CORTONA | The museums and artifacts in the city

THE TABULA CORTONENSIS: the secret and mystery of Etruscan language

The Tabula Cortonensis is one of the most important discoveries of the Etruscan age. But why it is so important? Because it has got 40 lines written in Etruscan language, and it was one of the longer Etruscan language inscriptions all over the world. This kind of language is mysterious, because we could know this language just from the funerary inscriptions, and so we could understand only some words concerning the religious, familiar or social topic. In addition to that, there are many gaps in the full comprehension of the language, in terms of grammar and vocabulary. For that reason, the Tabula is a unicum. It is made of bronze, and it was broken into eight pieces, and from these pieces, one has been lost. It was found in the area near Cortona in 1992, but it was only revealed to public in 1999. In the document a main scribe engraved the first 26 lines of the recto and the verso; a second scribe engraved the last six lines of the recto. Although there is a missing piece, the researchers were be able to understand the topic of the text. It is a rare legal document that dates back to the end of III and the beginning of II century BC. The place of origin is unknown. As far as it possible to translate, it seems like a registration of a deal between some characters, some of them presumably high-ranking people, about some lands, one of these is placed in the area of Lago Trasimeno. The Tabula represents an invaluable contribute to what we know about the Etruscan language and to history in general, so if you are spending some days in Cortona, you can’t miss to come to the MAEC and visit it!