Cryptic Etruscans Essay, Research Paper

electronic mail: Orion185 @ aol.comtitle: The Mysterious EtruscansThe Etruscans were a really cryptic civilisation. We do non cognize precisely whothey are, and where they came from is a big contention that goes back the clip ofHerodotus, the male parent of history. Besides, their linguistic communication is still yet to be deciphered. Still, they are a absorbing society. Populating some 2,000 old ages ago, they flourished for arelatively brief clip in modern twenty-four hours Italy, which was called Vitelia in earlier yearss. Cipher is quite certain of the beginning of the Etruscans. There are different theories, but we do non cognize which one to believe because the Etruscans have ever hadnumerous myths about them, and truths were normally assorted with falsities. Manypeople believe that they emigrated from Lydia, or Asia Minor. Herodotus tells that therewas a great dearth in Lydia and that after seeking to battle the hungriness for 18 old ages, Atys, the male monarch, made a determination to divide up his people. They drew tonss, so that half of themwould stay in Lydia, under the regulation of Atys, and the others would follow his boy, Tyrrhenus. They left the state on ships, and sailed off to happen what they could. Theythen called themselves the Tyrrhenians, after their leader. From this we got the name ofthe Tyrrenhian sea which is along the western seashore of Italy. The Romans called them theEtrusci, which is where the term Etruscans comes from.1Another common theory is that the Etruscans were autochthonal to Italy. The mainearly protagonist of this thought was Dionysius of Halicarnassus. He noted that they did nothave the same linguistic communication as Lydians. They besides did non idolize the same Gods or in facthave any traits which might hold been derived from their alleged fatherland. Peoplewho believe this theory claim that the Etruscans were at that place first, and that they had beentaken over by Indo-germanic encroachers, and that their birth in the 600 s B.C.E wasmerely a re-emergence. They easy had re-conquered their land.2 In ancient times there were merely those two theories about the beginnings of theEtruscans. In modern times, yet another 1 has been added. This one states that theycame from the North, over the Eastern Alps. One of the chief protagonists of this beliefwas Dr. Zacharie Mayani of the University of Paris. He did research comparison thephonetic, morphological and semantic similarities of the Albanian and Etruscanlanguages. He felt that it seemed as thought the Etruscan linguistic communication was essentiallyIndo-European. He besides thought they did non come from one topographic point, but alternatively half camefrom the Danube, and the other half from Anatolia. They so formed a heterogeneouspeople in the new land which we called Etruria. The Language of the Etruscans is besides a great enigma, but we are easy learningtheir linguistic communication. It is merely known through sporadic words cited by Greek and Latinauthors. There are 1000s of letterings, but most of them are simple epitaphs. It isimprobable that they did non hold some type of literature, but none has survived. Theorigins of the Etruscan linguistic communication have long been a contention. Numerous andoccasionally bizarre theories had been made, but it was non until Massimo Pallottinothat any existent advancement was made in decoding any of the texts. Pallottino adopted a newcombinatory attack. Alternatively of seeking and coerce a connexion between Etruscan andanother linguistic communication, like old historiographers, he compared the letterings with each otherand set them in a cultural context.The procedure of decoding the Etruscan linguistic communication continues to this twenty-four hours, and thanksto Pallottino & # 8217 ; s methods and a certain sum of educated guessing, some of thelanguages & # 8217 ; vocabulary and basic grammar have been revealed. The find of the Pyrgitablets in the 1960 s was an of import promotion. They were written in Etruscan andPhoenician. We have deciphered Phoenician, so it was possible to compare the two texts, and even though the Phoenician turned out non to be an exact interlingual rendition of the Etruscan, the content was similar plenty to turn out useful.As more and more is discovered about Etruscan, there is more grounds that it isnot related to any known life linguistic communication. In peculiar, Etruscan does non belong to theIndo-European group of linguistic communications, so it can non be connected to Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, orany other linguistic communications of that subdivision. There are merely 2 that show any resemblance at all toEtruscan: Rhaetic, and a linguistic communication recorded on some letterings and clayware from theGreek island of Lemnos. Still, these do non assist to set Etruscan in it s topographic point in the array ofthe universe s linguistic communications. From what we know, it seems as idea Etruscan was likely an easternMediterranean linguistic communication. If Herodotus theory of the Etruscans emigrating from AsiaMinor, so they may hold picked up parts of their linguistic communication from folks that they passedon the manner to the Italian peninsula.3Most of what we know about Etruscans faith is information obtained throughmaterials environing decease. Images painted on the walls of grave, and the artefacts

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und in the tombs provide the largest clues to Etruscan religion. Because the Romanreligion inherited many of these aspects, a study of Roman religion could be helpful. Themainstream Etruscan religion believed in a wide array of gods, probably around 45.These ranged from Menrva, whom the Romans called Minerva (and the Greeks calledAthena) to water and forest gods. They also believed in demons, who were usuallydepicted as blue and squat. Religion was integral part of life for the Etruscans. 4Their main god was called Tinia. He was equivalent to the Greeks Zeus or theRomans Jupiter. He was believed to have been the creator of all things. Their belief ofcreation is in a way similar to that of the Judaism. The believed that in the first twothousand years, heaven and earth were separated. In the second, The land was made. Inthe third, the sea and other waters were formed. In the fourth two thousand years, thecelestial lights were formed- the sun, the moon, and the stars. In the fifth, the birds,reptiles, and four-footed animals were made. In the sixth two thousand year period, manwas created.5The Etruscans also were rather optimistic about death. They felt that death meantthe opening of a door into another life that was to be as joyous as the one left behind.They had another belief that different peoples each had an existence of predeterminedduration. The Etruscans began to flourish in the 8th century B.C.E, around the same timewhen the Greeks started colonizing in Italy. At that time, the two civilizations werefriends with each other. The Etruscans gave some of their metals to the Greeks, who gavesome luxuries to the Etruscans. Some people think that the Greeks also taught them howto write. Later on, however, their relationship worsened for a few reasons. First, theywere becoming trade rivals, trying to trade with the same people. Second, the Etruscanshad become allies with the Carthaginians, who were the Greeks bitter enemies. Most ofall, however, was that both of them were trying to expand at the same time. TheEtruscans controlled many places including Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Lazio, Campania andCorsica. Around 535 B.C.E, the Greeks tried to conquer the island of Corsica. TheEtruscans fought back against this, and gained total control of the sea between Italy,Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, which is know as the Tyrrhenian Sea.6The downfall of the Etruscans started in the 6th century B.C.E when the Romansbanished all of the Etruscan kings. As a result of this, the Etruscans were often incontinuous war with the Romans , and Etruscans were usually stronger. Once, however,the Greeks helped the Romans, and they beat Etruscans in the sea battle of Cumae in474 B.C. After this defeat Etruscans basically submitted. Their once enthusiastic artbecame pessimistic and showed fear of death. By the end of 5th century Corsica andCampania were conquered by Greeks, Lazio had been taken by Romans, Umbria wasconquered by the Umbrians themselves, and Celtics got Emilia-Romagna. Most of thesecities had not been difficult to conquer, because the Etruscans had all but given up.When the Romans conquered Veii, their 1st major Etruscan city, in 406-396, the otherEtruscan cities did not help their compatriots. If all the Etruscan cities had united andattacked Rome, they would have certainly defeated them. There would have possiblybeen no such thing as the almighty Roman Empire. The Etruscans were still were muchstronger together than Romans. It took the Romans 10 years to conquer Veii which wasmerely a medium-sized Etruscan city. But the Etruscans had lost their trademarkoptimism. Only once did they fight together against Romans. This was in the battle ofSentinum in 295 B.C.E. but then it was too late. The Romans had already become toopowerful, and they conquered all of Etruria by 265 B.C.7They did not measure the passage of time the same way that we do. Theymeasured in indefinite eras called saeculum. A saeculum, someone once explained, lasted from the end of the preceding one till the death of the last of all those who hadbeen alive at it s beginning. It is rather mysterious, but the Etruscans predicted the timeof their down fall from the beginning of their civilization. They believed that they hadbeen assigned eight saecula. Supposedly the year 88 B.C was the last year of the lastsaeculum, and it was in this year that almost all of the Etruscans had become Romancitizens.8The civilization of the Etruscans was a fascinating one. Many of the ideas that weassociate with the ancient Romans, such as togas, gladiator fights, and their religion, weretaken from the Etruscans. The Romans greatly respected the Etruscans culture. One ofthe very first etruscologists was an emperor of Rome, Tiberius Claudius NeroGermanicus. He wrote 20 volumes on the history of the Etruscans, none of which,unfortunately, have been recovered. It is a shame that they died out like they did, becausethey could not reunite. It was a very interesting civilization, even if it was only around fora relatively short period of time.