An Etruscan Urn and the Symbol of the Ancient Tradition

In this Etruscan cinerary Urn, there is a decoration that may explain the symbol of the pillar-shaped altar and why two warriors defend it.

Altar as Sacrifice by Fire

The pillar-shaped altar is a symbol from time to time observed both in hermetic pictures and in ancient religious scenarios. The top sculpture, which beautifies a side of an Etruscan cinerary urn in Volterra, deeps its roots in ancient times. Francesco Inghirami in his Monumenti Etruschi o di Etrusco nome disegnati, incisi, illustrati dal cavaliere Francesco Inghirami, Fiesole 1823, or Etruscan Monuments or of Etruscan name drawn, engraved, illustrated by the cavalier Francesco Inghirami, first tomus, the second part, table 49:

“The simplicity of this small and rough tuff urn will make us probably understand the meaning of this sculpture. In my humble opinion, the pillar-shaped altar is the main object of this representation. We met it elsewhere, and it will not be seemed inconsistent that I have called “fireplace”. By the aristocracy (1), there was a rule saying that one should not discuss religious topics in an assembly or near a fireplace (2). Fireplaces were sacred to the Divinities, and the altars for sacrifices were also called ” fireplaces ” (3). The fireplaces were believed to be protected by their Numina, especially against the attacks of enemies.

The Fighters

The two armed fighters, also portrayed on the table with their knees on the altar, seem not only to point attention to the handcraft but to be there to protect it. We know that the Etruscans invented gladiatorial games, which were initially celebrated during funerals. Sometimes, they were hired in fights to celebrate the dead. The ritual was probably a parody of the combat “under certain conditions” that the soul of the dead would have to face in the afterlife. But in the case we are examining, they look more like guardians, as they seem instead engaged in threateningly defending the altar from external enemies. In fact, we know that the Numina were the guardian-servants of souls.

But Inghirami provides a slightly different explanation: The Romans and their Etruscan teachers assigned the task of defending the ancient cults to Penates, who Dionysus of Halicarnassus describes as warriors. The Penates are the transmitter ancestors of the ancient wisdom/tradition through their cult.

The supposed enemies can here be identified in the two unarmed personages. They are not armed, but one is clothed in a tunic, then belonging to the people, the other wearing a toga, then part of the upper classes. They do not seem to want to fight the two defenders but to persuade them with speech.

Probably the two armed are protecting the cult of their ancient gods against the new funerary cults from abroad. Perhaps the innovations brought by the followers of Dionysus or Bacchus.

But how was this ancient cult? Probably the cult of Perseus, one the ancient Argive kings, who were said to worship the Sun, Moon, and Stars. Or perhaps the cult of Neptune. Or Juno, in the guise of Neptune.”

Greek mythology, which found a particular echo in Etruria, especially archaic mythology, handed down to us that the characters characterized by lame or sick legs or with amputated legs had a peculiar task: to describe the intensity of “heavenly fire” that could reach on earth. For example, Hephaestus was often characterized as lame because he had to “bring and amplify” to earth the very weak and ineffable celestial fire represented by Zeus.

1. In medieval Tuscania, the nobles were called ” Gentiles”. Dante defines in this way the upper classes in his Divina Commedia;
2. In the original Italian “Focolare”;
3. See Blaise de Vigenère and the Sacrifice of Fire.