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22-409: On one of the helmets ("Negau B"), there is an inscription in a northern Etruscan alphabet . The date of the inscription is unclear, but it may be as old as 350–300 BC (Teržan 2012). It is read, right-to-left , as: Many interpretations of the inscription have been proffered in the past, but the most recent interpretation is by Tom Markey (2001), who reads the inscription as Hariχasti teiva , 'Harigast

44-481: A great influence on the culture of early Republican Rome, some of what later became the most symbolic traditions of the city. It also included the introduction of new foods, the Latin alphabet , the architecture , and engineering elements. Etruria usually is divided into two main territories, called Northern Etruria and Southern Etruria, to which must be added the northernmost territories are called Etruria Padana, and

66-540: A separate letter G to distinguish the two sounds. Soon after, the Etruscan language itself became extinct — so thoroughly that its vocabulary and grammar are still only partly known, in spite of more than a century of intense research. The Etruscan alphabet apparently was the immediate ancestor for the Latin alphabet , as well as of several Old Italic scripts used in Italy before the rise of Rome , such as those used in

88-468: Is almost universally read. Formerly, some scholars have seen the inscription as an early incarnation of the runic alphabet , but it is now accepted that the script is North Etruscan proper, and precedes the formation of the Runic alphabet. This inscription has been of particular interest to historical linguists, since it has been argued that it provides the earliest attestation of Grimm's law (also known as

110-788: The Augustan organization of Roman Italy , Etruria was the name of a region (Regio VII). Its borders were the Tiber , the Tyrrhenian Sea , the Apuan Alps , and the Apennines . This is roughly coincident with those of Etruria before the Roman period that began in 509 BC. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (which existed 1569–1801 and 1814–1859) styled itself in Latin as Magnus Ducatus Etruriae (Grand Duchy of Etruria). The name Etruria also

132-939: The Euboean alphabet used by the Euboean Greeks in their first colonies in Italy , the island of Pithekoussai and the city of Cumae in Campania . In the alphabets of the West, X had the sound value [ks] , Ψ stood for [kʰ] ; in Etruscan: X = [s] , Ψ = [kʰ] or [kχ] (Rix 202–209). The earliest known Etruscan abecedarium is inscribed on the frame of a wax tablet in ivory, measuring 8.8 cm × 5 cm (3.5 in × 2 in), found at Marsiliana (near Grosseto , Tuscany ). It dates from about 700 BC, and lists 26 letters corresponding to contemporary forms of

154-725: The Orientalizing Archaic periods . The Etruscans were a dominant culture in Italy by 650 BC, surpassing other ancient Italic peoples such as the Ligures . Their influence may be seen beyond Etruria's confines in the Po River Valley and Latium , as well as in Campania and through their contact with the Greek colonies in Southern Italy (including Sicily). Indeed, at some Etruscan tombs, such as those of

176-454: The Oscan , Umbrian , Lepontic , Rhaetian (or Raetic), Venetic , Messapian , North and South Picene , and Camunic inscriptions. Etruria Etruria ( / ɪ ˈ t r ʊər i ə / ih- TROOR -ee-ə ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber , an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany , northern Lazio , and north-western Umbria . It

198-717: The Silva Ciminia , the Ciminian Forest. A series of Etruscan kings ruled Rome until 509 BC when the last Etruscan king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus , was removed from power and the Roman Republic was established. The Etruscans are credited with influencing Roman architecture and ritual practice; it was under the Etruscan kings that important structures such as the Capitolium , Cloaca Maxima , and Via Sacra were realized. The Etruscan civilization had

220-581: The Tumulus di Montefortini at Comeana (see Carmignano ) in Tuscany , physical evidence of trade with Egypt has been found by archaeologists—fine Egyptian faience cups are an example. Such trade occurred either directly with Egypt or through intermediaries such as Greek or Phoenician sailors. Rome was influenced strongly by the Etruscans even though it was separated from the early boundary of Etruria by

242-667: The 6th century BC, however, the alphabet evolved, adjusting to the phonology of the Etruscan language, and letters representing phonemes nonexistent in Etruscan were dropped. By 400 BC, it appears that all of Etruria was using the classical Etruscan alphabet of 20 letters, mostly written from right to left. An additional sign 𐌚 , in shape similar to the numeral 8, transcribed as F, was present in Lydian , Neo-Etruscan and in Italic alphabets of Osco-Umbrian languages such as Oscan, Umbrian, Old Sabine and South Picene (Old Volscian). This sign

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264-536: The First Germanic Sound Shift), the sound shift which distinguishes the Germanic languages from other Indo-European languages. If teiva is a Germanic cognate of Latin deus 'god', it would reflect Grimm's shift * d > * t . This would be the earliest attestation of the shift, which would have relevance for the dating. However, Jeremy J. Smith argues that there are major problems with seeing

286-629: The Greek alphabet, including digamma , san and qoppa , but not omega which had still not been added at the time. 𐌛 The shapes of the Archaic Etruscan and Neo-Etruscan letters had a few variants, used in different places and/or in different epochs. Notably, opposite letters were used for /s/ and /ʃ/ depending on the locality. Shown above are the glyphs from the Unicode Old Italic block , whose appearance will depend on

308-404: The font used by the browser. These are oriented as they would be in lines written from left to right. Also shown are SVG images of variants shown as they would be written right to left, as in most of the actual inscriptions. The archaic form of the Etruscan alphabet remained practically unchanged from its origin in the 8th century BC until about 600 BC, and the direction of writing was free. From

330-413: The helmet as conclusive evidence for such a development. The four discrete inscriptions on the helmet usually called "Negau A" are read by Markey (2001) as: Dubni banuabi 'of Dubnos the pig-slayer'; sirago turbi 'astral priest of the troop'; Iars'e esvii 'Iarsus the divine'; and Kerup , probably an abbreviation for a Celtic name like Cerubogios. Etruscan alphabet The Etruscan alphabet

352-403: The priest' (from * teiwaz 'god'), as another inscribed helmet also found at the site bears several names (mostly Celtic ) followed by religious titles. Markey believes the text is Germanic mediated through Rhaetic which accounts for some of the difficulties in the reading, such as the lack of a declensional ending in the first element Hariχasti . In any case, the Germanic name Harigasti(z)

374-477: The southernmost territories are called Etruria Campana. Latin and Italian names are given between parentheses: There was a period between 600 BC and 500 BC, during which twelve Etruscan city-states formed a loose confederation known as the Etruscan League . Etruscan was the official language for their meetings. When Etruria was conquered by the Roman Republic , Latin became the official language. In

396-504: Was /f/ and it replaced the Etruscan digraph FH that was previously used to express that sound. Some letters were, on the other hand, falling out of use. Etruscan did not have any voiced stops , for which B, C, D were originally intended ( /b/ , /ɡ/ , and /d/ respectively). The B and D therefore fell out of use, and the C, which is simpler and easier to write than K, was adopted to write /k/ , mostly displacing K itself. Likewise, since Etruscan had no /o/ vowel sound, O disappeared and

418-532: Was inhabited by the Etruscans , an ancient civilization that flourished in the area from around the 8th century BC until they were assimilated into the Roman Republic in the 4th century BC. The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans . Their complex culture centered on numerous city-states that arose during the Villanovan period in the ninth century BC, and they were very powerful during

440-486: Was introduced in Etruscan around 600-550 BC and was not present in the Marsiliana tablet, the earliest example of the Etruscan alphabet. If previously it was thought that the sign 𐌚 may have been an altered B or H or an ex novo creation, or even an Etruscan invention, an early Sabellian inscription suggests that it is instead an invention of speakers of a Sabellian language (Osco-Umbrian languages). Its sound value

462-477: Was replaced by U. In the course of its simplification, the redundant letters showed some tendency towards a semi-syllabary : C, K and Q were predominantly used in the contexts CE, KA, QU. This classical alphabet remained in use until the 2nd century BC when it began to be influenced by the rise of the Latin alphabet . The Romans, who did have voiced stops in their language, revived B and D for /b/ and /d/ , and used C for both /k/ and /ɡ/ , until they invented

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484-518: Was used by the Etruscans , an ancient civilization of central and northern Italy , to write their language , from about 700 BC to sometime around 100 AD . The Etruscan alphabet derives from the Euboean alphabet used in the Greek colonies in southern Italy which belonged to the "western" ("red") type, the so-called Western Greek alphabet . Several Old Italic scripts , including the Latin alphabet , derived from it (or simultaneously with it). The Etruscan alphabet originated as an adaptation of

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