiccan •silken •Incan, Lincoln •brisken, Franciscan •barbican • Rubicon • Gallican •Anglican •Helicon, pelican •basilican, Millikan, silicon •publican • pantechnicon • Copernican •African • American • hurricane •lexicon, Mexican •Corsican • Vatican • liken • Brocken , Moroccan •falcon, Lorcan, Majorcan, Minorcan •Balcon, Balkan •gyrfalcon •awoken, bespoken, bet

oken, broken, foretoken, oaken, outspoken, plain-spoken, ryokan, spoken, token, woken •heartbroken •Lucan, toucan •Saarbrücken • Buchan • Vulcan •drunken, Duncan, shrunken, sunken •Etruscan, molluscan (US molluskan), Tuscan •Ardnamurchan • lochan Cite this article Origins of the Etruscans The Origins of the Etruscans: Genetic and Cultural The Etruscans occupied the region to the north of Rome, between the Arno and Tiber Rivers to the west of the Apennine Mountains.

The Romans were first a subject people of the Etruscans and later their conquerors. The Etruscan culture was well-developed and advanced but distinctively different from the cultures of the other peoples in the region. This distinctive difference immediately led to the question of where did the Etruscans originate. This question was subject to active speculation among the Greeks. Some Greeks held that the Etruscans were a branch of the Pelasgians , aboriginal inhabitants of the Aegean region, others such as Virgil thought they came from Lydia, a kingdom of western Anatolia. The Greek master historian Herodotus also ascribes the origin of the Etruscans to Lydia. Herodotus says the ancestors of the Etruscans were forced to emigrate from Lydia because of 18 years of hard times. The Lydians built ships and half of the population left under the leadership of Tyrrhenus, the son of the king of Lydia. The Pelasgians may have been the Sea People who around 1200 B.C. invaded the Egyptian Empire.

The Greek historian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in his Early History of Rome dismissed these theory and argued that the Etruscan were the aboriginal inhabitants of their area. The question became more intriguing when, in the nineteenth century, it was discovered that most of the languages of Europe belonged to one big language family called Indo-European but Etruscan was not one of them. Although the early history of the Etruscans is uncertain the later history is well known. By about 700 B.C. the major Etruscan cities had been founded. The Etruscan culture was flourishing during the the sixth century B.C.; i.e., the century of the 500's B.C. As the Etruscan culture burgeoned it ran into constraint on its expansion due to strong cultures and geographic confinements bordering its home region. This led to an expansion into the Po River Valley to the northeast. Also at this time there was an aggressive expansion of Greek culture on the Italian Peninsula, the islands of Corsica and Sicily and what is now the south coast of France.

Commercial rivalry of the Etruscans and Greeks led to military confrontation which, on balance, the Etruscans lost. By about 500 B.C. the Etruscans were losing not only to the Greeks but also to former tributary peoples such as the Romans. By 400 B.C. the Etruscans were being politically subordinated to the Romans. The Romans adopted numerous elements of Etruscan culture, including the Etruscan alphabet which the Etruscans had adopted from the Greeks. The Latin letters of European civilization, the letters which you see before you, had their origin in the Etruscan alphabet. Of course this alphabet and that of the Greeks had their origin in the alphabet of the Phoenicians. The Origin of the Etruscans The question of the origin of a people necessarily has a complex answer. The matter of the origin of the culture of a people has to be separated from genetic origins of the people who practice that culture. The culture of a people may, and generally does, have multiple roots. Consider the origins of the people of Mexico. The genetic origins are mixed between aboriginal people of the region and people from Europe predominantly Spain.

The culture likewise has mixed origins. The cultural mix is predominantly European as in the case of the language spoken but the genetic mix is predominantly aboriginal. The conquest of Mexico by the conquistadors was probably typical of what occurred throughout history. What probably occurred in Tuscany was a numerically small element coming from who knows where settled and conquered the iron age population. The invaders brought a culture, including perhaps the language, which the conquered population adopted in part. The genetic origin of the people who became the Etruscans could well have been predominantly the aboriginal population. The aboriginal population may have settled in the area millenia prior to the invasion. The aboriginal people may have been the people of the Villanovan Culture . The technology of DNA analysis has been applied to the question of origins. A study published in the April 2007 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics reports finding eleven lineages of mitochondrial DNA in Tuscany that have not been found elsewhere in Europe but do occur in the Near East. A brilliant line of investigation was followed by Marco Pellecchia and Paolo Ajmone-Marsan of the Catholic University in Piacenza.

They examined the mitochondrial DNA of cattle in Tuscany and found some breeds were genetically related to breeds of cattle in the Near East. The other breeds were European in origin. What these two studies indicate is that there were some Near Eastern sources for the Etruscans. The other possibility is that the Pelasgians, if they were the same as the Sea People, may have settled in the Near East as well as in Tuscany. The Sea People were the origin of at least the name Palestinians. But, in any case, the migrants from the sea probably were not the dominant genetic basis for the Etruscan population. It is perhaps appropriate to note here that genetic information can sometimes be misinterpreted. For example, a study of the genetic origin of the Greeks claimed that they had a sub-Saharan origin. This was probably reported in this way just for sensationalism. What was really involved is that there were genetic sources for the population of Crete among the Semitic elements of the Near East. The source of the Ethiopian culture was a pre-Islamic migration of Semitic Arabs from south Arabia into the Horn of Africa Region.

Thus by identifying genetic elements from Semitic migrations into the Greece and Ethiopia the investigators came up with a sensational but fallacious claim for a sub-Saharan origin for the ancient Greeks. But genetic origins may be less important than cultural origins. The origin of the culture of the Etruscans would be the more interesting question. But even if migrants brought the dominant element of the Etruscan culture the aboriginal people may have retained some elements of the old culture. This could have included the language or some substantial share of the language. For example, the origin of the Bulgarian state is from the conquest of a Slavic people by the Bulgar Turks who had previously resided about a thousand miles to the east. The language of the Bulgarians is the Slavic language of the conquered people and the about the only residue of the conquerors in Bulgaria is the name of the people and the country. When people raise the question of the origins of the Etruscans they are primarily concerned with the distinctive features of Etruscan culture. Although it is not clear where these cultural features came from it is clear that there is a strong possibility that they came from the Near East, either directly or indirectly.

There is one important component of Etruscan culture whose origin is not in doubt. That is their alphabet. It was imported and modified from that of the the western Greeks around 700 BCE. This importation was important not only for the Etruscans but also for most of Europe because it was passed on to the Romans. Because the Romans were such successful empire builders it became the alphabet of Europe and is justly known as the Latin alphabet. The literature on the question of Etruscan origins groups the various positions into 1. Northern Origins 2. Oriental (eastern) Origins 3. No Origins Outside of Etruria The Northern Origins advocates point to similarities of features of region to the cultures of the peoples of the Alps. This includes such things as the terramare villages. Quite likely the aboriginal peoples of North Italy did have their origins to the north. The cultural features of the Etruscans is a different matter and the affinities with the cultures of the Middle East are quite striking. The question of the linguistic relationships of the Etruscan language is not necessarily the same as the affinities of the rest of the culture.

Although the 10,000 samples of Etruscan writings have not been deciphered enough is known to conclude that Etruscan was not a member of the Indo-European language family. There are many interesting possible relationships but none have been established. It may well be, as in the case of Basque , that there are no other surviving members of its family. So the question of the origins of the cultural features of the Etruscans has to be answered without the help of linguistic analysis. Much attention has been focused on the funerary practices of the people of North Italy. The Etruscans cremated their dead and put the ashes in elaborate funeral urns. The funerary practices of the Etruscans could well be that of the aboriginal population with the art and technology of the invading people enhancing the old practice with fancy urns. So the question of the origins of Etruscan art will probably not be settled by establishing the origins of other aspects of Etruscan culture. If it can be settled at all it will have to settled on the basis of the affinities of the art with that of the other major cultures of the region.

Even such affinities may not be definitive; there could have been traveling artisans plying their skills throughout the region. The Etruscans' Naval Prowess Greek sources speak of the domination of the eastern and western seas by Etruscan pirates. The Etruscans established colonies on Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic Isles and perhaps even Spain. The Adriatic Sea, the sea to the east of the Italian Peninsula, was named after the Etruscan port of Adria. The sea west of the peninsula was called the Tyrrhenian Sea after Tyrrhenus a supposed founder of the Etruscans from Lydia in western Anatolia. In the Etruscan ruins there are craft objects from Greece, North Africa, southern France and Iberia. These could have been brought by Greek or Phoenician traders to Etruria but given the naval prowess of the Etruscan there is no reason to doubt that Etruscan traders were involved in bringing those craft objects to Etruria. In any case the exports of Etruria was probably copper and iron from the local mines.

In the mythology and literature of the Greeks there are also references to Pelasgian piracy, which since some Greeks believed the Etruscans were Pelasgians, could have been references to Etruscans. References: Massimo Pallottino, The Etruscans, Penguin Books, 1956. Some background information: Pelasgians: This is the name used by the ancient Greeks for the people who lived in the Aegean area before the Greeks entered the area about 1200 B.C. People of the Sea : The name used by the Egyptians for the peoples who invaded the eastern Mediterranean territories of the Egyptian Empire. Those that the Egyptians allowed to settle in the area became known as the Philistines. Their origin is uncertain but they appear to have come from the Aegean region although this may have just been only a temporary place of sojourn. Villanovan Culture : A culture of North Italy first identified from their cemeteries of a distinctive type pottery urn. It appears to be a part of the Urnfield Culture of eastern Europe which arrived in Italy at the beginning of the first millenium B.C.

The Villanovans produced copper and iron from mines in the Tuscany region. The Villanovan Culture was influenced and displaced by the cultures of the Greeks and later the Etruscans. Terramare : Prehistoric (Second millenium B.C.) settlements in the Po River Valley built on pilings and surrounded by an embankment and moat to protect them from flood waters as well as invaders. Bryant Serrano assignment 2 etruscan art .docx - Bryant Serrano Intro To Bryant Serrano assignment 2 etruscan art .docx Bryant Serrano assignment 2 etruscan art .docx - Bryant... SCHOOL View Full Document Bryant Serrano Intro To Visual Arts 10/8/15 Writing Assignment 2 (Etruscan Art) 1. When and in what present-day country did the Etruscan civilization flourish? - Etruscan civilization occurred in ancient Central Italy in a place called Tuscany. The Etruscan civilization flourished around 1000-100 B.C and was contemporary with the Greek Culture. 2.

Describe either the “Capitoline Wolf” or the “ Apollo of Veii”. Besides mentioning its size and the material out of which it’s made, describe what is especially realistic about it? - I chose to describe the statue of the Capitoline Wolf, which is made of bronze and it’s around 85.1cm high. What makes the Capitoline Wolf so realistic is that it perfectly captures the aggressive anger of a mother protecting her babies. She’s slightly turned and seems tense as if she was scared. She shows her teeth and it invokes the sense of fear caused by the intruder. It is very realistic because it conveys many different emotions. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. This is the end of the preview. Sign up to access the rest of the document. TERM Bryant Serrano common reading response.docx Rutgers CRIMINAL J 201 - Spring 2016 Bryant Serrano 12/5/14 Common Reading Response Essay The Social Network During this c Bryant Serrano common reading response.docx

Question: In which present day country did the Etruscan civilisation exist?
Answer: ITALY