Etruscan Religion

The religion of the Etruscans, masters of divination whose arts Rome borrowed.

c. 800 BCE – 100 CE · Central Italy · Indo-European Pagan

The Etruscans (whose language was not Indo-European) believed the gods revealed their will through lightning, bird flight and the livers of sacrificed animals. Their haruspices served Rome for centuries. Painted tombs at Tarquinia show banquets for the dead.

Key figures

• Tinia, the sky god
• Uni and Menrva
• Haruspices, diviners

Texts

• Liver of Piacenza
• Liber Linteus (linen book)

Beliefs

• The gods’ will can be read in signs
• The sky is divided into regions of gods
• The afterlife is a journey

Rituals

• Reading the livers of sacrificed animals
• Watching lightning and birds
• Banquets in painted tombs

Grew from

• Animism & Shamanism
• Ancient Greek Religion

Connections in the atlas

• The Pyrgi Tablets
• Tinia
• Gorgon head (gorgoneion)
• ? Where did the Etruscans come from?
• The ferryman of the dead
• The Amber Road
• The Liber Linteus (Linen Book)
• Aritimi
• Scarab
• Hercle
• Aplu
• Fufluns