This page groups deities by the earliest year a surviving written or inscribed source places them, sorting gods by how far back their documented worship can actually be traced. Archaeologists call this kind of earliest possible date a terminus post quem, which Wikipedia defines as "the earliest date the event may have happened or the item was in existence." Browsing by first attestation separates deities known from the oldest surviving records from ones who only appear in much later texts.
Facts
Attestation
Era of AttestationTheonyms appear in Etruscan inscriptions from the seventh century BCE. The language and the independent cult were absorbed into Roman Italy by the first century BCE, though Etruscan haruspices continued to be consulted at Rome for centuries after that. 2 Veneration TodayNo continuous cult survives; the tradition was absorbed into Roman religion and ended with it. 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe gods of the Etruscan cities of pre-Roman central Italy, reconstructed from inscriptions in a language only partly understood, from tomb painting and engraved mirrors, and from Roman writers who admired and borrowed Etruscan divinatory technique. Much of what survives concerns ritual discipline rather than myth. 2 Learn More
The gods of the Etruscans
This group gathers the deities of the Etruscans, the civilisation of pre-Roman central Italy whose language is only partly understood. Etruscan religion was known in antiquity for its elaborate divination, the reading of livers, lightning and bird-flight, and much of what survives comes through Roman writers who admired and borrowed it.
The browser will find Tinia, the sky-god equivalent to Jupiter; Uni and Menrva, who with Tinia formed a triad the Romans echoed; the wine-god Fufluns; and the underworld figures of Etruscan tomb painting. The atlas notes that the pantheon is reconstructed from inscriptions, art and Roman testimony, and that Etruscan and Roman religion deeply influenced each other.
Era Attested Start Year
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Religion of the Etruscans
Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), University of Texas Press, 2006chs. 1-2View the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.