Pyrgi Tablets - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Pyrgi Tablets, found in a 1964 excavation of a sanctuary of ancient Pyrgi

Pyrgi

Pyrgi was an ancient Etruscan port in Latium, central Italy, to the north-west of Caere. Its location is now occupied by the burgh of Santa Severa....

on the Tyrrhenian coast

Tyrrhenian Sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....

of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

(today the town of Santa Severa

Santa Severa

Santa Severa is a frazione of the comune of Santa Marinella, in the province of Rome, Lazio, Italy. It is a small sea resort on the Via Aurelia, c. south of Santa Marinella and north of Rome.It takes its name from the 2nd-century Christian martyr...

), are three golden leaves that record a dedication made around 500 BC by Thefarie Velianas, king of Caere, to the Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

n goddess ʻAshtaret

Astarte

Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...

. Pyrgi was the port of the southern Etruscan

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

town of Caere

Caere

Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...

. Two of the tablets are inscribed in the Etruscan language

Etruscan language

The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...

, the third in Phoenician.

These writings are important not only in providing a bilingual text that allows researchers to use knowledge of the Phoenician language to read Etruscan

Etruscan language

The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...

, but they also provide evidence of Phoenicia

Phoenicia

n/Punic influence in the Western Mediterranean. This document helps provide a context for Polybius

Polybius

Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...

's report (Hist. 3,22) of an ancient and almost unintelligible treaty between the Romans

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

and the Carthaginians

Carthage

Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

, which he dated to the consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

ships of L. Iunius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar's assassins.- Background :...

and L. Tarquinius Collatinus (509 BC).

The tablets are now held at the National Etruscan Museum

National Etruscan Museum

The National Etruscan Museum is a museum of the Etruscan civilization housed in the Villa Giulia in Rome, Italy.-History:The villa was built by the popes and remained their property until 1870 when, in the wake of the Risorgimento and the demise of the Papal States, it became the property of the...

, Villa Giulia

Villa Giulia

The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1550–1555 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, an impressive collection of Etruscan art and artifacts....

, Rome.

Phoenician text

l-rbt l-ʻštrt,

To lady Ashtarot,

'ʼšr qdš ʼz, ʼš pʻl, w-ʼš ytn tbryʼ wlnš mlk ʻl kyšryʼ.

This is the holy place, which was made, and which was given by Tiberius Velianas who reigns over the Caerites
Caere
Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...

.

b-yrḥ zbḥ šmš, b-mtnʼ b-bt, wbn tw.

During the month of the sacrifice to the Sun, as a gift in the temple, he built an aedicula
Aedicula
In religion in ancient Rome, an aedicula is a small shrine. The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building or house....

.

k-ʻštrt ʼrš b-dy l-mlky šnt šlš, b-yrḥ krr, b-ym qbr ʼlm

For Ashtarot raised him with Her hand to reign for three years from the month of Churvar, from the day of the burial of the divinity [onward].

w-šnt lmʼš ʼlm b-bty šnt km h kkb m ʼl.

And the years of the statue of the divinity in the temple [shall be] as many years as the stars above.

The Phoenician text has long been known to be in a Semitic

Semitic languages

The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...

, more specifically Canaanite language

Canaanite languages

The Canaanite languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians...

(very closely related to Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, and also relatively close to Aramaic

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...

and Ugaritic

Ugaritic language

The following table shows Proto-Semitic phonemes and their correspondences among Ugaritic, Arabic and Tiberian Hebrew:-Grammar:Ugaritic is an inflected language, and as a Semitic language its grammatical features are highly similar to those found in Classical Arabic and Akkadian...

); hence there was no need for it to be "deciphered." And while the inscription can certainly be read, certain passages are philologically uncertain on account of perceived complications of syntax and the vocabulary employed in the inscription, and as such they have become the source of debate among both Semiticists and Classicists.

Phoenician vocabulary

'ʼlm, divinity [Semitic *ʼil- "god"]

'ʼrš, to raise

'ʼš, which, who, that [rel.pron]

'ʼšr, place

'ʼz, this [ ha-dha? ]

'ʻl, over, above [Semitic *ʻal-]

'ʻštrt, Ashtaret [Semitic *ʻaṯtar-]

b-, in, at, with, on [Semitic *bi-]

bt, house, temple [Semitic *bayt-]

kkb, star [Semitic *kabkab-] [hakkawkabīm/hakkawkabūm = the-stars]

k-, for, since [Semitic *ki-]

km, like, as [ka-ma]

krr, Churvar [calendar month] [cf. Etruscan Χurvar]

kyšryʼ, Caerites [a people]

l-, to, for [Semitic *la-]

lmʼš, statue

mlk, to rule, to reign [Semitic *mlk]

mtnʼ, gift [Semitic *ntn 'to give']

pʻl, to make, to do [Semitic *pʻl]

qbr, burial

qdš
Q-D-Š
Q-D-Š is a common triconsonantal Semitic root form used in various ancient and modern languages since at least the 3rd millennium BCE. The meanings expressed by this root are "Holy", "Sacred", "Divine Power", "To Set Apart", and "Sanctuary"...

, holy

rbt, lady [cf. Akkadian rābu "grand, large"] [rabbu , female: rabbatu ]

šlš, three [Semitic *ṯalāṯ-]

šmš, sun [Semitic *šamš-]

šnt, year [šanot "years" - from: šanāt]

tw, aedicula [taw]

w-, and [Semitic *wa-]

bn, to build [ bny ] [wayyiben = [and] he built]

yd, hand

ym, day [Semitic *yawm-]

yrḥ, month [Semitic *warḥu-] [Canaanite: yarhu]

ytn, to give [Semitic *[y]-ntn] [ya-ntin[u]] he-gives / hebrew: yittēn

zbḥ, sacrifice

Etruscan text

First plate:

Ita tmia icac heramašva vatieχe Unial-Astres, θemiasa meχ θuta.

That temple and these Hermes idols are dedicated to Uni-Astre, built by the clanspeople.

Θefariei Velianas sal cluvenias turuce.

Tiberius Velianas the pleasing aedicula has given.

Munistas θuvas tameresca ilacve tulerase.

That burial of his own by these priests with idols was encircled.

Nac ci avil χurvar, tešiameitale, ilacve alšase.

For three years [in the month of] Churvar, with Her burnt offerings, with idols [it was] buried.

Nac atranes zilacal, seleitala acnašvers.

During the reign of the chief, in Her hand [he] would be brought forth (ie: Uni-Astre gave him authority to rule).

Itanim heramve, avil eniaca pulumχva.

And with these Hermes idols, the year(s) shall endure as the stars.

Second plate:

Nac Θefarie Veliiunas θamuce cleva etunal Masan tiur, Unias šelace.

When Tiberius Velianas had built the statue of the sanctuary [in] the month of Masan, Uni was pleased.

Vacal tmial avilχval amuce pulumχva snuiaφ.

The votives of the temple yearly have been as numerous as the stars.

Etruscan vocabulary

*acna(s), to bring forth ( '[he] would be brought forth')

[perhaps <-u>, passive + <-er->, purposive, common in the LLZ

Liber Linteus

The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan text and the only extant linen book...

, had combined to form a passive optative in <-ver-> 'would be']

Note acnanas, arce.> "Having brought forth (ie: given birth to) five children, [she] raised [them]" (TLE 887)

*alš, to bury ( 'buried')

*am, to be ( 'has been, had been')

amce mecl Rasnal.> "He had been a chief of the Etruscan people." (ET Ta 7.59)

Astre, Phoenician goddess of fertility, associated with Uni ( 'of Astre') [Phoenician <‘štrt> < *‘Aṯtarṯ]

*atran, reign, rulership

avil, year ( 'of the years, yearly')

ca, this ( 'this', 'and this')

ci, three

*cluvenia, aedicula ( 'of the aedicula')

Χurvar, month [Phoenician *Kurar]

*en, to last, endure ( 'shall endure')

<Śacnicleri cilθl, śpureri, meθlumeric, enaś.> "By way of these sacred objects of the sanctuary, by the city and by the people, [it] endures" (LLZ

Liber Linteus

The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan text and the only extant linen book...

, col 9, lines 12-13)

*etan, sanctuary ( 'of the sanctuary')

*heram(aš), Hermes idol ( 'with the Hermes idols', 'Hermes idols')

*ila, idol (*ilacva 'idols', 'with idols')

meχ, people

muni, burial, plot of land ( 'of the burial')

nac, when, during, while

*pulum, star ( 'stars', 'little star')

(Cippus perusinus

Cippus Perusinus

The Cippus Perusinus is a stone tablet discovered on the hill of San Marco, near Perugia, Italy, in 1822. The tablet bears 46 lines of Etruscan text exquisitely carved into it...

, lateral, lines 29-30)

<…pulunza ipal sacnina tinia tei aθemeiś caś…> "…the little star for which the sacred Tinia of the sky…" (CIE 6310)

sal, pleasing

*sel, hand ( 'with the hand')

*snuia, many ( "as many")

<śnuiu-φ> "as many" (LLZ

Liber Linteus

The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan text and the only extant linen book...

, col 6, lines 1,2,4)

*šel, to please (<šel-ac-e> 'has pleased') [cf. ]

ta, that ( 'that', 'and with that', 'of that', 'her', 'with her')

tešiam, burnt offerings ( 'with burnt offerings')

<Śucic firin tesim.> "And incense was burned as a burnt offering" (LLZ

Liber Linteus

The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan text and the only extant linen book...

, col 7, lines 9-10)

tmia, temple ( 'of the temple')

*tuler, to encircle ( 'encircled') [cf. 'border, boundary']

tur, to give ( 'has given')

*θem, to build (<θem-iasa> 'built', <θam-uc-e> 'has built')

θefariei, Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

[Roman male name]

θuta, clan (compare Celto-Germanic cognates *Tuatha, *Theod, *Diot)

θuva, oneself, (<θuva-s> 'one's own') [cf. <θu> 'one, single']

<Θuker akil tuś thuveś.> "Thuker completed his own tomb." (TLE 672)

Uni, Etruscan mother goddess of fertility ( 'of Uni') [cf. Latin <Iuno

Juno (mythology)

Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...

:>]

vacal, votive offering

vacl θesnin> "Upon the earth of the tomb a votive offering was dedicated." (LLZ

Liber Linteus

The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan text and the only extant linen book...

, col 5, lines 15-16)

*vat, to dedicate ( 'to be dedicated')

Velianas, Velianas [family name].

zilaχ, chief ( 'of the chief')

zilaχnuce.> "[While] living, [he] had been chief." (TLE 173)

<Zilaχnce avil XI.> "[He] had been chief eleven years." (REE 40, n75)

External links

The Etruscan Texts Project A searchable database of Etruscan texts.
Photograph, transliteration, and partial translation
Tavola di Cortona e Lamine di Pyrgi - traduzione (Italian translation by Giovanni Semerano
Giovanni Semerano
Giovanni Semerano was an Italian philologist who studied the languages of Ancient Mesopotamia.He obtained his degree in Florence, where among his teachers were the Hellenist Ettore Bignone, the philologist Giorgio Pasquali and the semitists Giuseppe Furlani, Giacomo Devoto and Bruno Migliorini.At...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Phoenician text

Phoenician vocabulary

Etruscan text

Etruscan vocabulary

See also

External links