The Sarcophagus of Laris Pulenas, also known as "The Magistrate," dates from the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. It was discovered in Tarquinia in Italy and is now in the Tarquinia National Museum.[1]
It features a reclining figure, Laris Pulenas, before whom is a stone carving of a long strip of cloth (volumen), half-unrolled, inscribed with one of the longer continuous inscriptions in Etruscan (Corpus Inscriptionum Etruscarum, n.5430), nearly 60 words, making it of particular linguistic value.[2]
The text opens with the name of the deceased, along with that of his father (Larce), and unusually, also those of his grandfather (Larth), his uncle (Velthuru), and his great-grandfather (Pule Laris Creice "the Greek"--possibly Pollus, a Greek seer who lived around 400 BC. and settled in Cerveteri--the Etruscan Cisra).[3] The rest of the text apparently presents the deceased's accomplishments in life, including that he wrote a text on divination (zich nethshrac acas-ce).[4][5] He also served as a priest of Catha and of Pacha (Etruscan Bacchus, at this point in history in the process of merging with Fufluns, the Etruscan Dionysus).[6] Furthermore, he seems to have governed (laucar-ce) the city of Tarquinia (Tarχnalθ spurem) as a creal, apparently some high public office.[7]
^Bonfante, L. (1990) Etruscan U. California Press: Berkely and Los Angeles. p. 28
^Bernard, Seth (2023). Historical Culture in Iron Age Italy: Archaeology, History, and the Use of the Past, 900-300 BCE. Oxford University Press. p. 8. ISBN978-0-19-764746-2.
^Cataldi, Maria (1988). I sarcofagi etruschi delle famiglie Partunu, Camna e Pulena (in Italian). Procom, Roma. OCLC632955991.
^Pavel, D. (2020) "The image of the god Fufluns – Dionysus as reflected on Etruscan mirrors: a Greek or an Etruscan God?". Revista CICSA online, Serie Nouă VI:41-68. p45.https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=939803
^Pallottino, M. (1975) The Etruscans, Indiana University Press: Bloomington and London. pp. 219, 229
Bonfante G. and Larissa Bonfante (2002) The Etruscan language. An introduction. 2nd Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester/New York ISBN 0719055407 , pp. 149-151, 172, 197.
Bonfante, L. (1990) Etruscan in Reading the Past series. University of California Press: Berkeley and Los Angeles. pp.28, 41.
Buonamici, G.(1936) "La formula onomastica nell'iscrizione tarquiniese di Laris Pulenas (CIE., n.5430)" in Paribeni, R. (ed) Scritti in onore di Bartolomeo Nogara raccolti in occasione del suo lxx anno Città del Vaticano.
Devoto, G. (1936) "Problemi dell’Iscrizione di Pulena." Studi Etruschi 10.277–287.
Grünwedel, A. (1922). Tusca. Leipzig: K. W. Hiersemann.
Heurgon, J. (1957) Influences grecques sur la religion étrusque : l'inscription de Laris Pulenas
Heurgon, J. (1993) The Etruscans. Fourth Edition. Reclam, Stuttgart ISBN 3150104009 , pp. 334-337.
Jannot, J.-R. (2017) Religion in ancient Etruria. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison ISBN 9780299208448 , pp. 7, 199.
Naso, A. (ed.) (2017) Etruscology. Walter de Gruyter, Boston ISBN 9781934078488 , p. 1148.
Pallottino, M. (1975) The Etruscans, Indiana University Press: Bloomington and London. pp. 200, 219.
Pallottino, M. (1988) Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. Seventh Edition, Springer, Basel ISBN 303486048X , pp. 325, 416, 452, 479-486.
Prayon, F. (2010) The Etruscans. History, religion, art. 5. Edition. CH Beck, Munich ISBN 9783406598128 , pp. 61-62, 74.
Ribezzo, F. (1932) "L’epitafio etrusco di Pulena." Rivista Indo-Greco-Italica 16.68–85.
Simon, E. (1989) "Culsu, Culsans e Ianus." Secondo Congresso Internazionale Etrusco, Firenze, 26 maggio – 2 giugno 1985. Atti, vol. III, pp. 1271-1281. Rome: Bretschneider.
Stolenberg, H. L. (1956) Die wichtigsten etruskischen Inschriften: Texte, Übersetzung und Erläuterung. Leverkusen: Gottschalk.
Thomson de Grummond, N. (ed.) (1996) Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology. Routledge, New York ISBN 188496480X , pp. 14, 34, 46, 57, 59.
Thomson de Grummond, N. (2006) "Prophets and Priests”, in The Religion of the Etruscans, edited by Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Erika Simon. Austin: University of Texas Press, 27-44. p. 34.
van der Meer, L. B. (1987) The bronze liver of Piacenza. Analysis of a polytheistic structure. Gieben, Amsterdam ISBN 9070265419 , p. 173.
Cataldi, M. (2001) Tarquinia: Museo Archeologico Nazionale. Brief guide. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome ISBN 8882651223 , pp. 30-31.