The Etruscan World by Jean Macintosh Turfa (ed)

Author:Jean Macintosh Turfa (ed)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781134055371
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2016-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Seven

Religion: The Gods and the Places

Ingrid Edlund-Berry

There is no spring that is not sacred (Nullus enim fons non sacer, Servius Aen. 7.84).

Springs are an important part of the Etruscan landscape, as are rivers, hills and mountains, valleys and plains, forests and groves, and, as far as we can tell, each could serve as a place of worship under divine protection.1 The deities were known by name, and their sphere of power was carefully defined in the sky and on earth, as shown on the Piacenza liver and in the text of Martianus Capella.2

To the Romans this all-encompassing practice of defining sacred space was known as Etrusca disciplina, and as puzzled as they were by all the rituals observed by their neighbors and rivals, many such traditions were absorbed into Roman religion, including the desire to negotiate with the deities about the future through observations of signs in the sky and through sacrifices. In the process, many names of Greek, Etruscan, Latin, and Italic deities became assimilated, while in each culture the gods and goddesses maintained their own identity and their specific places of worship.3

In examining the sacred places within the geographic area dominated by Etruscan culture from the Iron Age into the Roman Republic, it is clear that the Etruscans, identified primarily through their non-Indo-European language and certain cultural characteristics in terms of habitations, art, and trade, shared much with their neighbors in other parts of Italy. While certain practices may be common to all or most of ancient Italy, there are also significant differences between individual Etruscan sanctuaries, and any general statement of what the Etruscans did or believed usually needs to be qualified with specific examples.4

Although Etruscan speakers lived as far north as the Po valley and as far south as Campania, the area considered the homeland of Etruscan culture ranges from the river Arno in the north to the Tiber in the east and south.5 Bordering areas such as Umbria and Latium display many Etruscan cultural features, and Rome in particular shows a cultural affinity with Etruria, documented by the reign of Etruscan kings in the seventh and sixth centuries BC, but questioned by many who prefer to see Rome as mainly part of Latium.6

Within Etruria proper, the mountain ranges of the Apennines mark the spine of the peninsula, and accentuate the valleys crossing from west to east. In addition to long stretches of mountainous areas, isolated mountaintops such as Monte Falterona, Monte Giovi, and Mount Soracte provide a visual link between the earth and the skies, and, as can be expected, provide evidence of ancient places of worship. Others, such as the majestic Monte Amiata, of volcanic origin, create a focal point between north and south Etruria, and may have served as central gathering places (Fig. 27.1).7

With the exception of the Trasimene Lake, the lakes of Etruria (Lago di Bolsena, Lago di Vico, Lago di Chiusi, Lago di Bracciano) are formed from volcanic craters that stand out in the landscape (Fig. 27.2). Evidence of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.