Etruscans

Stones and Paint

Sorry I've been falling down on blog posts again, this is my attempt to catch up.

The cities of stone, quiet now, that they left us never bustled with the movements of workers, leaders, and civilization. Occasional offerings would have been left, quiet reminders that people visited, but never stayed. These have always been cities of the dead, entire systems designed solely for their welfare in the afterlife. From grass covered hills to the city blocks opening into piazzas, the necropoli only served the dead and their possessions among the living.The Etruscan necropolis at Cerveteri features tombs from the Villanovan, or proto-Etruscan, period, all the way to the 5th century BCE. Only one of the tombs has preserved frescoes, that being the famous Tomb of the Reliefs, filled with stucco reliefs of household objects to serve the dead in the afterlife. The other tombs are empty, quiet, some flooded, others dark, hidden. My moment of quiet reflection came when I entered a tomb to discover the floor beneath me was flooded. I jumped onto the stone blocks on either side of the entrance and crouched there, my legs bridging the gap of an entrance. I heard no sound from the outside. I had the silence of the tomb around me, cold gray stone and darkness. The tomb had stone beds, carved into the same circumference blocks that I lay across. I pondered the silence, the solitude, being completely alone. I used a few thoughts in Italian, then returned to an English comprehension of what was around me. Best of all was what I didn't think. After the first few initial thoughts, I thought nothing, letting it all be. I then vaulted off the blocks to the dry entrance way, and ascended to ground level. A wonderful tomb, nameless, only a dot on a map. I have no way to refer to it, only the one where I was. I hope to return.

Tarquinia is much more lively and Etruscan, filled with the painted scenes of frivolity for which they are famous. A smaller range of tombs lie beneath the relatively flat open area used for ceremonial games. Every room features frescoes in one form another, ranging from sparse line drawings of olive trees with simple swirling borders to intricate banquet scenes of reclining couples, attended by slaves and surrounded by scenes of nature. Here the tombs cannot be entered, only viewed through a glass box. At the bottom of each staircase, a switch lies on the wall; pressed, the lights brighten the tomb, revealing as they come to life different aspects, one by one lit until the entire room can be seen. Here I encountered my past, as I slowly found the figures I studied for an eighth grade project. Upon entering the first tomb, I found myself faced immediately by the Etruscan door to the underworld and two guardian demons, one of whom I painted for a cremation box. It struck me so hard I had to examine the room for half an hour, staring through the smudged glass and discovering slowly the various walls, the writing and the forms of letters, faded frescoes, and truly felt the hallowed and Etruscan silence of the tomb. Instead of merely a silent moment of meditation and lack of thought, I had no need to imagine the goods and frescoes that once adorned the walls, for they graced the walls already. Here I found the experience I had been looking for in the tombs before, the true Etruscan that I needed. After the first tomb, I slowly worked through them, savoring each one, taking none of them lightly when I was alone. Such a gravity they held, it was truly remarkable. What I would give to return.

Photo link: http://picasaweb.google.com/vetus.veneficus/Etruscans