The Tabula Capuana ("Tablet from Capua"; Ital. Tavola Capuana), is an ancient terracotta slab, , with a long inscribed text in Etruscan, dated to around 470 BCE,Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149 apparently a ritual calendar. About 390 words are legible, making it the second-most extensive surviving Etruscan text. The longest is the linen book (Liber Linteus), also a ritual calendar, used in ancient Egypt for mummy wrappings, now at Zagreb. The Tabula Capuana is located in the Altes Museum, Berlin.
Description
Horizontal scribed lines divide the text into ten sections. The writing is most similar to that used in Campania in the mid-5th century BC, though surely the text being transcribed is much older. The text is boustrophedon, with the first line to be read left to right, the next right to left, etc.
Attempts at deciphering the text (Mauro Cristofani, 1995) are most generally based on the supposition that it prescribes certain rites on certain days of the year at certain places for certain deities. The ten visible sections seem to each be devoted to a different month, March through December. The months of January and February are considered to be later Roman innovations that are not referenced in the text.Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p. 152 The text itself was edited by Francesco Roncalli, in Scrivere etrusco, 1985.
Recently, a major scholar in the field, Bouke van der Meer, has proposed a "very tentative partial word-for-word translation" of the text:Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. pp. 165 - 173 https://www.academia.edu/21561609/Some_comment_on_the_Tabula_Capuana_in_Studi_Etruschi_77_2014_2015_149_175
Text example (/ indicates line break; some word breaks are uncertain) Alessandro Morandi Epigrafia Italica Rome, 1982, p.40Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. pp. 165 - 173
First section (lines 1-7): MARCH?
The first legible section likely is devoted to rituals to be held in March (though the Etruscan word for this month, Velcitna, does not occur in the legible text, presumably because it was in the missing parts).
There are three to five initial lines missing and then 30-50 characters missing in the initial damaged lines shown here.Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. pp. 165
...vacil.../2ai savcnes satiriasa.../3...[nunθ?]eri θuθcu vacil śipir śuri leθamsul ci tartiria /4 cim cleva ac asri halχtei vacil iceu śuni savlasie... (~5-8 characters broken off at the end of this line) /5[mul]u rizile picasri savlasieis vacil lunaśie vaca iχnac fuli/6nuśnes vacil savcnes itna mulu rizile picasri iane vacil l/7eθamsul scuvune marzac saca⋮
Notes: In line 1 and throughout, vacil may mean "libation" (or some similar rite or ceremony), in which case each of the first phrases beginning with it presumably indicate what deity to pour a libation to and perhaps other information.Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p. 162-3 However, Steinbauer (agreeing with Rix) has challenged this assumption and, considering that it seems to be positioned at the beginning of a series of phrases within the context of a step-by-step instruction, proposed that vacil (with its variants vacal and vacl) simply means "then."Steinbauer, D. Neues Handbuch des Etruskischen, St. Katherine, 1999. pp. 86-87
In line 2, savc-nes according to van der Meer is an Apolline god, perhaps related in form to saucsaθ at 3.15 of the Liber Linteus. The form in the Liber Linteus, preceded as here by the term vacl "libation," also falls in a section that probably deals with March, though as here there is no explicit mention of a month name. The relevant text from that passage of the Liber Linteus is as follows (3.15-3.17): vacl . an . ścanince . saucsaθ . persin / cletram . śrenχve . iχ . ścanince . ciz . vacl / ara roughly: "The libation which was poured to Sauc- Pers- (should be performed) with the decorated litter just as it had been poured (before); perform the libation three times."L. B. van der Meer Liber linteus zagrabiensis. The Linen Book of Zagreb. A Comment on the Longest Etruscan Text. Louvain/Dudley, MA 2007 pp. 78-82
Note that the ending -nes/-nis also occurs in the forms fulinuś-nes (5-6) and caθ-nis (9), all referring to deities.L. B. van der Meer Liber linteus zagrabiensis. The Linen Book of Zagreb. A Comment on the Longest Etruscan Text. Louvain/Dudley, MA 2007 p. 74
In line 2, satiriasa (if one word) may be a form of Satre the Etruscan term for Saturn, which also appears on the Piacenza Liver among chthonic deities.Pallottino, Massimo (1955). The Etruscans. Penguin Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Cremona. p.100 Or it could be in some way connected to or contrasting with tartiria at the end of line 3.Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p. 163
In line three, śuri is a (not necessarily exclusively) chthonic deity.L. Bouke van der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. pp. 154-5 The form also appears on side B of the Lead Plaque of Magliano: śuris . eis teis . evi tiuras . mulsle mlach ilache, roughly "For Suri, [perform] these rituals on the ides of the months with honey wine, as is appropriate for the feast."
Leθam-s appears on the Piacenza Liver among chthonic deities, but may have other connections as well. The genitive is used here as usual for indirect object.Rex E. Wallace "Language, Alphabet, and Linguistic Affiliation" in A Companion To The Etruscans, editors S. Bell and A. A. Carpino, Wiley Blackwell, 2016, pp. 203-224; p. 217
In lines three and four, ci(m) means "three," and both tartiria and cleva indicate kinds of offerings, yielding a possible partial translation: "To Lethams, three tartiria (perhaps related to Greek Tartaros, as if '(gifts) for the underworld'?) offerings and three cleva offerings ..."Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. pp. 165-173 In line 4, halχ- is likely the name of a kind of vase.Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. pp. 165 - 173 p. 16
A verbal form of vacil may be seen in line 5: vac-a "make a libation (to)?"; But van der Meer reads faca here, with unknown meaning. A similar form, vac-i is in line 28, also preceding a form of fuli/nuśnes.Bouke van der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p.163 Also in line 5, lunaśie brings to mind the Roman moon goddess, Luna (which some equate with Cath, see below). pi-cas(ri) (5,6) is defined by Pallottino as a verb of offering, to be compared with a-cas "to do; to offer." Pallottino, Massimo (1955). The Etruscans. Penguin Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Cremona. pp.225-234 mulu- (4/5, 6) and scu- (7, 10) seem to be roots meaning "to offer, give" and "finish", respectively; and sac- means "carry out a sacred act; consecrate."Pallottino, Massimo (1955). The Etruscans. Penguin Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Cremona. pp.225-234 In lines 5-6, fuli/nuśnes may be a form of Fufluns, the Etruscan Dionysus who is associated with the Etruscan goddess Caθa who also seems to be mentioned in this text (see below).Thomson de Grummond, Nancy. Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p. 59Pallottino, M. (1975). The Etruscans. London: Penguin Books. p 248 A somewhat similar form, fuln[folnius] can be found on line 29 of the Tabula Cortonensis.Thomson de Grummond, Nancy. Myth and Sacred History, 2006, p. 59
Note the frequent repetitions (besides vacil): savcnes(2, 6); leθamsul(3, 6/7, 8...); mulu-ri zile picas-ri(4/5, 6, 18/19 but with...a-cas-ri rather than pi-cas-ri); savlasie(is)(4, 5); scu-vune marza(c)(7) versus marza...scuvse(10)...
The tentative partial translation by van der Meer, building on the work of many others suggests this part of the ritual calendar calls for an indeterminate offering be made to the god Saucne, and that libations be performed for the gods Śuri and Letham as well as for the gods Saulasie and Fulinusne. Furthermore, that a gifted rizile be accepted in [the period of?] Iana. And that, the libation to Letham having been properly completed, a marza be consecrated.Bouke Van Der Meer "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149
Second section (starting on line 8): APRIL = apirase The second section seems to be devoted to rituals to be held in April.
iśveitule ilucve apirase leθamsul ilucu cuiesχu perpri cipen apires /9 racvanies huθ zusle rithnaitultei snuza in te hamaiθi civeis caθnis fan/10iri marza in te hamaiθi ital sacri utus ecunzai iti alχu scuvse riθnaitu/11ltei ci zusle acun siricima nunθeri eθ iśuma zuslevai apire nunθer/12i avθleθ aium vacil ia leθamsul nunθeri vacil ia riθnaita eθ aθene/13ica perpri celutule apirase unialθi turza esχaθce ei iśum unialθ ara /14epnicei nunθcu ciiei turzai riθnaita eiti ia halχ apertule aφes ilucu vacil zuχn/15e... elφa riθnaitultrais vanec calus zusleva atu[unis]ne inpa vinaiθ acas aφ/16es ci tartiria ci turza riθnaitula snenaziulastra vaiuser hivus niθusc riθnaitula hivustra vaiuser snenaziulas
Notes: Line 8 shows the form isvei which occurs frequently in the Liber Linteus where it appears to mean "festival" or "ides". If the form iśum in line 13 is related, it may mean "festive" or (more likely) "appropriate for a sacred festival" > "sacred." The form tul(e) (8, 9, 10) in some contexts means "stone", perhaps related to tular "border" (< "stone marking a border"?),Pallottino, Massimo (1955). The Etruscans. Penguin Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Cremona. pp.225-234 itself probably related to (or the origin of?) Umbrian tuder "boundary"; also the origin of the Umbrian town name Todi.J. Poultney, The Bronze Tables of Iguvium, 1959 Here it seems to mean "(on or after) the ides (of a particular month)."van der Meer, L.B. "Some comments on the Tabula Capuana", in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p. 157 According to van der Meer, iluc-ve/u (twice in line 8) means "feast."van der Meer, L. B. "Some comment on the Tabula Capuana," in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p.166. https://www.academia.edu/21561609/Some_comment_on_the_Tabula_Capuana_in_Studi_Etruschi_77_2014_2015_149_175 Of course, iśvei and tule can't both mean "ides", and in any case, the Latin ides originally fell on the full moon and was sacred to Jupiter, but since the deities recognizable here are underworld (leθams and caθ), tul may instead refer to the dark phase of the moon, or the new moon (Latin kalends). As van der Meer points out elaborately elsewhere, the contrast between light and dark gods was very important for the Etruscan calendar and for how they divided up the heavens.L. B. van der Meer Liber linteus zagrabiensis. The Linen Book of Zagreb. A Comment on the Longest Etruscan Text. Louvain/Dudley, MA 2007 pp. 65 ff
apirase may mean "(in the) month of April."van der Meer, L. B. "Some comment on the Tabula Capuana," in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p.166. https://www.academia.edu/21561609/Some_comment_on_the_Tabula_Capuana_in_Studi_Etruschi_77_2014_2015_149_175 See above for Leθam-sul. Van der Meer translates pep-ri as "must be held."Van Der Meer, Bouke. "Some comment on the Tabula Capuana," in: Studi Etruschi 77, 2014 , 149-175. p.166. https://www.academia.edu/21561609/Some_comment_on_the_Tabula_Capuana_in_Studi_Etruschi_77_2014_2015_149_175 cipen seems to be a priestly title (with variants cepa(r), cepe(n)).Pallottino, Massimo (1955). The Etruscans. Penguin Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Cremona. pp.226