Tabula Cortonensis

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The Tabula Cortonensis, or the Cortona Tablet in English, is a ca. 2200-year-old artifact found in the ancient city of Cortona, Italy in 1992.

It is the third longest Etruscan inscription so far found, and the longest discovered in the 20th century. This artifact was cast in bronze containing a long 32-line inscription in Etruscan. It was found in Cortona, a Tuscan city known to the Etruscans as Curtun, in 1992, but has been published only in 1999. It measures about 50 x 30 cm, and is about 2-3 mm thick. The table is supposed to be cast at the beginning of the second century B.C., and was part of a notarial archive.

Later it had been broken in eight pieces (apparently to be melted) but only seven have been found. The loss of one piece is not considered as serious, since it was situated in the lower left part of the table and is supposed to contain only person's names.


Contents

[edit] Interpretation of the Artifact

The Tabula represents a notarial act concerning the division of an inheritance (or the sale) of real estate goods (a vineyard, an house and an estate) placed in the territory of Lake Trasimeno, east of Cortona (and now situated in western Umbria).

The text contains, besides 34 already known words, an equal number of previously undiscovered Etruscan words. Moreover, a new alphabetic sign for the letter E (a mirrored 'E') is present on the table. This implies that - at least in the Etruscan dialect spoken in Cortona - the sound corresponding to the letter 'E' has two different quantities.

[edit] Contents of the artifact

01: et . petruiš . sce[...]veš . eliuntš . v
02: inac . restmc . cen[...]u . tenθur . šar . cus
03: uθuraš . larisalisula . pesc . spante . tenθur .
04: sa šran . šarc . clθii . tersna . θui . spanθi . ml
05: ešieθic . rašnas IIIC inni . pes . petruš . pav
06: ac . traulac . tiur . ten[θ]urs . tenθa[š] . zacinat . pr
07: iniserac . zal \\ cš . esiš vere cusuθuršum . p
08: es[s] . petrušta . scev[aš] \\ nuθanatur . lart petr
09: uni . arnt . pini . lart . [v]ipi . lusce . laris . salini .v
10: etnal . lart . velara . larθalisa . lart velara
11: aulesa . vel . pumpu . pruciu . aule celatina . se
12: tmnal . arnza . felšni . velθinal . vel . luisna
13: lusce . vel uslna . nufresa . laru . slanzu . larz
14: a lartle vel aveš arnt . petru . raufe \\ epru
15: š . ame . velχe . cusu larisal . cleniarc . laris
16: [c]usu . l[a]risalisa larizac clan . larisal . petr
17: u . sce[va]š arntlei . petruš . puia
18: cen . zic . ziχuχe . sparzeštiš šazleiš in
19: θuχti . cusuθuraš . suθiu . ame . tal suθive
20: naš . ratm . θuχt . cešu . tl teltei . sianš . spa
21: rzete . θui . saltzic . fratuce . cusuθuraš . la
22: risalisula . petrušc . scevaš . pesš . tarχian
23: eš \\ cnl . nuθe . malec . lart . cucrina . lausisa .
24: zilaθ meχl . rašnal [la]ris . celatina lau
25: sa [cla]nc . arnt luscni [a]rnθal . clanc . larz
26: a . lart . turmna . salin[ial . larθ celatina . a]
27: pnal . cleniarc . velχe[š][...][papal]
28: šerc . velχe . cusu . aule[sa][...]
29: aninalc . laris . fuln[...][clenia]
30: rc . lart . petce . uslnal[...][cucr]
31: inaθur . tecsinal . vel[...]
32: uš . larisc . cus . uslna[l][...]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • Curtun (Modern Cortona) Information about the ancient city of Curtun as well as details about this artifact found there.
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