DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0327
chap, xiv.] AN ALPHABET POTTED FOR POSTERITY.
225
shroud; and in another a purple mantle was found covering
two vases and a garland of box!9 In a third was a little
cup of ordinary ware, but bearing on its foot an inscrip-
tion, which proved to be no other than the Etruscan
alphabet. What was the meaning of it in such a situation
is hard to say—to us it is suggestive only of a present to
a child. Though originally of little worth, it is now a rare
treasure, being the sole instance yet found of an alphabet
in the Etruscan character.10 Here is a fac-simile of it—
All these articles are now in the possession of the Prince
Borghese. The fullest description of the excavations at
Bomarzo will be found in the work of Don Luigi Vittori,
arch-priest of the village.1
We returned to Viterbo by the direct road along the foot
of the Ciminian Mount. It presents many picturesque
combinations of rock and wood, with striking views of the
9 Vittori, Mem. Polim. p. 38.
10 A little pot was discovered at
Cervetri some few years since, inscribed
with an alphabet and primer ; and a
tomb at Colle, near Volterra, opened
two or three centuries ago, had a some-
what similar epigraph on its walls. But
in both those cases the letters were
determined to be Pelasgic, not Etruscan.
Here, however, is an alphabet, which is
admitted to be in the latter character.
The order adopted is singular. In
Roman letters it runs thus:—A, C, E,V,
Z, H, TH, I, L, M, N, P, S, R, S, T, U,
TH, CH, PH. The fifth, or the seta, is
of a very rare form. I have only seen it
twice elsewhere of this form—in an in-
scription of Chiusi (Museo Chiusino, II.
p. 222), where it is reversed, and on a
fibula of gold in the possession of Cav.
TOL. I.
Campana. Bull. Inst. 1846, p. 8. The
usual form of the Etruscan zeta is J.
It will be observed that there are two
thetas; the ante-penultimate letter in the
alphabet may also be a phi. The differ-
ence between the two sigmas is supposed
by Lepsius to consist in the first being
accented, and the other not—but they
are often used indifferently in the same
word.
1 For other particulars regarding the
tombs and excavations on this site, I
refer the reader to the publications of
the Archaeological Institute of Rome.
Annali deU'Inst. 1831,p.ll6 (Gerhard);
1832, p. 284. (Camilli); 1832, p. 269
(Lenoir); Bullettini dell' Inst. 1830,
p. 233. (Camilli); 1831, p. 6. (Fossati
andManzi); p. 85 ; p. 90 ; 1832, p. 19S;
1834, p. 50. (Gerhard).
Q
225
shroud; and in another a purple mantle was found covering
two vases and a garland of box!9 In a third was a little
cup of ordinary ware, but bearing on its foot an inscrip-
tion, which proved to be no other than the Etruscan
alphabet. What was the meaning of it in such a situation
is hard to say—to us it is suggestive only of a present to
a child. Though originally of little worth, it is now a rare
treasure, being the sole instance yet found of an alphabet
in the Etruscan character.10 Here is a fac-simile of it—
All these articles are now in the possession of the Prince
Borghese. The fullest description of the excavations at
Bomarzo will be found in the work of Don Luigi Vittori,
arch-priest of the village.1
We returned to Viterbo by the direct road along the foot
of the Ciminian Mount. It presents many picturesque
combinations of rock and wood, with striking views of the
9 Vittori, Mem. Polim. p. 38.
10 A little pot was discovered at
Cervetri some few years since, inscribed
with an alphabet and primer ; and a
tomb at Colle, near Volterra, opened
two or three centuries ago, had a some-
what similar epigraph on its walls. But
in both those cases the letters were
determined to be Pelasgic, not Etruscan.
Here, however, is an alphabet, which is
admitted to be in the latter character.
The order adopted is singular. In
Roman letters it runs thus:—A, C, E,V,
Z, H, TH, I, L, M, N, P, S, R, S, T, U,
TH, CH, PH. The fifth, or the seta, is
of a very rare form. I have only seen it
twice elsewhere of this form—in an in-
scription of Chiusi (Museo Chiusino, II.
p. 222), where it is reversed, and on a
fibula of gold in the possession of Cav.
TOL. I.
Campana. Bull. Inst. 1846, p. 8. The
usual form of the Etruscan zeta is J.
It will be observed that there are two
thetas; the ante-penultimate letter in the
alphabet may also be a phi. The differ-
ence between the two sigmas is supposed
by Lepsius to consist in the first being
accented, and the other not—but they
are often used indifferently in the same
word.
1 For other particulars regarding the
tombs and excavations on this site, I
refer the reader to the publications of
the Archaeological Institute of Rome.
Annali deU'Inst. 1831,p.ll6 (Gerhard);
1832, p. 284. (Camilli); 1832, p. 269
(Lenoir); Bullettini dell' Inst. 1830,
p. 233. (Camilli); 1831, p. 6. (Fossati
andManzi); p. 85 ; p. 90 ; 1832, p. 19S;
1834, p. 50. (Gerhard).
Q