Uram 32 2-3-4 157

2.
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The Meaning of the Afterlife in the Etruscan
Tomb Paintings of Tarquinia
https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/uram.32.2-3-4.157 - Monday, August 14, 2023 11:19:06 AM - IP Address:79.51.218.34
Oscar Magnan, Fine Arts Department, Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City, N. J.
INTRODUCTION
This study will consider the meaning of the afterlife to the Etruscan people by
comparing the meaning it had in civilizations which influenced them very
strongly, such as the Egyptians and the Greeks. While Egyptian culture offers
the testimony of some few written texts, (e.g. the Book of the Dead) and, of
course, numerous tomb paintings, an abundance of Greek texts, which can trans-
late in their entirety, present various beliefs in the afterlife. Study of the Etrus-
cans’ understanding of the afterlife, however, is complicated by the fact that
their language still remains a mystery for us today.
Etrusca believed that their religion was divinely inspired through the Etrusa
Disciplina, the religious literature that described the cosmos and the underworld,
and which indicated how to interpret the will of the gods. Though several texts
had survived during Roman times, such as the Libri Riturales, Libri Falais,
Libri de Fulguratura, and the Libri Acheruntici, we, unfortunately, know very lit-
tle of those writings and teachings today. The lack of religious texts from which
to learn the meaning the afterlife had for the Etruscans, forces us to go to the only
remaining evidence of their beliefs and everyday life practices.
The strongest evidence is to be found in their art, and, in particular in the art of
tomb painting which is closer to the interpretation of the afterlife, especially in
Tarquinia. This article will study some of the tomb paintings of Tarquinia and
will suggest an interpretation of their meaning concerning the afterlife by com-
paring them with the meaning the afterlife had in the civilizations and religions
that highly influenced them, such as Egypt, Greece and the Orphic rites.
EGYPT
The Ancient Egyptians clearly believed in an afterlife before the birth of their for-
malized religion. This is evident through their burial practices especially those
dating from Pre-dynastic Period; (c.5500-c.3100). The presence of these burial
© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 157

sites suggests the belief the equipment contained in the tombs was required for the
afterlife. There were several methods of burial throughout the centuries, from the
shallow oval graves at the edge of the desert to the more important burials in
coffins and underground chambers. These coffins quickly began to rot and
gave rise to the practice of mummification, which continued in use until the
early fourth century A.D. Not all people could afford luxury burials, but a
believer in the afterlife was no doubt universal in varying degrees. The deposit
of funerary goods in the grave alongside the body could have been quite simple,
such as pots, tools, and weapons, which were considered functional objects which
would be needed by the deceased in their afterlife.
The Pre-Dynastic custom of burying the dead in the fetal position suggests a
belief in the concept of rebirth. The later practice of mummification early in the
Dynastic Period also reveals that the body should be preserved intact for the after-
life. The ancient Egyptians thought of the afterlife as a perfect version of life as
they knew it in the Nile Valley. That is shown in papyri in the Book of the
Dead and in scenes painted on the walls of royal tombs: A beautiful life in
which one enjoyed the things that had been good in life on earth. The Egyptian
paradise was called the Field of Hetep (satisfaction). Further reference will be
made to this subject when we examine the mural paintings in the Etruscan Tombs.
The concept of opposites as independent entities was highly influential in the
Egyptian thought. Along with the Field of Hetep, the western horizon, was the
Field of Iaru (reeds), a place of purification, which was associated with the east-
ern horizon. The ancient Egyptians believed that when they died they would be
judged on their behavior during their lifetime before they could have a place
in the afterlife. The judging ceremony was called “The Weighing of the
Heart”, and is recorded in chapter 125in the Book of the Dead. The ceremony
was supposed to take place in front of Osiris, the god of the afterlife and a tribu-
nal of 42 deities. If the deceased was found innocent (true of voice), he or she was
allowed to proceed to the afterlife.
The idea of existence in an afterlife was not confined to the ancient Egyptians,
but the steps they took to ensure the transition from the world of the living to the
world of the dead were exceptional. They believed that the body should remain as
intact as possible. Food and drink were provided for the nourishment of the indi-
vidual. This nourishment was not intended for the body, but for the surviving
essence of the person. This was the ka, which is described as the “double” or
the “self’ of the person. That “self’ is fully associated with the person but capable
of a kind of independent existence as well. It was due to the Osiris cult, during the
Old Kingdom, that new ideas were developed concerning the afterlife.
GREECE
As we have already mentioned, the existence of an afterlife was not confined to

the ancient Egyptians. Many ancient civilizations had the same notion, which
158 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

FIG. 1. Banquet
is known to us through their burial practices and literature. It is well documented

that Egypt exercised an enormous influence over other civilizations, especially
Greece, and specifically in Greek Archaic sculpture and early vase painting. Sev-
eral of Greek philosophers, including Pythagoras, traveled to Egypt, and wrote
about the Egyptian customs and religion.
One important example of the Greek belief in the afterlife is in the Tomba del
Tuffatore, or the Tomb of the Diver. It is a burial grave discovered in June 1968
south of the Italian city of Paestum, which was once a Greek colony. The tomb is
made from five slabs of travertine stone. The four walls, painted in the ‘true fresco’
technique, have scenes of what appear to be a ceremonial symposium: men drink-
ing, playing the game of Kottabos , and exchanging amorous glances (Fig. 1).
The cover slab shows the famous scene that gives the tomb its name: a young
man diving into a waving puddle of water. The man is leaping from life into
death, or better, from life into the afterlife (Fig. 2).
Another good example of a human being leaping into the Afterlife is found in
the apse of the BASILICA NEOPITAGORICA DI PORTA MAGGIORE in
Rome, of the First century AD. The relief represents Sappho jumping into the
sea from the Leucade rock. The symbolic value of the scene represents the pas-
sage of the mortal from the world of the living into the afterlife, a doctrine, as
Pliny remarks, very much according to Nco-Pythagorean teaching as quoted
from Salvatore Aurigemma,”La Basilica Sotterranea Neopitagorica di Porta
Maggiore in Roma, Roma MCMLXI,22
ETRURIA
Etruscan culture can be traced from around 900 B.C. The Italian peninsula was
in- habited by a number of ltalic tribes, Greeks and Celts, but the origin of the

FIG. 2. Il Tufatore
Etruscans is still debated and their language is not known to us. The Etruscans
own mythology gives us some explanation of their origins.
TAGES
The story of Tages is preserved by Cicero and Ovid (Cicero, DE DIV. 2.23; Ovid,
MET.15.553). A peasant of Tarquinia, while he was working in a field, discov-
ered a little boy with the face of an old man who was crawling out of the ground.
When the farmer cried out, all the inhabitants of Etruria, namely the ‘Twelve
People identified as the Nomen Etruscurn, appeared and then Tages dictated
the twelve sacred books of religious laws called the Disciplina Etrusca. Thus
was formed the Etruscan People.
The sacred books ofthe Disciplina Etrusca are the Libri Tagetici, whose redac-
tion was believed to be done by Tarchon, the mythical founder of Tarquinia. The
LibriHaruspicini and the Libri Acherontici are often included with these others.
The Disciplina was divinely inspired and was considered to be the ultimate
authority on earth. It gave instructions for divining the will of the gods. As

everything was decreed by the gods, the correct interpretation was extremely
important. The interpretation was done mainly through hepatoscopy, the exam-
ination of the liver of a sacrificed sheep.
The Etruscan religion was practiced according to the revelation of the pro-
phets, and since in the Etruscan belief the gods were omnipotent, the practice
of religion had to include an inquiry into the will of the gods. That will was inter-
preted by priests or persons who possessed the talent of divination. Religion gov-
erned the religious, public, and private life, and was present in every aspect of the
life of the country. Since ancient times ideas of the Etruscans as a purely materi-
alistic, fun loving, and sybaritic civilization were widely held. These ideas were
initially found in ancient writers for different motives. One good example is the
Greek historian Theopompus of the fourth century B.C., who described the sup-
posedly immoral sexual customs of the Etruscans. The Romans of the Imperial
Period desired to efface how much they had learned from the Etruscan, such
as the ability to build roads, the art of realistic portraiture, the practice of divina-
tion, the construction of aqueducts, and other things, and therefore contributed
to the biased writings against these highly religious people.
The Etruscan religion had been influenced by the proliferation of new and dif-
ferent doctrines, especially from Egypt, Greece, and southern Italy. The opportu-
nity to travel allowed Etruscans to encounter new philosophies and a diversity of
cults. The influence of Pythagoras (6th century B.C.) and his teachings on metem-
psychosis had a strong influence on the Etruscan religion, as did the Dionysian
rites associated with the underworld, sex and the promise of an afterlife. This
influence is evident in several tombs in Tarquinia in the dancing satyrs and the
komasts depicted in the tomb of the Lionesses and others (Fig. 3).
(All photographs of Etruscan tombs in Tarquinia with permission, Soprinten-
denza ltaliana
Per I Benii Archaeologici Etruria Meridionale, Roma)
There is a strong influence of Dionysus in Orphism, a cult of initiation and
purification which promised a blessed immortality. The display of eggs in the
hands of the diners in the tombs of the Lionesses (Fig.4) and Leopards is a
well-known symbol of immortality which has its origin in the Thrako-Phrygian
religion of Asia Minor, to which Dionysus belonged. This religion believed in
the union of the mortal with the divine.
THE MYTH
Dionysus, as Zagreus incarnate, is the son of Zeus and Persephone and is given
inheritance to the throne by Zeus himself. The Titans were furious over this and in-
stigated by Hera’s jealousy murdered the child and ate him. Athena saves his heart
and Zeus kills the Titans with the thunderbolt. The resulting soot from which man-
kind is born, contains the bodies of the Titans and of Dionysus. The soul of man
(Dionysus) is therefore divine, but the body (Titans) has the soul in bondage.

FIG. 3. Tomba delle Leonese
The Orphic creed of the divinity of man teaches that the soul of the initiated,
even after death, has to perform certain rituals to attain a blessed immortality. He
must drink the waters of Memory. After reciting the formula with his claim and
the request is granted, the initiated becomes ‘one of the blessed heroes. ‘ How far

FIG. 4. Tomba dei Leopardi
the Orphic movement prevailed in the Greek and Etruscan society would demand
a more profound examination of literature, vase painting and grave inscriptions
than is the purpose of this article.
The Etruscan tomb paintings often depict the defunct in glorified scenes of
banquets, games or peaceful events, which seem to want for the defunct the
same agreeable conditions found in a good life on earth. The deposit of funerary
goods, like functional and luxury objects, as mentioned in the case of the Egyp-
tians, seems to be a strong indication of the belief in an afterlife.
But the concept of the afterlife is not clear due to the lack of documents deal-
ing with the subject. These documents existed in Etruria and were called Libri
Acheruntici in the Roman tradition, but are now lost except for a few quotations
by Roman authors. The figural representations of the deceased in tombs, mirrors,
and reliefs are also confusing. An example is in the famous Tomb of the Orcus in

Tarquinia. In Orcus I (the tomb is built in two sections), a banquet is depicted in
the main and right wall where the banqueters are served by demons as cupbearers
which does not seems to disturb them in the least. Nor is the beautiful noble-
woman, Velia Velcha, disturbed, as she looking very calm participates in the fes-
tivities (Fig. 5).
FIG. 5. Tomba dell Orco

HINTHIAL
The only solid evidence of the afterlife, according to Jean-Rene Jannot (“Religion
of Ancient Etruria,” chapter 4), is in the epigraphic word hinthial, which occurs in
tomb paintings and in the back of bronze mirrors. These inscriptions identify the
deceased. The word could be translated as ‘shade’, ‘image’ or ‘soul.’ In the tomb
of the Orcus II, the soul of Agamenmon is depicted with the seer Teiresias with
the inscription hinthial Terasias. In the back of the painting are the diminutive
lesser souls, jumping from one branch of the tree to the other.
The figure of Patroclus is labeled hinthial Patrucles in the painting of the sac-
rifice of the Trojan prisioners in the Francois Tomb at Vulci. Hermes Psycho-
pompos (Turms Aitas) is leading the shade or soul of the blind Teiresias,
inscribed hinthial Terasias, towards the seated Odysseus, in the back of a fourth
century B.C. bronze mirror. These are a few examples of the use of the inscription
hinthial to identify the deceased.
THE JOURNEY
The difficult journey to the underworld played an important role in the Etruscan
religion, and the actual boundaries between the world of the living and the world
of the dead were frequently represented, in tomb painting, by a fortified door or
stone guarded by the two winged demons of the underworld, Charu, armed with
his hammer and the bare-breasted Vanth. They stand at either side of the door
leading to the funerary chan1ber, like in the tomb of the Anina family (Fig.6
and Fig.7). The job of Charu and Vanth was not to punish the deceased but to
guide them to their final destination.
TOMB PAINTING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
It is not the purpose of this article to study the techniques of the tomb paintings,
nor their styles in different periods, from their late Orientalizing ( late seventh to
early sixth century B.C.), to the Archaic and into the Hellenistic period. Nor is
our interest to discover the influence of Greek pottery and the artists who exe-
cuted the work in the Etruscan tombs. Our interest is primarily in the significance
of some of these frescos concerning the afterlife. Though the styles of the paint-
ings varied according to the different periods we can draw certain conclusions.
Some scenes are of everyday life, some concern funerary rites, and some are of
apotropaic or purely decorative motives, such as the two felines in the Panthers
tomb (c. 580 B.C.) and the heraldic animals in the tomb of the Bulls, from the
Archaic period. There can be several interpretations for the burial rite. Their
meaning could be ceremonial or symbolic with religious and even philosophical

166
FIG. 6. Tomba degli anina
© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

FIG. 7. Tomba degli anina
© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

167
implications, without one point of view excluding the other. The funerary ban-
quets are very frequent scenes, particularly in later tombs, such as in the tomb
of the Triclinio, the tomb ofthe Leopards, and the tomb of the Orco, and others.
Meals, banquets, and celebrations in honor of the deceased have been in practice
since antiquity. In Egypt, after a burial, the family and guests joined together
outside the tomb to celebrate a joyful meal with wine, food, and beer. In Greece,
funerary banquets were a common practice. Even today, we gather after the
funeral ceremony for a reception or a meal.
In Etruscan tomb painting, the deceased is present at the banquet and partici-
pates in the festivities with living friends and relatives. These banquets do not
seem to be purely ceremonial, in which the family and friends would merely be
gathered to remember the loved one. The presence and participation of the
deceased demonstrates the strong influence of the Orphic believe in a happy after-
life, which imitates the good events lived in the life on earth. In the Auguri tomb
the spirit of the deceased is evoked by mourners, a strong indication of another
dimension of the person after the life on earth.
The games of celebration were also a common practice in Greece and Roman
society and were also practiced by the Etruscans, as in the tombs of the Jugglers,
the Auguri and the Baron (Fig.8).
FIG. 8. Tomba degli auguni

CONCLUSIONS
There is no doubt that not all of the imagery of the Etruscan tombs makes a ref-
erence to a belief in an afterlife. The absence of the sacred texts, essential for
understanding Etruscan doctrine, is a handicap to appreciate the thought of
these people in that important aspect of their beliefs. However, there are many
indications, as has been pointed out in this article, that give a clear notion of
the Etruscan belief in an afterlife. The celebratory banquets with the presence
of the deceased, the sports, and the komos (ritual dances Fig. 9), which formed
part of the funeral rites, the door motif, which separates the living from the
dead, and certainly, the amount of goods and valuables deposited for the use
and the enjoyment of the deceased, are a clear indication that life will continue
after death.
FIG. 9. Tomba dei Leopardi

REFERENCES
Aurigemma, S. ‘La Basilica Sotterranea Neopitagorica di Porta Maggiore in Roma,’

Prima Edizione. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, (1961) No. 104.
Bonfante, L., ed. ‘Etruscan Life and Afterlife,’ in A Handbook of Etruscan Studies. Detroit:
Wayne State University Press, 1986.

Bonfante, L. and J. Swaddling. Etruscan Myths. Incooperation with the British Museum
and University of Texas Press, 2006.
Breasted, L. H., A History of Egypt, from the earliest times to the Persian Conquest.
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1937.
Brier, B. Egyptian Mummies. London: William Morrow & Co., 1994.
Faulker, R. 0. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. London, 1985.
Hoffman, M. Egypt Before the Pharoahs. London, 1979.
Holloway, R. R. ‘The Tomb of the Diver’. American Journal of Archeology, Vol. 110, n3.
2006.
James, T. G. H. The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt 5. 102–131.
The University of Michigan Press, 2005.
Jannot, J. R. ‘Religion in Ancient Etruria.’ Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press,
3–13 (20 Times New Roman05):54–61.
Leighton, R. Tarquinia, an Etruscan City. London: Gerald Duckworth and Co, 2004. P.
86–121.
Oakes, L. & Gahlen, L. Ancient Egypt: 385–399. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2006
Poulsen, F. Etruscan Tomb Painting. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922
Rouveret, A 1974. ‘La Tombe du Plongeur et les Fresques Etrusques: Temoignages sur Ia
Peinture Grecque,’ Revue Archeologique. (1974) Fascicule 1, 15–22.
Taylor, J. H. Egyptian Coffins. Aylesbury. 1989
Thomson, Nancy, N. de GRUMMOND, and E. SIMON, eds. The Religion of the
Etruscans. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. P. 66–76.
Van Essen, C. C. ‘Did Orphic influence on Etruscan tomb painting exist?’ Studies in
Etruscan Tomb Painting I. Amsterdam: H. J. Paris, 1927.

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2.

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 157

As we have already mentioned, the existence of an afterlife was not conﬁned to

158 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

is known to us through their burial practices and literature. It is well documented

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 159

160 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 161

FIG. 3. Tomba delle Leonese

162 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

FIG. 4. Tomba dei Leopardi

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 163

FIG. 5. Tomba dell Orco

164 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

TOMB PAINTING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 165

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

FIG. 7. Tomba degli anina

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

FIG. 8. Tomba degli auguni

168 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

FIG. 9. Tomba dei Leopardi

© URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013 169

Aurigemma, S. ‘La Basilica Sotterranea Neopitagorica di Porta Maggiore in Roma,’

Wayne State University Press, 1986.

170 © URAM Volume 32, nos. 2-3-4, 2009, Published 2013

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