Etruscan religion Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the E ...

and mythology, Tinia (also Tin, Tinh, Tins or ''Tina'') was the god of the sky and the highest god in Etruscan mythology, equivalent to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

and the Greek

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

. However, a primary source from the Roman Varro states that Veltha, not Tins, was the supreme deity of the Etruscans. This has led some scholars to conclude that they were assimilated, but this is speculation. He was the husband of Uni and the father of Hercle. Like many other Etruscan deities, his name is

gender neutral Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) should avoid distinguish ...

. The

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...

had a group of nine gods who had the power of hurling thunderbolts; they were called ''Novensiles'' by the Romans. Of thunderbolts there were eleven sorts, of which Tinia wielded three. Tinia was sometimes represented with a beard or sometimes as youthful and beardless. In terms of

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ism, Tinia has the thunderbolt. Tinia's thunderbolts could be red or blood coloured. Like Selvans and possibly

Laran In Etruscan mythology and religion, Laran (or Larun) is the god of war. In art, he was portrayed as a naked youth wearing a helmet, a cuirass and carrying a spear, shield, or lance. Laran also appears to be an underworld god. Among his attri ...

,Konstantinos I. Soueref; Ariadni Gartziou-Tatti (2019). Gods of Peace and War in the Myths of the Mediterranean People. Ioannina, Greece: Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina - University of Ioannina. . Tinia also protected boundaries. His name appears as the guarantor on three boundary stones with identical inscriptions found in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, originally placed there by the Etruscan colonists. Some of Tinia's possible

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

s are detailed on the

Piacenza Liver The Liver of Piacenza is an Etruscan artifact found in a field on September 26, 1877, near Gossolengo, in the province of Piacenza, Italy, now kept in the Municipal Museum of Piacenza, in the Palazzo Farnese. It is a life-sized bronze model o ...

, a bronze model of a liver used for

haruspicy In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails (''exta''—hence also extispicy ( ...

. These inscriptions have been transcribed as ''Tin Cilens'', ''Tin Θuf'' and ''Tinś Θne''. There have been a number of suggestions as to their meaning, but the

Etruscan language Etruscan () was the language of the Etruscan civilization, in Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria (modern Tuscany, western Umbria, northern Latium, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy and Campania). Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventua ...

is poorly understood and there is no scholarly consensus for the translation.

Inscriptions

Tinia appears in several inscriptions, including: * Kylix painted by

Oltos Oltos was a Late Archaic Greek vase painter, active in Athens from 525 BC to 500 BC. About 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin (Antikensammlung F 2264) and a cup in Tarquinia (Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese RC 6848), are sign ...

(c. 500 BC): ** **This has given Venel Atelinas for the sons of Tin (ie: The Dioscuri) *On the bronze

Chimera of Arezzo The Chimera of Arezzo is regarded as the best example of ancient Etruscan art. The British art historian David Ekserdjian described the sculpture as "one of the most arresting of all animal sculptures and the supreme masterpiece of Etruscan bron ...

: **Tinscvil **A gift to Tinia

References

Etruscan gods Etruscan religion Sky and weather gods Thunder gods Time and fate gods Jovian deities {{deity-stub

Inscriptions

See also

References