Sacrifici Etruschi

Funde, Eigennamen und Schriftzeichen beweisen Roms lange Zugehörigkeit zur etruskischen Kultur. Die historisch faßbaren Anfänge des Etruskertums in Italien fallen mit der mythischen  Gründungzeit Roms (datiert auf 753 v. Chr.) zusammen. Die Sage berichtet vom korinthisch-etruskischen Ursprung der letzten römische Könige und von Einfällen der Etrusker unter dem König von Clusium Lars Porsenna nach dem Sturz der Tarquinier.  Die zwei römischen Gründungsmythen, die Äneas- und die Romulus-Sage, bezeugen die enge Verbindung Roms mit den etruskischen Nachbarn. Von den sieben sagenhaften Königen Roms, von Romulus bis Tarquinius Superbus, waren vier etruskischer Herkunft. Romulus ist der mythische Ahnherr der *Ruma, eines aus lat. Roma erschlossenen Geschlechternamens. Die erschlossene etruskische Form von Romulus lautet *Rumle. Von ihm leiten sich auch die Gentilizien Romulius bzw. Romilius ab. Auf die Romulii oder Romilii ist auch die erste der  sechzehn ältesten römischen Landtribus, die Romulia zurückzuführen. Remus gilt als der Ahnherr der Remmii, eines Geschlechts, das es wohl im ältesten Rom gegeben haben muß. Dem Gentilnamen liegt der etruskische Name  Rem-ne oder Rem-ni zugrunde. Von diesem Gentilizium leiten sich in und um Rom die Toponyme Rem-ona und Rem-oria her. Tyrrhener  und Römer wurden von den Griechen häufig synonym benutzt: Tyrrhenoì  è Rhomaîoi („Tyrrhener oder Römer“), ebenso wie Tyrrhenía è Italía. Einige Sprachelemente seien zusätzlich genannt: Im Etruskischen lauten die Namensbezeichnungen für Rom Ruma, für Römer Rumach, für Troja Truia, für Trojaner Truial. In der Frühzeit herrschte ein Priesterkönig (lauchme oder lochume, lat. lucumo) in jeder etruskischen Stadt, ein Titel, der möglicherweise auf die Heilskönige und Richter der nordostgeorgischen Bergstämme verweist, die häufig den Namen Luchumi trugen.

Das etruskische Erbe Roms gelangte erst Jahrhunderte später, während des Humanismus und in der Renaissance wieder zum Vorschein. Bei der Hinwendung zur Antike in der Rinascita spielte in der Toskana und in Latium, vor allem in Florenz und Viterbo, die Etruscheria, die Begeisterung für die Etrusker, eine besondere Rolle. Das Etruskertum diente als Modell gesellschaftlicher Erneuerung und fand Eingang in die kulturellen Programme der Renaissancefürsten, nicht zuletzt  der Medici. Der römische Baumeister Vitruv hatte  in seinem Augustus gewidmeten Werk De architectura  die tuskische Säulenordnung beschrieben. Diese Schrift regte die Renaissancearchitekten Andrea Palladio und Giorgio Vasari an. Der Palladianismus bildet zwei Jahrhunderte später eine der wichtigsten Stilrichtungen des Klassizismus. Durch die Lektüre von Palladio inspiriert, errichtete Thomas Jefferson sein Haus „Monticello“ mit toskanischem Portikus – die  erste toskanische Villa in der Neuen Welt.  Den Etruskern verdankt das  abendländischen Denken  schließlich  eine zentrale Kategorie – die Person.

In copertina. Graffiti dello specchio etrusco da Tuscania (IV -III sec. a.C.). La scena si svolge a Tarquinia: il divino Tagete insegna a Tarconte (il fondatore di Tarquinia) come leggere il fegato aruspicino. Accanto a Tagete è Veltune (lat. Vertumnus o Voltumna), il dio della Federazione Etrusca, a significare che siamo nel centro federale della nazione (il Fanum Voltumnae). Tagete ha alle spalle il sole che sorge (Est): questa doveva essere la posizione dell'aruspice durante le sedute. Lo stesso orientamento ha il fegato che è in mano a Tagete: la parte alta (testa del fegato) è al centro ed è rivolta ad Est, la parte sinistra (processo piramidale e cistifellea) è rivolta a Sud, la parte destra (presenza) è rivolta a Nord, la parte bassa (dove il fegato si divide nelle due sacche di sinistra e di destra) è rivolta ad Ovest.

Thanks to the increasing multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of votive contexts, a meaningful amount of information about both archaeological finds and associated faunal remains is available, giving way to interpretations about cults and sacrificial practices. This paper deals with the filling of different categories of “cavities” included in Etruscan sacred areas: the deep ones providing a connection with the underworld (mainly holding a primary hydraulic function); the wide ditches and the artificially delimited hollow spaces. In spite of the uneven quality of published data, this paper attempts to discuss and highlight their possible meaning and common distinctive features, taking into account their stratification, the sequence of operations involved and the evidence of specific rituals performed during the definitive land filling.

Etruscan cities facing the sea-Caere, Tarquinia, Vulci, Populonia, and Pisa-as well as those located farther inland, such as Roselle, Vetulonia, and Volterra, rose, except for Populonia, on raised mounds or spurs at a certain distance from the sea, with which they were connected by watercourses. Along the coast of southern Etruria, harbors exploited the presence of lagoons and other natural basins connected with the sea. Rivers mouths provided good shelter for ships and boats; rivers also penetrate inland and thus are useful as navigation channels. Settlements at river mouths developed from the seventh century BCE onward, following the main stream of urbanism. Trading posts were thus located outside the biggest urban centers but dependent on them, so that a binomial relationship was created between inland "powers" and specialized places on the coast, called “ports of trade” or emporia. The concept ofharbor is denoted in Greek sources with terms like limen (harbor environment), or hormos and epineion (anchorage, inner harbor). Technical literature in Latin oflater periods, especially portolans (pilot's books including nautical maps) and Itineraria, distinguishes between portus (an artificially protected area with installations easing ships’ access; cf. Vitr. 5.12.1), and statio or positio navium (minor landing site) and refilgium (small berthing place). According to literary sources of the Roman period, along the Etruscan Tyrrhenian coast there were twenty-eight landing sites at regular distances of around four to eight kilometers from Porta to the mouth of the Fiora River. The problem of identifying the named sites is not completely solved, because of coastal variation, the dearth of archaeological evidence, and frequent errors in the transcription of distances. It is not simple to distinguish archaeologically between landing sites and constructed harbors, although we know that ancient seafaring did not need specially built berths or docks. It seems certain that harbor settlements that already existed in the sixth century BCE, such as Pyrgi, Castrum Novum, Gravisca, Regae, Orbetello, Talamone, Populonia, and Pisa, differed in importance from the sites at the mouths of rivers that were natural berthing places. One may identify some recurrent elements. First of all, the choice of site, which was almost always the mouth of a river or a lagoon in the absence of a bay. In comparison with other areas of the ancient world, major Etruscan cities did not rise on the coast, although each had its own port(s) to which it was connected by a highway. Another remarkable element is the frequent close relationship between such epineia and extra-urban sanctuaries, both of which are direct expressions of the power of the city with respect to the external world.

Organizzato da Antrocom Onlus e dal Museo delle Religioni “Raffaele Pettazzoni”, Velletri (Roma), nel periodo 7-11 luglio 2015.
Il convegno intende indagare da un punto di vista interdisciplinare i meccanismi soggiacenti alle funzionalità che il cibo e l’alimentazione possono svolgere nei contesti a carattere religioso e nelle credenze tradizionali. Aree culturali di interesse sono le civiltà del Mondo Antico, Medievale, Moderno e Contemporaneo, così come i contesti folklorici o di carattere etnografico.

Organized by Antrocom Onlus, Museum of Religions "Raffaele Pettazzoni", Velletri (Rome), in the period July 7 to 11, 2015.
The conference aims to investigate in an interdisciplinary point of view the mechanisms underlying the functionality that food and nutrition can play in religious contexts and traditional beliefs. Cultural areas of interest are the civilizations of the Ancient, Medieval, Modern and Contemporary World, as well as the folkloric or ethnographic contexts.